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About Us

GPC Leadership

 

Principal Investigator (PI): Russ Waitman, PhD
Institution: University of Missouri- School of Medicine

Dr. Russ Waitman is a Professor of Health Management and Informatics and Associate Dean for Informatics at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and theBiomedical and Health Informatics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he directs the Center for Health Insights.  He also serves as scientific director at the Tiger Institute for Health Innovation; a private-public partnership between Cerner Corporation and the University of Missouri. Dr. Waitman has extensive experience in clinical system application development, and deployment. His expertise includes data repository construction, governance, and privacy preservation. He led the development of the Computerized Provider Order Entry project at Vanderbilt University, and furthered the system commercialization effort. His current research interests are clinical decision support, knowledge discovery, and creating information environments to support personal health, research, and patient safety.

 


GPC Dual-PI: James McClay, MD
InstitutionUniversity of Missouri- School of Medicine

Dr. McClay is a Chief Research Informatics Officer for the School of Medicine, with academic home in HMI, alongside a concurrent appointment with the Department of Emergency Medicine. Dr. McClay joined from the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) where served as Professor, with research/professional interests in Clinical Informatics, Information Standards in Emergency Medicine, and Comparative Effectiveness Research. Dr. McClay serves as co-chair of the HLT Emergency Care Work Group (ECWG), which led the ECWG in the creation of the EDIS-Functional Profile, the DEEDS specification, and the EC DAM informative ballot.  He has o worked closely with the emergency medicine specialty society to continue to expand the portfolio of Emergency Care related standards, support the FHIR clinical initiatives, and represent the emergency care community in HL7 projects.



 

Site PI: Elizabeth Chrischilles, PhD
Institution: University of Iowa

Dr. Chrischilles, professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Director of its Health Effectiveness Research Center, holds the Pomerantz Chair in Public Health in the University of Iowa College of Public Health. Dr. Chrischilles is Associate Director for Population Sciences in the University's Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her research involves using electronic healthcare databases, engaging patients, and collecting patient-reported outcomes to address comparative effectiveness questions, particularly for older adults and patients with multiple chronic conditions. She is Co-Director of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Research Design for the University of Iowa Institute for Clinical and Translational Sciences. Dr. Chrischilles is currently leading a breast cancer outcomes research agenda in the Greater Plains Collaborative.

 

Site PI: Lindsay Cowell, PhD
Institution: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Dr. Cowell has built a research program focused on the development of bioinformatics and computational biology methods for studying the immune system and infections diseases. In particular, her work has focused on the somatic diversification of antigen receptor-encoding genes and the development of computable representations of qualitative biological and clinical information. Within each of these areas, she has developed projects that emphasize methodologic developments as well as projects focused on answering specific biological questions.

 

Site PI: Jeffrey VanWormer, PhD 
Institution: Marshfield Clinic Research Institute

Jeffrey VanWormer, PHD

Dr. VanWormer is a behavioral epidemiologist with research interests in the primary prevention of chronic diseases, with a particular focus on community-level surveillance and lifestyle interventions. For the past 12 years, he has worked at the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute as a Research Scientist in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology & Population Health. He has led and assisted with many health promotion and disparities projects focused on obesity, medication use, and vaccinations, among others. Dr. VanWormer is also an investigator member of the national Health Care Systems Research Network and the University of Wisconsin’s Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. Prior to his work in Marshfield, Dr. VanWormer was the Director of the Heart of New Ulm Project, a successful initiative led by Allina Health and the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation to prevent cardiovascular disease in rural Minnesota.

Site PI: Bradley Taylor
Institution: Medical College of Wisconsin

Bradley Taylor is the Chief Research Informatics Officer at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where he leads Biomedical Informatics for the Clinical and Translational Science Institute of Southeast Wisconsin. He and his team integrate information technology systems, electronic health records, clinical databases, and tissue repositories throughout CTSI's partner institutions to support clinical and translational research. Brad is actively involved in the collaborative sharing of resources and expertise with multiple CTSAs nationally where close attention is paid to the tools and systems developed by each entity to avoid duplication of efforts. His goal is to positively impact the lives of people in our community and beyond by providing efficient, innovative technology solutions for both patient care and translational research.

 

Site PI: Meredith Zozus, PhD
Institution: University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Dr. Meredith Zozus recently joined the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) Long School of Medicine as the Director for Clinical Research Informatics and the Clinical Informatics Research Division Chief. Prior to joining UTHSCSA, Zozus was associate professor of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). At UAMS she led a very active research program in Clinical Research Informatics focusing on methods to improve the design, conduct, and reporting of clinical studies, primarily in the areas of data quality in healthcare and health-related research and secondary use of EHR data. Zozus joined UAMS in 2016 after an 18-year career at Duke University where she served as the director for the data center at the Duke Clinical Research Institute and the associate director for Clinical Research Informatics in the Duke Translational Medicine Institute. In addition to multiple published articles, she has led the development of eight national/international data standards, serves as the Chief Editor for the Good Clinical Data Management Practices international practice standard for clinical research data management and recently published The Data Book, covering fundamental principles behind the collection and management of research data.

 

Site PI: Abu Saleh Mohammad Mosa, MS, PhD
Institution: University of Missouri- School of Medicine

Abu Saleh Mohammad Mosa, PhD is the Sr. Director of Informatics Technology at the NextGen Biomedical Informatics (NextGen BMI) Center at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. He is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics, an Adjunct Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, a member of the Core Faculty of the Institute for Data Science and Informatics. Previously, Dr. Mosa served as the Director of Research Informatics for the School of Medicine and the Institute for Clinical and Translational Science since 2013. Dr. Mosa obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, followed by a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University College Dublin, and a Doctoral degree in Health Informatics from the University of Missouri. Dr. Mosa received the NIH Data Science Rotations for Advancing Discovery (RoAD-Trip) Fellowship in 2018 and received the honor of 2020 inductee of the Fellow of American Medical Informatics Association (FAMIA). Dr. Mosa served as the principal investigator (PI) and co-investigator for numerous extramural research grants funded by PCORI, NIH, AHRQ, State of Missouri, and industry partners. He also serves as the site-PI for MU’s participation in the Greater Plains Collaborative (GPC) PCORNet Clinical Research Network, which is a national healthcare data infrastructure grant funded by PCORI. His research interests fall within the subdiscipline of biomedical informatics for supporting the mission of biomedical and clinical research, which include: (a) the application of data science techniques for real-world data management, warehousing and mining for developing, implementing and disseminating the 21st century data-driven research infrastructure, and (b) the innovative uses of EHR to support clinical and translational research and the learning health system, with the goal of healthcare innovation, patient-centered outcomes improvement and precision medicine application. He has extensive research expertise in large scale healthcare data management, warehousing, and mining. These ranges from the development of clinical research data warehouse for institutional electronic health record data to the establishment of data coordinating center for prospective electronic data collection in clinical studies.

Site PI: Jacob Kean
Institution: University of Utah

 Jacob Kean, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Health System Innovation and Research, Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Utah, and Research Scientist, VA Informatics and Computing Infrastructure (VINCI) Salt Lake City VA Health Care System. Dr. Kean leads Analytics and Evaluation for Population Health, University of Utah Medical Group and focuses his research on the creation, implementation and operation of research networks and learning health systems to improve patient-centered outcomes, with a special focus on rehabilitation populations. Following the completion of his doctorate degree, Dr. Kean served as a Visiting Scientist at the Boston University Rehabilitation Outcomes Center, a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Rehabilitation Research Using Large Datasets at the University of Texas Medical Branch, an NIH Training Institute for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (TIDIRH) fellow, and completed a post-doctoral Master’s degree in Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics and Assessment (MESA) at the University of Illinois – Chicago.

 

Site PI: Abbey Sidebottom
Institution: Allina Health

Abbey Sidebottom is a Principal Research Scientist at Allina Health. Dr. Sidebottom holds an MPH and PhD in epidemiology from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Sidebottom has worked at Allina Health since 2009. Dr. Sidebottom currently leads the Care Delivery Research department which conducts investigator initiated research focused on evaluating models of care, improving patient outcomes, and improving health equity. Major focus areas of Dr. Sidebottom’s research include prenatal care, labor and delivery, postpartum care, cardiovascular disease prevention, and emergency department care. Examples of studies conducted by Dr. Sidebottom include an examination of perinatal depression screening across the health system identifying significant racial disparities, an evaluation of maternal and neonatal outcomes in hospital-based deliveries with water immersion, and evaluation of a 10-year community based cardiovascular risk reduction intervention in a rural community (the Heart of New Ulm Program).

 

Site PI: Kirk Knowlton, MD
Institution: Intermountain Healthcare

Dr. Kirk Knowlton went to Intermountain Heart Institute in January 2016 from the University of California, San Diego, where he served as the Chief of Cardiology and Vice-Chair of Medicine for Laboratory Research. Throughout his career, he has had a strong interest in understanding how and why patients develop heart failure. This includes abnormalities in DNA, infections of the heart like viral myocarditis, and the role of immune function in heart cells that affect cardiac performance. Dr. Knowlton has also made important discoveries related to how heart cells communicate with each other to establish normal conduction. Dr. Knowlton has published his research in journals such as Nature Medicine, Science, Circulation, and the Journal of Clinical Investigation. He has served on numerous research committees with the American Heart Association, the Sarnoff Foundation, and recently fulfilled two years as President of the American Heart Association, Western States Affiliate. Dr. Knowlton also maintains an active clinical practice as a general cardiologist with a focus on heart failure and pulmonary hypertension.

 

Site Co-PI: Dr. Benjamin Horne

InstitutionIntermountain Healthcare

Dr. Benjamin Horne is a Clinical Associate Professor (Affiliated) at Stanford University who is based at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City, UT, where he serves as the Director of Cardiovascular and Genetic Epidemiology. His doctoral training (PhD) in genetic epidemiology was completed at the University of Utah and he holds master’s degrees in public health and in biostatistics. Dr. Horne is a fellow of the American Heart Association and a fellow of the American College of Cardiology. Dr. Horne’s research focuses on population health and precision medicine, including evaluating the genetic epidemiology of heart diseases, developing and implementing clinical decision tools for personalizing medical care, discovering the human health effects of intermittent fasting, and studying the influences of air pollution on major adverse health events.

 

Site PI: Carol Geary
InstitutionUniversity of Nebraska Medical Center

Carol Geary

Dr. Geary is an assistant professor in the Department of Pathology & Microbiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Her work has two methodological foci: creation and use of de-identified electronic health record data for research purposes and patient and stakeholder engagement in research. She has worked to develop the relationship networks and expertise to support researchers with interest in patient engagement in their research. She led the UNMC research team through completion of their initial Eugene Washington Award through PCORI. She has also served on the Migratory and Seasonal Agricultural Workers Engagement Project, National Advisory Council and is currently Co-investigator for the Nebraska Public Health Lab COVID Expansion and holds co-leadership responsibility for UNMC’s Clinical Research Data Warehouse Environment (CRANE).

Site PI: Phillip R.O. Payne, PhD

Institution: Washington University School of Medicine

Phillip Payne

Dr. Payne is the Associate Dean for Health Information and Data Science and Chief Data Scientist at the Washington University School of Medicine.  In addition, he is the Janet and Bernard Becker Professor and founding Director of the school’s Institute for Informatics (I2).  He holds additional appointments as a Professor of General Medical Sciences and Computer Science and Engineering.  He is the author of over 230 publications, and his research, innovation, and workforce development experience spans a broad spectrum, including: 1) machine learning and cognitive computing approaches to the discovery and analysis of bio-molecular and clinical phenotypes; 2) interventional approaches to the use of electronic health records and clinical decision support systems; 3) human factors and workflow issues surrounding the optimal use of healthcare information technology; and 4) the design and evaluation of data sharing and analytics platforms that enable the operation of agile, high-value healthcare delivery systems and research enterprises.  He is an elected fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI), American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics (IAHSI).

 


Development mailing list

Technical notes and milestones


Governance Council, by site:

  • GPC PI: Russ Waitman
  • KUMC: Sravani Chandaka
  • Iowa: Elizabeth Chrischilles
  • MCRI: Jeffrey VanWormer
  • MCW: Brad Taylor
  • UNMC: Carol Geary
  • UTHSCSA: Meredith Zozus
  • UT-Southwestern: Lindsay Cowell
  • University of Missouri: Abu Mosa
  • Utah: Jacob Kean
  • Allina: Abbey Sidebottom
  • Intermountain: Kirk Knowlton 
  • UTH: Elmer Bernstam
  • WashU: Phillip Payne

IRB Representatives, by site:

  • KUMC: Kathy Jurius
  • Iowa: Michele Countryman
  • MCRI: Linda Jaros
  • MCW: Elizabeth McDonough
  • UNMC: Gail Paulsen
  • UTHSCSA: Kim Summers, Meyad Baghezza
  • UT-Southwestern: Rhonda Oilepo
  • MU: Michele Kennet
  • IU: Ryan Ballard
  • Utah: Sarah Mumford
  • Allina: Gayle Kusch
  • Intermountain: Shelby Moench

Project Managers, by site: 

  • KUMC: Carol Early
  • Iowa: Brian Gryzlak
  • MCRI: Judith Hase
  • MCW: Kris Osinski
  • UNMC: Frances (Annette) Wolfe
  • UTHSCSA: Tiffany Robinson
  • UTSW: Juliet Fong
  • MU: Xiaofan Niu
  • Utah: Haddy Bah
  • Allina: Cassandra Rodgers
  • Intermountain: Kelie Tylor
  • WashU: Evin Fritschle
  • UTH: Ashraf Fatima

DROC Members, by site:

  • KUMC: Sravani Chandaka
  • Iowa: Brian Gryzlak, Elizabeth Chrischilles
  • MCRI: Steffani Roush, Jeffrey Van Wormer
  • MCW: Bradley Taylor, Kris Osinski
  • UNMC: James Campbell, Carol Geary
  • UTHSCSA: Lissa Persson, Mahanaz Syed, Shorab Syed, Kayla Torres Morales, Helen Foster, Amanda Fisher
  • UTSW: Juliet Fong, Phillip Reeder, Shilby Antony
  • MU: Vasanthi Mandhadi, Abu Mosa, Yaswitha Jampani, Jim McClay
  • Utah: Haddy Bah, Megan Douros
  • Allina: Hong Zhong, Jennifer Murwin, Payton Kaiser
  • Intermountain: Benjamin Horne, Channing Hansen
  • UTH: Brian Shukwit, Fatima Ashraf
  • WashU: Evin Frischle, John Newland, Snehil Gupta

To cite/acknowledge the GPC, please use the following citation:

Suggested acknowledgement“The dataset(s) used for the analyses described were obtained from the Greater Plains Collaborative, which is supported by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (RI-MISSOURI-01-PS1) and institutional funding from its member organizations.”

CitationWaitman LR, Aaronson LS, Nadkarni PM, Connolly DW, Campbell JR. The Greater Plains Collaborative: a PCORnet Clinical Research Data Network. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2014 Jul-Aug;21(4):637-41. doi: 10.1136/amiajnl-2014-002756. Epub 2014 Apr 28. PMID: 24778202; PMCID: PMC4078294.