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Lori Bastian, MD, MPH

Professor of Medicine (General Medicine); Section Chief of General Internal Medicine VA Connecticut Healthcare System, Internal Medicine; Director, Pain Research, Informatics, Multimorbidities, and Education (PRIME) Center, Research

Contact Information

Lori Bastian, MD, MPH

Mailing Address

  • General Internal Medicine

    VA Connecticut, 950 Campbell Ave

    West Haven, CT 06516

    United States

Research Summary

I am a Professor of Medicine at Yale School of Medicine and Section Chief of General Internal Medicine at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. In this role, I oversee the academic development and clinical productivity of the hospitalists, primary care, and research faculty based at VA Connecticut. I also serve as the Director of the Pain Research Informatics, Multimorbidities & Education (PRIME) Center of Excellence at VA Connecticut, a center grant with over $7 million in infrastructure support for multidisciplinary research focusing on improving pain, and managing multiple comorbid conditions, in veterans. Much of PRIME’s work addresses T4 translation, as it focuses on organizational change to improve the care of veterans with pain and associated chronic conditions. Part of PRIME’s work involves the use of information technology to promote guideline-concordant care.

Extensive Research Description

I have extensive experience researching health behaviors among veterans, including female veterans. I was Principal Investigator (PI) and served as Medical Director of the Comprehensive Women’s Clinic at the Durham VA Medical Center, and in 2000, I received a VA/HSR&D Career Development Award to study health behavior interventions among women veterans. I have served as PI on NIH- and VA-supported grants to implement evidence-based tobacco-dependence treatment for smokers in the VA system. I have also served as co-investigator on multiple NIH (NHLBI, NIDDK, NCI) and VA patient-oriented studies focusing on health behaviors such as smoking cessation and weight loss. I have also served as Deputy Editor of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, and Lead Editor for three Supplements to this journal.

I continue to serve as a mentor for both pre-doctoral and postdoctoral fellows interested in pursuing health service research careers, and was awarded one of the first women's health fellowship grants focusing on health services research. In 2004, I took over the direction of a pre-doctoral T32 that promoted clinical research careers for medical students, which later was incorporated into Duke’s CTSA. In addition, I served as PI on the resultant CTSA TL1 pre-doctoral research training grant from 2006 to 2012, advising up to 15 medical students annually, helping them identify projects and mentors, overseeing clinical research methods coursework, and developing their presentation skills. While an Associate Dean for Career Development at the University of Connecticut, prior to my arrival at Yale in 2016, I developed an innovative program focused on writing K awards that includes a structured curriculum and provides salary support for junior faculty preparing their K awards. Since moving to Yale, I have received funding from the VA to lead a postdoctoral fellowship in health services research. In my career, I have mentored over 50 trainees, including several VA researchers who obtained VA CDAs.

Coauthors

Research Interests

Health Services Research; Pain; Women's Health; Smoking Cessation; Veterans Health

Public Health Interests

Cancer

Selected Publications