logo Click here for the Department of Medicine Home Page Click here for the UC Irvine Home Page Click here for the School of Medicine Home Page
 
 

Research

Faculty members of the Division of General Internal Medicine & Primary Care are intensively engaged in a broad range of research initiatives. They include:

Cancer-Related Health Disparities

Division faculty members have an established track record for extramural funding in the area of cancer-related health disparities research. Drs. Allan Hubbell and Israel De Alba study the behavioral, social and economic determinants of cancer prevention and control in special populations.

Dr. Sheldon Greenfield and Sherrie Kaplan, PhD, along with researcher Dana Mukamel, PhD, have made considerable contributions to cancer-related disparities research in the area of medical outcomes and health care economics.

Geriatrics

Dr. Solomon Liao studies end-of-life issues in the elderly, including palliative and hospice care, as well as elder abuse and mistreatment. He also is engaged in developing curricula to advance the training of medical students in these areas.

Medical Education

Drs. Lloyd Rucker and Alpesh Amin are participants in the School of Medicine's Research in Medical Education, a research interest group focused on developing and implementing methods for improving medical education across the curriculum. They have studied patients' perceptions of physicians and have developed an innovative approach to teaching medical students how to build positive doctor-patient relationships.

Medical Ethics

Dr. Felicia Cohn, director of Medical Ethics for UC Irvine's School of Medicine, studies ethical issues with clinical applicability, including patient safety and proactive ethics intervention in intensive care unit settings.

Reducing Racial Disparities in Diabetes

Drs. Kaplan, De Alba and Greenfield, as well as researchers Dana Mukamel and Dara Sorkin, are conducting novel research to address health disparities in caring for and reducing type 2 diabetes in at-risk populations.

Working together in the "Reducing Racial Disparities in Diabetes: The Coached Care Project," the investigators seek to train community-based coaches who can improve patient-provider relationships and empower individuals to take an active role in their care. The initiative is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Weight Management

The Division of General Internal Medicine & Primary Care is actively engaged in studying methods to improve general health and reduce obesity. As part of this initiative, Dr. Morris Hasson leads a successful program that helps patients manage their weight. He also is the principal investigator of an industry-sponsored study of weight management.

Women's Health

Dr. Hubbell is the principal investigator of the Women's Health Initiative at UC Irvine, part of a massive national research project to track heart disease, cancer and osteoporosis in 160,000 older women to answer important questions about the causes and prevention of these degenerative diseases. The university's 16-year project is funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.