Three College of Public Health faculty members — Ryan Carnahan, associate professor of epidemiology; Paul Gilbert, assistant professor of community and behavioral health; and Xi Zhu, associate professor of health management and policy — have been invited to attend the inaugural Emerging Leaders Forum at the National Academy of Medicine on July 17-18, 2019.

The two-day forum is a new activity of the NAM’s Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine Program. The program engages exceptional early- to mid-career professionals in health and medicine with NAM leadership, program staff, and each other to learn more about the NAM and promote interdisciplinary discussions and collaborations under the umbrella of the NAM. Through its panel discussions and small group collaborations, the forum will encourage participants to address specific, pressing challenges in health and medicine through transdisciplinary approaches and provide guidance about commonly shared personal and professional challenges.

Carnahan’s research focuses on evaluating and improving medication use and safety, particularly in older adults and people with mental health or cognitive disorders. He has led projects to improve care for people with dementia, participated in a National Quality Forum committee related to quality of care for people with dementia, participated in an expert panel on evaluating and managing behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, and has written and lectured extensively on issues related to medication management in cognitive disorders. He is also a co-lead of the Applied Surveillance Core for the Sentinel Initiative, which contributes to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s medical product safety surveillance activities.

Zhu’s research focuses on micro and macro organizational behaviors in healthcare delivery systems, especially how team design, team process, and quality improvement activities affect care quality and safety and how market and policy environments affect health organizations’ structures, strategies, and efficiency. As principle investigator or co-investigator on several extramurally funded grants, he has studied organizational strategies for providing team-based care, implementing quality improvement initiatives, transforming healthcare delivery systems, and building a local Culture of Health in rural communities.

Gilbert conducts research to understand and address alcohol-related disparities. He is particularly interested in the ways that gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation shape drinking patterns, risk of alcohol use disorders, and use of treatment services. A secondary line of research focuses on improving the health of Latino communities in non-traditional settlement states through participatory, action-oriented research.  He also partnered with colleagues at the Iowa Cancer Consortium, One Iowa, and Des Moines University to conduct a comprehensive survey of LGBTQ Iowans’ health status and needs.