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Rachel Dreyer, PhD

Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Biostatistics (Health Informatics)

Contact Information

Rachel Dreyer, PhD

Office Location

Mailing Address

  • Department of Emergency Medicine

    464 Congress Ave

    New Haven, CT 06510

    United States

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Research Summary

Dr Dreyer has extensive experience in patient-centered outcomes research, clinical research, disparities research and participatory methods. Over the last decade her research has endeavored to improve health care quality by accelerating the implementation of patient-centered outcomes research. More specifically, her work has largely pioneered efforts to improve outcomes for patients with heart disease, with a focus on understanding disparities in women. As a result, her scholarly work has identified significant delays and disparities in receiving treatment for women with coronary heart disease. She is the PI of the international VIRGO study (Variation in Recovery: Role of Outcomes of Young Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients) and an AHA funded study to develop a behavioral intervention known as WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, and Plan) to improve recovery and reduce readmission rates for young women with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). In addition, she is a Co-PI on a grant funded by the CIHR to examine sex and gender differences regarding quality of care for young patients with AMI. Her broader research interests bridge health IT, behavioral health, rehabilitation research, and clinical informatics.

Extensive Research Description

Dr Dreyer's research focuses on the fields of prevention, treatment and outcomes of patients, particularly women, with cardiovascular disease (CVD). The majority of her prior work has focused on detecting sex and gender differences in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) – and understanding the determinants that underlie such disparities in order to improve patient outcomes.

Her current faculty research program is highly interdisciplinary and builds on prior research by bridging outcomes research to intervention research and designing tailored technologies/interventions to reduce disparities in care for patients with CVD. In designing these interventions, a crucial element is to focus on creative ways to engage patients in care, in ways that are patient-centered to increase adherence and uptake of the technologies. Accordingly, her team implements participatory action research (PAR) methods to enforce stakeholder input and engagement throughout all research projects. She has taken a broader approach to many of these novel technologies with the goal of tailoring based on sub-groups (i.e. sex, age, race) once developed. The four aspects of her research program include developing: (1) Novel interventions for secondary prevention post AMI; (2) Sex and gender data science platforms for CVD; (3) Novel patient centered digital therapeutics for CVD/mental health; and (4) Novel conceptual frameworks of recovery in cardiology.

Coauthors

Research Interests

Cardiovascular Diseases; Women's Health; Behavioral Research; Acute Coronary Syndrome; Healthcare Disparities

Public Health Interests

Behavioral Health; Cardiovascular Diseases; Women's Health; Health Equity, Disparities, Social Determinants and Justice

Selected Publications

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