The department of health policy and management at UNC Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health is pleased to announce the following recent faculty appointments and award winners:
Bryce Reeve, PhD, is an associate professor within the Department of Health Policy and Management and is also a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.
He recently served, from 2000 to 2010, as an outcomes researcher and program director at the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI). His work focuses on enhancing the application of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in clinical research and practice to improve the quality of care for pediatric and adult cancer patients. This includes the development of PRO measures using qualitative and quantitative methodologies and integration of PRO data in research and health care delivery to inform decision-making.
While at NCI, Reeve served as a NIH science officer on the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Network. The PROMIS Network provides to the public a web-based resource to dynamically administer, collect and report data on key symptom and health-related quality of life domains relevant to a variety of chronic diseases.
Also, Reeve served as the lead NCI program officer on the project to develop the patient-reported outcomes version of the common terminology criteria for adverse events (PRO-CTCAE). The goal is to employ rigorous scientific methods to create a system for patient self-reporting of adverse symptoms in cancer trials, which is widely accepted and used; generates useful data for investigators, regulators, clinicians and patients; and is compatible with existing adverse event reporting systems.
Reeve was recently elected as president of the International Society for Quality of Life Research (ISOQOL). He currently serves on NCI’s Symptom Management and Health-Related Quality of Life Steering Committee and the Steering Committee of Assessing the Symptoms of Cancer using Patient-Reported Outcomes. He also serves as an advisor for the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) group on Patient Reported Outcomes and Behavioral Evidence.
Bob Greczyn, former president and chief executive officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, is a visiting professor in health policy and management. He will work two to three days a month and be a guest lecturer on insurance, health care and health care reform as well as being a policy advisor for faculty and students and be involved in extending the school’s efforts in translating public health practice to research.
Prior to coming to UNC, Greczyn worked for Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina for eleven and a half years in which he held titles of executive vice president, chief operating officer, president and chief executive officer. During this time, Greczyn grew the company from $1.6 billion in revenue to $5.52 billion, which each year profitable; has been the fastest growing BCBS plan in the U.S.; and has been the top quartile of performance in all service metrics. Before BCBS, Greczyn was the president and chief executive officer of HealthSource Health Plans, Inc. for eight years. HealthSource Health Plans was integrated into Cigna Healthcare which Greczyn then became the president and chief executive officer of Cigna.
Greczyn received a bachelor of arts in psychology from East Carolina University and a master of public health in health administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
http://www.sph.unc.edu/schoolwide_news/greczyn_named_gillings_visiting_professor_16042_8289.html
Hobbs receives local radio station’s Village Pride Award
Suzanne Havala Hobbs, DrPH, clinical associate professor of health policy and management and of nutrition and director of the doctoral program in health leadership at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, has received The Village Pride Award from Chapel Hill radio station WCHL 1360. The award, established to recognize "hometown heroes," was presented to Hobbs on Aug. 26 for her efforts in diet, health and the policies that influence one's ability to make health-supporting lifestyle choices.
Hobbs is a registered, licensed dietitian and nationally recognized writer on food, nutrition and dietary guidance policy. Through her newspaper column, "On the Table," Hobbs explores topics involving food, nutrition and related policy issues. The column reaches more than 200,000 readers weekly in The News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) and on her blog.
Hobbs has written 13 books, including Living Dairy-Free for Dummies (Wiley, 2010), Living Vegetarian for Dummies, 2nd ed. (Wiley, 2009) Get the Trans Fat Out (Three Rivers Press, 2006), Vegetarian Cooking for Dummies (Wiley, 2001), The Natural Kitchen (Berkley, 2000), Good Foods, Bad Foods: What's Left to Eat? (Wiley, 1998), and Shopping for Health: A Nutritionist's Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Smart, Low-fat Choices at the Supermarket (HarperPerennial, 1996). She is a contributing writer for Bottom Line/Personal and has been a regular writer for Vegetarian Times, SELF and other national publications.
Hobbs is a member of the American Public Health Association, American Dietetic Association, Association of Health Care Journalists, Association of Food Journalists and the American Society of Journalists and Authors. She served on the board of directors of the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She also serves on the board of trustees of the North Carolina Writers' Network.
"I am honored to be recognized by WCHL for helping to shape our food environment and community to support good, healthy eating habits," says Hobbs.
Her interview with local celebrity Ron Stutts is available online.
Weinberger and Weiner receive UNC Sheps Center’s Distinguished Investigator Awards
Morris Weinberger, PhD, Vergil N. Slee Distinguished Professor of Healthcare Quality Management, and Professor Bryan Weiner, PhD, both in UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health's Department of Health Policy and Management, have received Distinguished Investigator Awards from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research.
Weinberger also is senior research career scientist at the Sheps Center and at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Durham, N.C., and is director of the doctoral training program in health policy and management at UNC. Weiner is director of the Program on Healthcare Organization at the Sheps Center and co-director of the health policy and management department's Cancer Care Quality Training Program.
Weinberger and Weiner, selected for outstanding research accomplishments in the field of health services research, are well known for their work as professor, mentor, board member, adviser, researcher, review committee chair, grant reviewer, guest lecturer and publisher. Weinberger has been a member of the UNC faculty for nine years and Weiner for 11 years.
"It's truly an honor to be recognized in this way," Weinberger said. "The Sheps Center has had a long and distinguished history of conducting policy-relevant health services research that has made a difference in North Carolina and throughout the nation. I am flattered to be in the company of the truly distinguished investigators who are previous recipients of this award."
The Cecil G. Sheps Center's Distinguished Investigator Award was established in 1988 and is presented every five to seven years. Both awardees were presented with a plaque at the Sheps Center's 42nd anniversary celebration on Oct. 6.