For the second year in a row, the Department of Emergency Medicine (DEM) at the Yale School of Medicine ranked first in the nation in research dollars awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as tabulated by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research. The 2022 total, $16,841,940 is the result of a wide scope of projects focused on improving quality of care locally and globally. Projects range from injury prevention in low- and middle income countries, substance use disorder, using healthcare simulation technology to address workplace violence and improve behavioral health, patient safety and healthcare disparities, identification of elder mistreatment, interventions to improve clinical outcomes for patients with dementia.
“We are very proud of all of our faculty, research staff, and grant team who helped make this possible,” said DEM Chair, Dr. Arjun Venkatesh, MD, MBA, MPH. “This is not only an outstanding accomplishment, but a demonstration of our department’s commitment to our mission to advance the science and practice of emergency medicine care as we continue to design and conduct innovative projects that make discoveries to improve the health of our patients and communities”.
The department is also proud to announce that Gail D’Onofrio, MD, MS, the Albert E. Kent Professor of Emergency Medicine, once again ranked first as the highest NIH-funded investigator in emergency medicine (EM) nationally. Dr. D’Onofrio is internationally known for her work in alcohol and other substance use disorders. She is lead investigator with David Fiellin, MD, Yale Professor of Medicine, Emergency Medicine and of Public Health, for a 26-million-dollar, Emergency Department-INitiated bupreNOrphine and VAlidaTIOn Network Trial (ED-INNOVATION) (NIH-HEAL Initiative) a study designed to implement ED-initiated buprenorphine for opioid use disorder in 30 ED sites. She is also PI of the New England Consortium Node for NIDA’s Clinical Trials Network, and PI of a NIDA K12 establishing the Yale Drug Use, Addiction and HIV Research Scholars (Yale-DAHRS) program, a mentored career development program with focused training in prevention and treatment of drug use, addiction, and HIV prevention in general medical setting.
Eight other DEM faculty, Drs. Ula Hwang, Ted Melnick, Rebekah Heckmann, Fuad Abujarad, Christine Ngaruiya, Hani Mowafi, Ambrose Wong, and Cameron Gettel, were also among the top 100 EM investigators in the national ranking.