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Director of Research: Gregory Heath, DHSc, MPH |
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The UT College of Medicine Chattanooga recognizes the importance of research in our residency programs and has incorporated research into the curriculum of each program. Increased efforts from faculty and residents in various research projects have resulted in a much greater number of projects being completed, including many original activities that have received state and national attention. One project has been well-received in the international arena. At this point most of our residents are involved in one or more studies, many of which have been or will be published. |
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The first Director of Research, Dr. Colleen Schmitt, and a Research Advisory Committee, developed an Annual Research Methods Symposium as part of the overall Institutional Core Curriculum. The Office of Research has strongly encouraged the residency programs to require their residents, at least once during their training, to attend a one-day conference dealing with topics such as: choosing a clinical research project and mentor; developing a study hypothesis and aims; designing a study protocol; collecting, entering, and analyzing data; writing an abstract; presenting a poster and delivering an oral presentation; and ethical issues in research, including IRB guidelines, issues in informed consent, and financial disclosure. Faculty and research staff are also invited to attend the conference. In September 2005, the symposium was expanded to two days and included opportunities to collaborate with researchers throughout the region, including UTC, local businesses, and the Oak Ridge National Research Laboratory. A CD-ROM is being made available with the presentations from the September 2005 symposium. |
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The UT College of Medicine Chattanooga has also established an Institutional Review Board (IRB), an entity responsible for reviewing all research performed by University of Tennessee faculty members, residents, medical students or other individuals conducting research at our primary clinical training site, Erlanger Medical Center or in physician private offices. As a result of the reputations of our University faculty and the outstanding clinical facilities at Erlanger, we are participating in a number of multi-center, national research studies. Current, the IRB has approved 190 active studies, of which 150 are being conducted by UT faculty members. In addition to these formal research projects, the IRB ha approved approximately 15 retrospective chart reviews involving our faculty and resident research. |
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Research projects are currently being conducted in the following areas: Oncology, Hypertension, Pediatrics, Cardiology, OB/GYN, Plastic Surgery, Gynecologic Oncology, Neurology, Infectious Disease, Orthopedics, Trauma/Surgery and Internal Medicine. |
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The UT College of Medicine Chattanooga has reached the stage where a total infrastructure is needed which will more adequately support the growing needs of current and future endeavors. Consequently, we are in the early stages of creating a Medical Research Center. This Center will serve as a catalyst for cutting-edge medical innovation and will serve all physicians and other medical personnel interested in performing medical research. It will be composed of an Office of the Medical Director for Research, grant writers, statisticians, research associates and other support staff. |
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We anticipate
that the initial Center will be in a facility large enough to house a
number of clinical trials and a smaller area for original clinical or
applied research. We
anticipate that these needs will increase rapidly over the next several
years so the space needs to be expandable to two to three times its
original size. To accomplish
this we are in the process of creating a Medical Research Foundation,
which will responsible for acquiring the funding needs of this Center. The Medical Research Center will provide support for each of the teaching programs of the UT College of Medicine Chattanooga, as well as, the needs of others throughout the region. Efforts are underway to collaborate with the University of Tennessee College of Medicine Memphis, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Unum/Provident Insurance Company and local health insurance companies, local healthcare providers, and Purdue University. We anticipate that the Center will be created over the next several years. The early focus of the Center will involve: 1.
Acute
and rehabilitative care of trauma victims. 2.
Rehabilitation
of musculoskeletal injuries and developmental disabilities. 3.
Medical
care of the geriatric population. 4.
Emergency
medicine. 5.
Pharmaceutical
clinical trials. 6.
Health
performance, disease prevention and health promotion. 7.
Primary
care. 8.
General
and Specialty Surgery. Contact Dr.
Dr. Heath (gregory-heath@utc.edu)
if you or your organization are interested in supporting the Medical
Research Center or the Medical Education and Research Foundation. |
The
University of Tennessee College of Medicine Chattanooga has a
long history of quality research performed by medical students, residents
and faculty. In 1983 an institution-wide Annual Resident Research
Day was established to encourage and recognize scholarly research
efforts. This event has been expanded to an entire week highlighting
research activities and displaying research posters presented at national
medical conferences. By the mid-1990s the quantity of research had
reached the point that an Office of Research was created with a part-time
Director of Research.
The
Director of Research for the UT College of Medicine Chattanooga is
Gregory Heath, DHSc, MPH. Dr Heath was named Director in August 2005
and is a Professor in our Department of
Medicine. He also serves as Head of the Department of Health and
Human Performance at our local undergraduate campus, the University of
Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). Dr. Heath was the former lead
health scientist in the Physical Activity and Health Branch, Division of
Nutrition and Physical Activity with the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention in Atlanta. He received his master’s of public health in
epidemiology and his doctor of health science in applied physiology from
Loma Linda University in California. Among Dr. Heath's numerous awards
and honors is the Secretary's Award for Distinguished Service for his
1997 contributions to the Surgeon General's report on Physical Activity
and Health. He is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine
and a fellow of the Council on Epidemiology and Prevention with the
American Heart Association. His work has appeared in the Journal of
Applied Physiology, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, the
American Heart Journal, and the American Journal of Preventive
Medicine.