Leadership
Leadership
Program Leadership Executive Committee External Advisory Board Faculty Mentors
Program Leadership
Benzi Kluger, MD, MS
Professor of Neurology and Medicine
Founding Director, Palliative Care Research Center
Founding Chief, Neuropalliative Care Division
benzi_kluger@urmc.rochester.edu
Ronald Epstein, MD
Professor of Family Medicine
Oncology and Medicine Co-Director
Center for Communication and Disparities Research
ronald_epstein@urmc.rochester.edu
Laurel Buchanan
T32 Program Administrator
Laurel_Buchanan@URMC.Rochester.edu
Executive Committee (Internal Advisory Board)
Charles White
External Advisory Board
The External Advisory Board consists of nationally recognized leaders in aging, palliative care, communication, behavioral interventions, implementation science, and health services research.
- Anne Basting, PhD
- Mary Catherine Beach, MD, MPH
- Susan Enguidanos, PhD, MPH
- Jean Kutner, MD, MPH
- Victor Montori, MD
- Sean Morrison, MD
- Holly Prigerson, PhD
- Alexander Smith, MD, MPH, MS
- Ana-Maria Vranceanu, PhD
Faculty Mentors
The GROWS-BPS program brings together a multidisciplinary group of mentors representing medicine, nursing, public health, psychology, health services research, geriatrics, oncology, neurology, implementation science, computer science, biostatistics, and community-engaged research.
Paula Amina Alio, Ph.D.
Professor
Primary department or program: Public Health Sciences
Research interests: Health Disparities, Health Equity, Community Engagement, Global Health
Shubing Cai, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Primary department or program: Public Health Sciences
Research interests: Health disparity in quality of and access to care among older adults
Thomas V. Caprio, M.D.
Professor
Primary department or program: Medicine, Geriatrics and Aging
Research interests: Geriatrics, Gerontology, Home Care, Palliative Care & End-of-Life Care
Ronald M. Epstein, M.D.
Professor
Primary department or program: Family Medicine
Research interests: Clinical communication in serious illness
Kevin A. Fiscella, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
Primary department or program: Family Medicine
Research interests: Health Equity Implementation Research
Jennifer S. Gewandter, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Associate Professor
Primary department or program: Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine
Research interests: Developing novel therapies for chronic pain through improving clinical trial design and conducting high-quality clinical trials
Chad R. Heatwole, M.D., M.S.
Professor
Primary department or program: Neurology, Center for Health and Technology
Research interests: Experimental Therapeutics
Kathi L. Heffner-Johnson, Ph.D.
Professor
Primary department or program: Medicine, Geriatrics and Aging
Research interests: Stress, immune function, and well-being in aging; psycho-neuroimmunology; clinical trials with older adults
Robert G. Holloway, M.D., M.P.H.
Professor
Primary department or program: Neurology
Research interests: Experimental therapeutics and outcomes research within neurology
Ehsan Hoque, Ph.D.
Professor
Primary department or program: Computer Science
Research interests: Artificial Intelligence, human-centric computing
Michelle C. Janelsins-Benton, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Professor
Primary department or program: Surgery, Cancer Control
Research interests: Clinical, psychological, and biological mechanisms of cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI); behavioral and pharmacological interventions to alleviate cognitive impairments and other side effects in cancer patients and survivors
Charles S. Kamen, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Associate Professor
Primary department or program: Surgery, Cancer Control
Research interests: Cancer-related health disparities affecting sexual and gender minority (SGM; e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, LGBT) cancer survivors; behavioral interventions to address these disparities
Benzi M. Kluger, M.D., M.S.
Professor
Primary department or program: Medicine, Palliative Care
Research interests: Neuropalliative Care
Yue Li, Ph.D.
Professor
Primary department or program: Public Health Sciences
Research interests: Quality of care, risk adjustment, Medicare reforms, state policy, long-term care, racial and ethnic disparities
Kah Poh Loh, B.Med.Sci., M.B.B.Ch., B.A.O., M.S.
Associate Professor
Primary department or program: Medicine, Hematology/Oncology
Research interests: Geriatric Oncology
Jiebo Luo, Ph.D.
Professor
Primary department or program: Computer Science
Research interests: AI in Healthcare
Allison Magnuson, D.O.
Associate Professor
Primary department or program: Medicine, Hematology/Oncology
Research interests: Cancer, cognition, and aging intersection; behavioral intervention development
Michael P. McDermott, Ph.D.
Professor
Primary department or program: Biostatistics and Computational Biology
Research interests: Clinical trials methodology
Supriya G. Mohile, M.D., M.S.
Professor
Primary department or program: Medicine, Hematology/Oncology
Research interests: Geriatric Oncology
Sally A. Norton, Ph.D., R.N.
Professor
Primary department or program: Medicine, Palliative Care
Research interests: Palliative Care
Lainie F. Ross, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
Primary department or program: Health Humanities and Bioethics
Research interests: Ethical and policy issues
Fahad Saeed, M.B.B.S.
Associate Professor
Primary department or program: Medicine, Nephrology
Research interests: Geriatric and Palliative Care in Nephrology Patients
Kimberly A. Van Orden, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Primary department or program: Psychiatry
Research interests: Social connection & mental health; behavioral interventions
Edith M. Williams, M.S., Ph.D.
Professor
Primary department or program: Public Health Sciences
Research interests: Behavioral intervention to improve outcomes in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)