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    Jason Jonathon Sico, MD, MHS, FAHA, FAAN (Neurology), FANA, FACP

    Associate Professor of Neurology
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    Additional Titles

    Associate Professor Internal Medicine (Section of General Medicine), Internal Medicine

    Director, Stroke Care VA Connecticut Healthcare System

    Director of Research and Clinical Care, Headache Center of Excellence, Neurology, VA Connecticut Healthcare System

    About

    Titles

    Associate Professor of Neurology

    Associate Professor Internal Medicine (Section of General Medicine), Internal Medicine; Director, Stroke Care VA Connecticut Healthcare System

    Positions outside Yale

    Director of Research and Clinical Care, Headache Center of Excellence, Neurology, VA Connecticut Healthcare System

    Biography

    I am an Associate Professor of Neurology and Internal Medicine at Yale School of Medicine and a board-certified neurologist and primary care internist within the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, providing both specialty and general care services for Veterans with neurological disease, specifically headache and ischemic stroke.

    After completing a dual residency in neurology and internal medicine at Yale University School of Medicine, I completed a VA Special Fellowship in Psychiatry and Neuroscience with a focus on health services research and epidemiology within the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven campus. I am an active investigator within the VA Precision Monitoring to Transform Care QUERI, the HSR&D Pain Research, Informatics, Multi-morbidities, and Education (PRIME), Clinical Epidemiology Research Centers, and the Center for Neuroepidemiology and Clinical Neurological Research.

    As a previous VA HSR&D Career Development awardee with implementation science project goals of improving care coordination and communication between primary care and specialty care providers within the context of a Learning Healthcare System, my research interests include developing and assessing theory-based improvement interventions and using Lean Six Sigma/Systems Redesign approaches to improving the efficient delivery of high-quality health care.

    I am the National Lead for the Headache Centers of Excellence (HCoE) Program within the Veterans Health Administration. The HCoE is a national initiative to improve headache care quality and delivery through educational programs, innovative care delivery models including telehealth, and standardized care algorithms which incorporate patient self-management and interdisciplinary headache care. I also serve as the Director of the HCoE RE3ACH (Research, Education, Evaluation, and Engagement Activities Center for Headache), which is tasked with understanding the epidemiology and role of military exposures in headache among Veterans and integrating with the educational and community engagement missions of the HCoE to create a true learning headache healthcare system within the Department of Veterans Affairs.

    I am also keenly interested in the policy implications of research. I am actively involved in several key committees and subcommittees within Neurology and Internal Medicine, including the American Academy of Neurology (including Advocacy, Health Policy, and Members Research), American Headache Society (including Scientific Sessions Planning, Publications, and Advocacy), and the American College of Physicians (specifically the Council of Subspecialty Societies). I regularly present research findings related to neurological care among Veterans to Congressional staff and advocacy organizations. 


    Appointments

    • Neurology

      Associate Professor on Term
      Primary
      Neurology

    Other Departments & Organizations

    Education & Training

    MHS
    Yale University School of Medicine (2016)
    VA Special Fellow in Neuroscience
    VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven Campus (2011)
    Resident
    Yale New Haven Hospital (2009)
    Internship
    Yale New Haven Hospital (2004)
    MD
    Temple University School of Medicine (2003)
    BS
    University of Scranton (1999)

    Research

    Overview

    • Health Services Research
    • Implementation Science
    • Improving Post-Stroke Vascular Risk Factor Control
    • Hypertension Control and Management
    • Screening for and Testing Obstructive Sleep Apnea among Stroke Survivors
    • Medical comorbidities and their influence on stroke outcome
    • Use of Systems Redesign/Health Systems Engineering in Stroke Care
    • Pragmatic Trials
    • Organizational and Provider-level Interventions
    • HIV and Ischemic Stroke in the era of combined antiretroviral therapy
    • HIV Neuropathy
    • Neurological Disease among Veterans and Active Military Personnel
    • Headache Care
    • Pain
    • Demonstrating the Value of Neurologists among Patients with Neurological Conditions
    • Care Collaboration between Specialists and Generalists
    • Burnout among Neurologists



    Medical Research Interests

    Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; Burnout, Professional; Global Health; Headache; Health Services Research; Hematologic Diseases; HIV; Mortality; Neurology; Organizational Innovation; Patient Readmission; Qualitative Research; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive; Stroke; Veterans

    Research at a Glance

    Yale Co-Authors

    Frequent collaborators of Jason Jonathon Sico's published research.

    Publications

    2024

    See All Publications

    Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

    • activity

      American Academy of Neurology

      Professional OrganizationsMember
    • honor

      Board of Directors Member

      National AwardNational Headache Foundation
    • honor

      Clinical Epidemiology Fellow

      National AwardAmerican Heart Association
    • honor

      Young Investigator Career Development Award

      National AwardAmerican Neurological Association
    • honor

      Young Investigator Award

      National AwardConference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections
    See All Achievements

    Clinical Care

    Overview

    Jason Sico, MD, MHS, is a neurologist and internal medicine physician who sees patients at the VA Medical Center in West Haven, where he specializes in headache and stroke care.

    Dr. Sico says he knew he wanted to be a physician since he was 4. “I feel blessed every day that I am in a service-oriented profession. I learn so much from being in health care and working one-on-one with patients,” he says. “When you learn about each patient and how you can best help them, they open up. They aren’t a symptom or a list of medications or a past medical history. They are a living, breathing, wonderful person, and it’s my goal to make sure they have a vibrant life and are as healthy as possible.”

    Reaching that goal, Dr. Sico says, is finding ways to prevent illness and understanding the concerns that brought the patient to see him. One of the best parts of his job, he adds, is his dual training as a neurologist and internist. “I did this to be able to look at neurologic diseases that are common in primary care. There aren’t enough neurologists in the country, which is expected to get worse as the population continues to age and we see more diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s,” he says.

    Dr. Sico also helped establish a national telestroke program across the Veterans Health Administration.

    “We service over 70 different hospitals. If a veteran is suspected of having a stroke, they'll start off with an evaluation,” he explains. “They'll give someone like me a call, and then we'll get on the iPad and talk to them through a telehealth application. Plus, we outfit all the medical centers with the equipment that they need to do things at their end. We figure out what steps they need to take very quickly because for acute stroke care, the sooner we can decide someone is having a stroke and offer them clot-busting medication or other therapies, the better.”

    For stroke research, Dr. Sico is interested in secondary prevention. “Once someone has had a transient ischemic attack, or TIA, we want to know if we can identify what contributed to their stroke in the first place. What we need to do to meet their evolved needs and how could we prevent another stroke,” he says. “My research also includes entire healthcare system interventions to help improve care transitions as people go back into the community and in a way that improves communication and collaboration between the specialists who took care of them in the hospital and their primary care providers who give them longitudinal care for issues like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and other issues.”

    Other research pursuits include addressing post-stroke sleep apnea, which is common, and working with headache disorders, including using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for headache and migraine disease.

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