Leadership Change for YCCI’s Community Engagement Program

October 17, 2011

Margaret Grey, DrPH, RN, FAAN, Dean of the Yale School of Nursing, has been named Director, T3 translational research core for YCCI, effective October 1, 2011.

Grey, who is also the Annie W. Goodrich Professor, has been at Yale since January, 1993 and has been dean of the nursing school since 2005. A pediatric nurse practitioner, her research has focused on the development and efficacy of behavioral interventions that improve both metabolic control of diabetes and the quality of life in young people and their parents as well as preventing type 2 diabetes in high risk youth. She has been principal investigator for grants totaling over $25 million. "Dean Grey brings a wealth of expertise to our community-based research efforts and we are delighted that she will be leading our program," said Robert Sherwin, MD, CNH Long Professor of Medicine and director of YCCI. "We're excited about her expanded role in YCCI and we look forward to supporting her efforts to bring the university and community together to conduct meaningful research."

Grey assumes the position following the departure of former co-director Jeannette Ickovics, PhD, professor of epidemiology (chronic diseases) and psychology. As an active investigator, Ickovics will be focusing on her own research activities that include issues related to women's reproductive health. She is the Principal Investigator on studies supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH), including randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effects of an innovative model of prenatal care to reduce HIV/STD risk and promote better perinatal outcomes among pregnant teens. "Jeanette is an incredibly talented researcher. We understand her decision to focus on her own research efforts and have valued her contribution," said Sherwin.

Grey serves on YCCI's Executive Committee and as a research mentor for YCCI Scholars. She has been instrumental in the development of practice-based research networks in nursing, including the School of Nursing's Advanced Practice Registered Nurses' Research Network (APRNet). With the support of Yale's Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), she and nursing school faculty have worked with YCCI to expand the network into a larger interdisciplinary practice-based network known as NetHaven. The network merges APRNet's infrastructure and community practices with YCCI resources and expertise in study design, analysis and regulatory support to prepare the way for larger and more sophisticated clinical research studies within the community.

As a researcher who conducts community-based research, Grey is looking forward to taking YCCI's efforts in this area to the next level. "Yale has an abundance of faculty engaged in community-based participatory research and YCCI has created a robust infrastructure for research, so I'm excited to take on the challenge of this program," she said.

Grey's vision includes working with investigators in the School of Medicine, the School of Public Health and across the institution to improve health in communities by promoting research that supports rapid dissemination, implementation, and sustained use of effective interventions to prevent and treat common health problems such as asthma, obesity, diabetes, violence, and addictions. "We intend to bring together scientists from all disciplines with clinicians in our community health centers and community-based practice research networks to expand the ability to adapt innovative approaches to delivery in the community and conduct effectiveness trials to test outcomes" remarked Grey.

A few of her specific aims include:

• Increasing awareness, interest, and participation in translational research at Yale
• Enhancing translational research education and training opportunities for patients, students, scientists, clinicians and community partners
• Attracting and re-training new investigators from multiple fields to conduct translational research
• Providing community partners with the skills and resources to implement high quality translational research in community settings
• Fostering interdisciplinary collaborations required to advance translational research

Grey has asked Lois Sadler, PhD, RN, PNP-BC, FAAN, professor at the Yale School of Nursing and the Yale Child Study Center to continue to serve as Associate Director. Rafael Perez-Escamilla, PhD, (YSPH) and Patrick O'Connor, MD (YSM) will be joining Sadler as Associate Directors for the program. All three will focus on training and developing research support and infrastructure to support the program.