The Clinical Scholars in Informatics (CSI) pathway is a two-year program designed for trainees to further develop clinical skills in informatics and health information technologies with the support and guidance of the Informatics and Analytics mentorship team.
Pathway Curriculum
These skills can open up opportunities for:
- Research
- Improving healthcare quality and safety
- Making Electronic Health Record workflows more efficient
Through a competitive application process, trainees are selected for the pathway.

In their training, Clinical Scholars in Informatics residents will:
- Obtain EPIC Physician Builder certification with privileges to modify the Electronic Health Record in collaboration with Information Technology Services (ITS). This includes travel to EPIC headquarters as well as building a marketable skillset that can be valuable for future fellowship and faculty positions
- Receive commendation and a certificate of completion during the yearly Internal Medicine Awards Day
- Have an opportunity to shape a future career in informatics
- Receive a $2,500 stipend to be used for data extraction, statistical analysis, travel for presentations/conferences or informatics-related educational materials. This stipend is in addition to trainee travel funding
- Participate in informatics journal club
Clinical Scholars in Informatics residents are expected to:
- Design and implement an informatics-related project (can be in general medicine or a subspecialty area) by the end of their PGY2 year
- Evaluate the impact of the project within the health system and submit to both the Wake Forest Quality Improvement Showcase and Internal Medicine Research Day in their PGY3 year
- Draft and submit a completed manuscript of the project and evaluation of impact in a relevant journal

2024 - 2027 Clinical Scholars in Informatics (CSI) Residents
(left to right): John Hunting, MD, Bradley Rowland, MD, Danny Stamos, MD, John Paul Carlson, MD, Robert Alavi, MD, Chloe Caudell, MD, Christian Pulliam, DO, Tyler George, MD, James Miller, MD, Ajay Dharod, MD
James Miller, MD
Mentor Team: Sean Rudnick, MD (Hepatology); Bradley Rowland, MD (Hospitalist); Richa Bundy (Biostatistician); Adam Moses, MHA (Informatics); Lauren Witek, MStat (Biostatistician); Corey Obermiller, MStat (Biostatistician); Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics)
Project Title: "Implementing Screening Advisories for Identification of Patients At Risk for Advanced Liver Disease in an Expansive Primary Care Network"
Daniel Stamos, MD
Mentor Team: Heidi Klepin, MD (Hematology and Oncology); Bradley Rowland, MD (Hospitalist); Richa Bundy, MPH (Biostatistician); Adam Moses, MHA, PMP (Informatics); Lauren Witek, MStat (Biostatistician); Corey Obermiller, MStat (Biostatistician); Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics)
Project Title: "Implementation of the Practical Geriatric Assessment into the Electronic Health Record to Increase Provider Usage and Address Geriatric Impairments"
Chloe Caudell, MD
Mentor Team: Heather Clark, MD, PhD (Pulmonology); Bradley Rowland, MD (Hospitalist); Richa Bundy (Biostatistician); Corey Obermiller, MStat (Biostatistician); Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics)
Project Title: "Improving the screening, diagnosis, and management of Pulmonary Hypertension in patients with COPD or ILD"
John Paul Carlson, MD
Mentor Team: Matthew Painter, MD (Acute Care Surgery); Bradley Rowland, MD (Hospitalist); Richa Bundy (Biostatistician); Corey Obermiller, MStat (Biostatistician); Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics)
Project Title: "Evaluating the Utility of the PIC Score in Rib Fracture Management: A Single-Center Quality Improvement Study"
Tyler George, MD & Christian Pulliam, DO
Mentor Team: Dustin Norton, MD (Pulmonology); Bradley Rowland, MD (Hospitalist); Richa Bundy (Biostatistician); Corey Obermiller, MStat (Biostatistician); Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics)
Project Title: "Implementation of a decision support tool to improve guideline-based inhaler use among patients presenting to the emergency department with Asthma or COPD exacerbation"
Rachel Moffett, MD
Mentor Team: Andrew DeLamos, MD (Hepatology); Bradley Rowland, MD (Hospitalist); Richa Bundy (Biostatistician); Corey Obermiller, MStat (Biostatistician); Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics)
Project Title: “A Retrospective Analysis Comparing FIB-4 and SAFE Scores as Screening Modalities for Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease"
Nicholas Majors, MD
Mentor Team: Andrew Nunn, MD (Acute Care Surgery); Shayn Martin, MD, MBA (Acute Care Surgery); Bradley Rowland, MD (Hospitalist); Richa Bundy (Biostatistician); Corey Obermiller, MStat (Biostatistician); Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics)
Project Title: "Intensive Care Unit Readmission and Mortality Risk Score as a Predictive Tool to Aid Clinical Decision Making “
Robert Alavi, MD
Mentor Team: Roy Strowd, MD, MEd, MS (Neurology); Sudhir Vishwas Datar, MD (Neurology); Bradley Rowland, MD (Hospitalist); Richa Bundy (Biostatistician); Corey Obermiller, MStat (Biostatistician); Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics)
Project Title: "Evaluating and improving the prehabilitation workflow process prior to radiation therapy"
CSI-Related, Peer-Reviewed Presentations, Posters, Manuscripts and Other Funding
Anderson V, George T, Witek L, Bundy R, Obermiller C, Moses A, Rowland B, Dharod A, Palakshappa J. Race and Sex Bias in a Proprietary ICU Readmission and Mortality Risk Model. CHEST Annual Meeting. Boston, MA. October 2024
Ellis M, Witek L, Obermiller C, Bundy R, Moses A, Dharod A, Thorne N, Hernandez S, Denizard-Thompson, N. Implementing High-Value Care with Ambulatory Costs Transparency (ACT): Improving Provider Awareness of Orders Expenses. Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM). Boston, MA, May 2024
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Ted Xiao (left) and Sarah Stern (right)
Gehris J, Witek L, Bundy R, Obermiller C, Moses A, Brown P, Sutfin E, Kelly C, Dharod A, and Norton D. Quantifying Smoking Cessations Interventions and Smoking Related Screening in the Primary Care Setting. Wake Forest School of Medicine Internal Medicine Research Symposium. Winston-Salem, NC. May 2023.
Stern S, Moses A, Bundy R, Dharod A, Witek L, Kelly C, Burns C, Gorris M. Developing a Model to Predict Inpatient Hypoglycemia. Wake Forest School of Medicine Internal Medicine Research Symposium. Winston-Salem, NC. May 2023.
Moses A, Bundy R, Dharod A, Witek L, Herring K, Liu C, Maffei V, Lippert W, Stern S. Right on Time - Designing a Tool in the Electronic Health Record to Help Residents Better Anticipate Direct Admissions. Wake Forest School of Medicine Internal Medicine Research Symposium. Winston-Salem, NC. May 2023.
Awards: 1st Place Winner: QI category.

Ajay Dharod, MD, (left) and Andrew Benefield, MD, (right)
Xiao T, Witek L, Bundy R, Moses A, Obermiller C, Dharod A, Russo M, Rudnick S; Low Linkage to Subspecialty Care in Patients with NAFLD at High Risk of Advanced Fibrosis in the Primary Care Setting. Digestive Disease Week (DDW). Chicago, IL. May 2023.
Stern S, Moses A, Bundy R, Dharod A, Witek L, Kelly C, Burns C, Gorris M. Developing a Model to Predict Inpatient Hypoglycemia. Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) Annual Meeting. Aurora, CO. May 2023.
Rowland B, Bundy A, Moses A, Dharod A, Williams D; 30-Day Unplanned Readmission Risk Model Performance and the COVID-19 Pandemic. American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) Annual Symposium. Washington, DC. November 2022.
Stern S, Herring K, Maffei V, Liu C, Bundy R, Moses A, Lippert W, Dharod A; Right on Time - Designing a Tool in the Electronic Medical Record to Help Residents Better Anticipate Direct Admissions. Updates on Hospital Medicine. Hilton Head SC. September 2022.
Patel N, Bundy R, Moses A, Dharod A, Stacey RB; Feasibility Analysis to Implement a Clinical Decision Support Tool for Device Therapy in Congestive Heart Failure. North Carolina American College of Physicians Annual Meeting Poster Competition. Virtual. February 2022.
Xaoi T, Melancon C, Bundy R, Moses A, Dharod A, Rudnick S; Implementation of a clinical decision support (CDS) tool improves provider satisfaction in Hepatology clincis. American Association for the Study of Liver Disease: The Liver Meeting. Virtual. November 2021.
Petty SA, Moses A, Bundy R, Morris, CF, Grey C, Dharod A; Implementing Predictive Modeling to Increase Advance Care Planning Completion in Outpatient IM Resident Clinics. North Carolina Chapter of the American College of Physicians (ACP) Annual Scientific Session. Greensboro, NC. February 2020.
Benefield A, Denizard-Thompson N, Moses A, Dharod A; Improving Social Determinants of Health through the Delivery of Community Resources. WFBMC Quality Improvement (QI) Showcase. Winston-Salem, NC. May 2019.
Hernandez S, Klepin H, Moses A, Dharod A; Facilitating Inpatient Goals of Care Conversations: Developing An Automated Alert System to Promote Inpatient End-Of-Life Discussions Between Primary Oncologists and Patients. Wake Forest School of Medicine Internal Medicine Research Symposium. Winston-Salem, NC. Winston-Salem, NC. May 2019.
Awards: 1st Place Winner: QI category.
Ellis M, Witek L, Obermiller C, Bundy R, Moses A, Dharod A, Thorne N, Hernandez S, Denizard-Thompson, N. Implementing High-Value Care with Ambulatory Costs Transparency (ACT): Improving Provider Awareness of Orders Expenses. North Carolina User Group Meeting (NC UGM). Greensboro, NC. March 2024.
Gehris J, Witek L, Bundy R, Obermiller C, Moses A, Brown P, Sutfin E, Kelly C, Dharod A, and Norton D. Quantifying Smoking Cessations Interventions and Smoking Related Screening in the Primary Care Setting. The American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) Annual Meeting. Honolulu, Hawai’i. October 2023.
Moses A, Bundy R, Dharod A, Witek L, Herring K, Liu C, Maffei V, Lippert W, Stern S; Right on Time - Designing a Tool in the Electronic Health Record to Help Residents Better Anticipate Direct Admissions. North Carolina User Group Meeting (NC UGM). Greensboro, NC. February 2023.
Skipina T, Bundy R, Rajendran S, Topaloglu U, Moses A, Dharod A, Barnes E; Development and Validation of a Natural Language Processing Algorithm to Identify Persons Who Inject Drugs. American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) Clinical Informatics Conference (CIC). Houston, TX. May 2022.
Petty SA, Morris CF, Moses A, Bundy R, Grey C, Dharod A; Implementing Predictive Modeling to Increase Advance Care Planning Completion in Outpatient IM Resident Clinics. North Carolina Epic Users Group Meeting (NC UGM). Greensboro, NC. March 2020.
Benefield A, Moses A, Dharod A; Improving Social Determinants of Health through the Delivery of Community Resources, Social Care Forum. American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) Clinical Informatics Conference (CIC). Atlanta, GA. May 2019.
Hernandez S, Klepin H, Moses A, Dharod A; Admission Notices: A Novel Way to Promote Inpatient Goals of Care Conversations with Cancer Patients. Epic Experts General Meeting (XGM). Verona, WI. May 2019.
Dharod A, Gurcan M, Kohn M, Topaloglu U, Well B; S13 Panel: Developing Biomedical Informatics Capability to Support Learning Health System: Challenges and Potential Solutions. American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) Annual Symposium. Washington, DC. November 2019.
Benefield A, Moses A, Dharod A; Improving Social Determinants of Health through the Delivery of Community Resources, Social Care Forum. Epic Users Group Meeting (UGM). Verona, WI. August 2018.
Sheehan KN, Cioci AL, Lucioni TM, & Hernandez SM (2024). Resident-Driven Clinical Decision Support Governance to Improve the Utility of Clinical Decision Support. Applied Clinical Informatics, 15(2), 335–341. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0044-1786682

Ajay Dharod, MD
Palakshappa, D., Benefield, A. J., Furgurson, K. F., Harley, M. G., Bundy, R., Moses, A., Taxter, A. J., Bensinger, A. S., Cao, X., Denizard-Thompson, N., Rosenthal, G. E., & Miller, D. P. (2021). Feasibility of Mobile Technology to Identify and Address Patients' Unmet Social Needs in a Primary Care Clinic. Population Health Management, 24(3), 385 -392. https://doi.org/10.1089/pop.2020.0059
Kohn, M. S., Topaloglu, U., Kirkendall, E. S., Dharod, A., Wells, B. J., & Gurcan, M. (2021). Creating learning health systems and the emerging role of biomedical informatics. Learning Health Systems, 6(1), e10259. https://doi.org/10.1002/lrh2.10259
Dharod, A., Atkinson, H., & Rosenthal, G. (2019). The CSI (Clinical Scholars in Informatics): A Novel Internal Medicine (IM) Resident-Driven Applied Informatics Pathway. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 34(2 Suppl), S852.
Unassigned
PI: Sean Hernandez
05/31/2020 - 12/31/2020
Wake Forest Center for Precision Medicine Pilot Grant Award
Use of Whole Genome Sequencing in Familial Colorectal Cancers
This pilot grant seeks to evaluate the results from current targeted genetic sequencing performed in patients, who have been identified as high risk for familial colorectal cancer and referred to Genetic Counseling, to test the hypothesis that whole genome sequencing can replicate the results of targeted genetic testing panels in patients with known pathogenic variants consistent with colorectal cancer.
Co-Investigators: Joel Joseph, Girish Mishra, Adam Moses, Richa Bundy, Kathryn Calloway, Jeannie Chan, Ajay Dharod, Michael Olivier
Unassigned
PI: Palakshappa
07/01/2018-06/30/2019
Wake Forest Learning Health System Pilot Grant Award
Using Digital Technologies to Identify and Address Patients’ Unmet Social Needs
The goal of this study is to develop and pilot test a tablet-based social determinants of health screening process that identifies patients with unmet social needs at the time of care delivery, seamlessly integrates with the electronic health record, and automatically alerts providers.
Co-Investigators: Andrew Benefield, David Miller, Alysha Jo Taxter, Nancy Denizard-Thompson, Petro Gniji, Daisy Valdovino
Unassigned
Palakshappa (PI)
07/01/2019-06/30/2020
American Medical Association Practice Transformation Imitative
Addressing Social Determinants of Health to Reduce Physician Burnout
Although clinicians recognize the impact of the social determinants of health (SDH) on patient care, clinicians feel they do not have the time or knowledge to effectively address patients’ unmet social needs in the clinic. This can lead to feelings of distress and helplessness. The objective of this study is to test the impact of a tablet-based platform that enhances the role of support staff to address SDH on clinician burnout.
Co-Investigators: Ajay Dharod, Andrew Benefield, Kirsten Feiereisel, Nancy Denizard Thompson, Claudia Campos, David Miller, Justin Moore

