Graduated Clinical Scholars in Informatics Residents

2021-2024 Clinical Scholars in Informatics (CSI) Residents

(left to right: Thomas Weber, MD; Ted Xiao, MD; Sarah Stern, MD; Matt Ellis, MD; John Gehris, MD
and Brad Rowland, MD)

Graduated Scholars

Andrew Benefield, MD (2017-2019)

Project Title: "Improving Social Determinants of Health through the Delivery of Community Resources"
Mentor Team: Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics), Nancy Denizard-Thompson, MD (Internal Medicine)

Where is he now? Hematology and Oncology faculty, Baptist Memorial Hospital, Mississippi

Sean Hernandez, MD (2017-2019)

Project Title: "The Impact of an Automated Alert System to Primary Oncologists on Inpatient Goals-of-Care Conversations and End-of-Life Care"
Mentor Team: Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics), Heidi Klepin, MD (Hematology/Oncology)

Where is he now? Hospitalist/Clinical Informaticist, Orlando Health, FL and Adjunct Professor of Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, North Carolina

Caleb Melancon, MD (2018-2020)

Mentor Team: Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics); Sean Rudnick, MD (Gastroenterology)
Project Title: "Design and Development of Clinical Decision Support Tools for Chronic Gastroenterological Disease Management"

Where is he now? Director Hospital Medicine, Apogee Physicians, Louisiana

Stephen Allen Petty, MD (2018-2020)

Mentor Team: Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics); Carl Grey, MD (Palliative Care Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine)
Project Title: “Implementing Predictive Modeling to Increase Advance Care Planning Completion in Outpatient IM Resident Clinics”

Where is he now? Cardiovascular Disease Fellow, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville

Anand Dwivedi, MD (2019-2021)

Mentor Team: Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics); Deepak Palakshappa, MD (Internal Medicine); Richa Bundy, MPH (Biostatistician); Adam Moses, MHA (Informatics)
Project Title: “Addressing Coverage Gaps in Uninsured and Underinsured Outpatient Department Clinic Patients through Expanding ACA Awareness”

Where is he now? Gastroenterology Fellow, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine

Joel Joseph, MD (2019-2021)

Mentor Team: Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics); Michael Olivier, MD (Precision Medicine); Sean Hernandez, MD (Informatics); Richa Bundy, MPH (Biostatistician); Adam Moses, MHA (Informatics)
Project Title: “Use of Whole Genome Sequencing in Familial Colorectal Cancers”

Where is he now? Gastroenterology Fellow, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine

Katie Garling, DO (2019-2021)

Mentor Team: Alysha Taxter, MD (Informatics); Jeanna Auriemma, MD (General Pediatrics); Eric Kirkendall, MBI, MD (Informatics); Richa Bundy, MPH (Biostatistician); Adam Moses, MHA (Informatics); Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics)
Project Title: “Automating Social Determinant of Health Documentation to Improve Patient Tracking and Clinic Reimbursement”

Where is she now? Urgent Care faculty, Children's Hospital of the King's Daughter, Virginia

Nikhil Patel, MD (2020-2022)

Mentor Team: Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics); Brandon Stacey, MD (Cardiovascular Medicine); Richa Bundy, MPH (Biostatistician); Adam Moses, MHA (Informatics)
Project Title: "Design and Implementation of Clinical Decision Support Tool for Management of Device Therapy in Congestive Heart Failure"

Where is he now? Cardiovascular Disease Fellow, Wake Forest School of Medicine

Travis Skipina, MD (2020-2022)

Mentor Team: Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics); Erin Barnes, MD (Infectious Disease); Richa Bundy, MPH (Biostatistician); Adam Moses, MHA (Informatics)
Project Title: "Accurate identification of intravenous drug users at a tertiary teaching hospital: a harm reduction and cost-savings effort"

Where is he now? Cardiovascular Disease Fellow, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine

Matthew Ellis, MD (2021-2023)

Mentor Team: Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics); Nancy Denizard-Thompson, MD (Internal Medicine); Nyree Thorne, MD (Gastroenterology); Sean Hernandez, MD (Informatics); Richa Bundy, MPH (Biostatistician); Adam Moses, MHA (Informatics); Lauren Witek, MS (Biostatistician)
Project Title: "Implementing High-Value Care: Reducing Cost through Improving ProviderAwareness of Laboratory Test Expenses"

Where is he now? Assistant Chief of Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine

Bradley Rowland, MD (2021-2023)

Mentor Team: Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics); Donna Williams, MD (Internal Medicine); Richa Bundy, MPH (Biostatistician); Adam Moses, MHA (Informatics); Lauren Witek, MS (Biostatistician)
Project Title: Validating and Operationalizing Cognitive Computing to Reduce Unplanned Readmissions"

Where is he now? Hospitalist faculty, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, North Carolina

Sarah Stern, MD (2021-2023)

Mentor Team: Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics); Christopher Kelly, MD (Internal Medicine); Matthew Gorris, MD (Endocrinology); Richa Bundy, MPH (Biostatistician); Adam Moses, MHA(Informatics); Lauren Witek, MS (Biostatistician)
Project Title: "Improving Insulin Safety in Hospitalized Patients through EMR-Based ClinicalDecision Support"

Where is she now? Assistant Chief of Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine

John Gehris, MD (2022-2024)

Mentor Team: Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics); Dustin Norton, MD (Pulmonology); Christopher Kelly, MD (Internal Medicine); Richa Bundy, MPH (Biostatistician); Adam Moses, MHA (Informatics); Lauren Witek, MS (Biostatistician)
Project Title: "Streamlining a Comprehensive Approach to Smoking Cessation by Means of an Electronic Health Record Guidance and Support Tool"

Where is he now? Hospital Medicine, Novant Health, North Carolina

Ted Xiao, MD (2022-2024)

Mentor Team: Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics); Sean Rudnick, MD (Hepatology); Sara Atwater, MD (Internal Medicine); Jessica Koontz, MD (Internal Medicine); Richa Bundy, MPH (Biostatistician); Adam Moses, MHA (Informatics); Lauren Witek, MS (Informatics)
Project Title: "Implementation of Clinical Decision Support (CDS) toolset for Early Detection of MASLD Patients at risk for Liver Fibrosis in Primary Care Settings."

Where is she now? Gastroenterology Fellow, Emory University School of Medicine

Thomas Weber, MD (2022-2024)

Mentor Team: Ajay Dharod, MD (Informatics); Elizabeth Halvorson, MD (Pediatric-Hospitalist); Richa Bundy, MPH (Biostatistician); Adam Moses, MHA (Informatics); Lauren Witek, MS (Biostatistician); Corey Obermiller, MStat (Biostatistician)
Project Title: "Review of Pediatric Reference Ranges for Creatinine in the Electronic Health Record (EHR)"

Where is she now? Pediatric Emergency Fellow, Stanford University School of Medicine

Peer-Reviewed Presentations, Posters, Manuscripts and Other Funding

Poster Presentation(s)

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

Sarah Stern in front of academic poster.

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.

Oral Presentations

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.

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.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

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.

Internal Grant(s)/Funding Related to CSI Projects

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

External Grant(s)/Funding Related to CSI Projects

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

Technology Transfer and Commercialization

Research Focus Areas

Translation to Care

More Resources