SPH Joins Brown and Pitt to Establish New Training Center for Health Services Research.

The School of Public Health is one of three institutions collaborating in a unique $2.5 million multi-disciplinary research and training program for physical therapy scientists.

The program will be administered by Brown University, which received the grant to establish the Center on Health Services Training and Research (CoHSTAR). The Foundation for Physical Therapy is funding the five-year project to train physical therapy scientists in methods of conducting cutting-edge health policy and health services research.

Researchers will be trained and mentored by experienced faculty teams at the three participating institutions: Brown University; the University of Pittsburgh; and, at BU, SPH and the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitative Sciences.

Beginning in June 2015, CoHSTAR will offer postdoctoral fellowships, host visiting scientists, and provide special summer training sessions. Each trainee will participate in immersive research experiences and have access to other training activities and courses from 26 graduate programs at the three institutions.

CoHSTAR’s Evaluation and Dissemination Core (EDC) will be based at SPH and co-directed by Alan Jette, PT, PhD, professor of health policy and management and director of the SPH Health and Disabilities Research Institute, and Mary Slavin, PhD, research assistant professor of health policy and management.

The EDC will evaluate CoHSTAR programs and monitor the progress and experiences of postdoctoral fellows and visiting scientists. The EDC will also disseminate CoHSTAR activities throughout the physical therapy community and organize an annual Summer Institute on Health Services Research at Boston University.

“With the acceleration of healthcare reform, health services research has become critical to all the health professions, including physical therapy,” Jette said. “The center will enable us to develop a cadre of physical therapy health services researchers who can meet this critical need.  Ultimately, this will lead to more effective, innovative models for delivery of physical therapy services.”

Funding for CoHSTAR as a Center of Excellence came from a $1 million gift from the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and gifts from 50 APTA components and physical therapists, foundations, and corporations throughout the country.

Linda Resnik, PT, PhD, an associate professor of health services, policy, and practice at Brown University, will serve as CoHSTAR’s principal investigator and director. Resnik was a visiting scientist at SPH for the 2010-2011 academic year. “We enjoyed working with Dr. Resnik when she was at Boston University and we are pleased to collaborate with her and other colleagues at Brown University and the University of Pittsburgh on this exciting new initiative,” Slavin said.

The following BU faculty from SPH and Sargent will serve as mentors for CoHSTAR visiting scientists and fellows:

SPH

• Sara Bachman, PhD, research associate professor of health policy and management
• Dan Berlowitz, MD, professor of health policy and management and director of the Center for Health Quality, Outcomes and Economic Research
• James Burgess, PhD, professor of health policy and management
• Martin Charns, PhD, professor of health policy and management and director of the Program on Healthcare Organizational Studies and the VA Center for Organization, Leadership and Management Research
• Sue Eisen, PhD, professor of health policy and management
• Lewis E. Kazis, ScD, professor of health policy and management, and director of the Center for the Assessment of Pharmaceutical Practices (CAPP)
• Nancy Latham, PT, PhD, research assistant professor of health policy and management
• Christine McDonough, PhD, MS, PT, research assistant professor of health policy and management
• Mark Meterko, PhD, research associate professor of health policy and management

Sargent:

• Julie Keysor, PT, PhD, associate professor of physical therapy and athletic training director of the Center for Enhancing Activity and Participation among Persons with Arthritis (ENACT)
• Wendy J. Coster, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, professor and chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy and director of the Behavior and Health Program and Patient/Clinician Reported Outcomes Core