CHIBEblog

Apr 12 2021
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Raina Merchant

CHIBE Q&A with Raina Merchant, MD, MSHP, FAHA

By CHIBEblog

Raina Merchant, MD, MSHP, FAHA, is Director of the Penn Medicine Center for Digital Health. She is also an Associate Vice President at Penn Medicine and Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. She has secondary appointments in the Department of Internal Medicine, the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Division of Health Policy, and she serves as Co-Director of the Penn National Clinician Scholars Program. Dr. Merchant recently became a CHIBE-affiliated faculty member as well. Read our CHIBE Q&A to learn more about her. What projects are you working on right now? Much…

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Mar 16 2021
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Dr. Karen Glanz Named to NIH Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Integration Working Group

By CHIBEblog

Karen Glanz, PhD, MPH, George A. Weiss University Professor and a CHIBE-affiliated faculty member, has been named to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (BSSR) Integration Working Group. “Most of the leading public health issues facing our nation— including cancer, addiction, heart disease, mental illness, diabetes, violence, and AIDS—are rooted in individual and social behavior, yet behavioral science is decentralized across NIH’s Institutes and Centers, and the NIH commitment to manage and directly fund this important research is limited,” the NIH stated. “The Committee directs the Director to convene a special advisory panel of behavioral…

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Mar 08 2021
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CHIBE Q&A with Silvia Saccardo on “Lifestyle and Mental Health Disruptions During COVID-19”

By CHIBEblog

Silvia Saccardo, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social and Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University and a CHIBE affiliated-faculty member. She recently published a paper on “Lifestyle and mental health disruptions during COVID-19.” (Authors: Osea Giuntella, PhD; Kelly Hyde, MA; Silvia Saccardo, PhD; and Sally Sadoff, PhD, MA.) Read our Q&A with Dr. Saccardo to learn more about this work. Your study revealed major lifestyle and mental health disruptions among University of Pittsburgh students during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, you found that 61% of the participants were at risk for depression, which was a 90%…

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Mar 01 2021
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Vote for Penn Project in 2021 STAT Madness Competition

By CHIBEblog

Vote in the STAT Madness competition for best innovations in biomedicine for a University of Pennsylvania project (Matchup 18) involving several CHIBE members! The project, which is titled “AI Prompts Critical Conversation” in the competition, is about Penn’s work using machine learning and behavioral nudges to prompt clinicians to start serious illness conversations among patients with cancer. Read the JAMA Oncology paper here: “Effect of Integrating Machine Learning Mortality Estimates With Behavioral Nudges to Clinicians on Serious Illness Conversations Among Patients With Cancer.” STAT Madness describes the project: “Many cancer patients die without having talked to their doctor about their…

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Feb 25 2021
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Dr. Buttenheim Provides Testimony to House Science, Space, and Technology Committee on Vaccine Science

By CHIBEblog

Alison Buttenheim, PhD, MBA, Associate Professor of Nursing and Health Policy and CHIBE’s Scientific Director, provided testimony on vaccine science to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on February 19, 2021. As part of her testimony, Dr. Buttenheim provided 5 science-based recommendations that she hoped Congress would endorse, fund, and promote: 1. “Embrace the dual goal of vaccinating efficiently and equitably.” “We have to be deliberate, intentional, and innovative in our approach to both tracking and achieving those complementary goals,” Dr. Buttenheim said. 2. “Fix the easy stuff.” While hesitancy is a barrier to vaccination,…

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Feb 24 2021
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vaccine administration

Could Text-Based Nudges Boost Flu Vaccine Uptake?

By CHIBEblog

What kind of text — from your doctor’s office or your pharmacy — might nudge you to get your flu vaccine? This was a question explored in two new mega studies looking at text-based nudges by the Behavior Change for Good Initiative (BCFG) and the Penn Medicine Nudge Unit, which both include CHIBE affiliates. One of the studies involved over 47,000 participants and tested 19 different nudges within Penn Medicine and Geisinger health systems. They found that certain texts that were sent prior to a visit to a primary care provider could increase vaccination rates by up to 11%. The…

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Feb 11 2021
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COVID-19

Team to Examine Strategies to Increase COVID-19 Testing Rates

By CHIBEblog

A team involving two CHIBE members—CHIBE Associate Director Harsha Thirumurthy, PhD, and Message Effects Lab Director Jessica Fishman, PhD—has been awarded NIH funding to test strategies to increase COVID-19 testing rates. The other team members are Cedric Bien-Gund, MD; and Robert Gross, MD, MSCE, both from the Perelman School of Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases. To their knowledge, this group is the first to implement or test whether secondary distribution of COVID-19 self-tests by individuals to others in their social networks can promote SARS-CoV-2 testing. Their recent JAMA Network Open paper found high motivation to distribute COVID-19 self-test kits and to use self-test kits. In addition, this team will…

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Feb 03 2021
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carmen guerra

Dr. Carmen Guerra Wins Penn Women in Medicine Award

By CHIBEblog

Congratulations to CHIBE-affiliated faculty member Carmen Guerra, MD, MSCE, FACP, on winning Penn’s Women in Medicine Award, which celebrates the commitment and contributions to advancing the education and careers of women in academic medicine by an alumna, faculty, or staff member. This award was the brainchild of Elizabeth Kirk Rose, M’26, INT’30, who started celebrations of Penn’s female students and alumnae in 1962. “More recently, the celebration has been an awards luncheon sponsored by the Elizabeth Blackwell Society and Penn Medicine Development and Alumni Relations for students, faculty, and alumni. This year will mark a new milestone: the first virtual…

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Feb 02 2021
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CHIBE Q&A: Damon Centola, PhD

By CHIBEblog

Damon Centola, PhD, is Professor of Communication, Sociology and Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, where he directs the Network Dynamics Group. Dr. Centola is also a Senior Fellow at LDI and affiliated faculty member with the Center for Health Incentives & Behavioral Economics (CHIBE). He just published a book called Change: How to Make Big Things Happen, which you can learn more about on his website. Learn more about Dr. Centola in our Q&A below. What made you want to write Change: How to Make Big Things Happen? I am a sociologist who studies the way that beliefs and…

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Feb 01 2021
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Congratulations to Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, MBA, On Her Retirement

By CHIBEblog

Penn’s Center for Health Incentives & Behavioral Economics (CHIBE) honors and congratulates Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, MBA, on her retirement on January 31, 2021. Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey has been a tremendous force for good—and a voice for people—for our Center, the University, and the world. The impact she has had over the course of her career through her scholarship, leadership, mentorship, and example has been unparalleled. She is not finished her good work, and we are thrilled that Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey will join CHIBE’s External Advisory Board. She will also be moving to emeritus status with the Department of Medical Ethics and Health…

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