Pennsylvania
Geisinger Clinic
Principal Investigator: Annemarie G. Hirsch, PhD, MPH
Dr. Hirsch is a chronic disease epidemiologist at Geisinger. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences (DPHS) and co-director of the Geisinger-Johns Hopkins School of Public Health (JHSPH) Environmental Health Institute. Dr. Hirsch began working with electronic health record data fifteen years ago. Her early papers include research on EHR system implementation and the impact of EHR systems on care. Her current work focuses on the novel application of health system data in epidemiological research on chronic conditions, with a concentration on diabetes and obesity. Her EHR-based studies have been funded by the CDC, NIH, AHRQ, and foundations including the Russel Sage Foundation. Currently, Dr. Hirsch is the co-chair and Geisinger co-PI of the CDC-funded Diabetes LEAD (Location, Environmental Attributes, and Disparities) Network.
Co-Investigator: Brian S. Schwartz, MD, MS
As Director of the Environmental Health Institute at the Geisinger Center for Health Research in Danville, PA, Dr. Schwartz has ongoing or developing studies of the built environment and obesity, with particular emphasis on the land use, local food, local physical activity, and social environments; the public health impacts of Marcellus shale development in Pennsylvania; the community health effects of animal feeding operations, including the risk of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA); the built environment, abandoned coal mine lands, and diabetes mellitus progression; the contribution of abandoned mine lands to community health and contextual effects; and evaluating the public health risks of energy scarcity and changing energy choices.
Co-Investigator: H. Lester Kirchner, PhD
Dr. Kirchner is a professor in the Department of Biomedical and Translational Informatics and senior biostatistician in the Division of Medicine at Geisinger Medical Center, and directs the Biostatistics Core within Geisinger Health System. His responsibilities include support of research projects across several departments and mentoring of fellows and residents. His particular interests reside with understanding long-term outcomes of chronic kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes.
About Our Center
The study of the burden of diabetes by type in children and young adults (DiCAYA) is being conducted by Geisinger’s Department of Population Health Sciences and the Geisinger and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Environmental Health Institute. Geisinger is an integrated health system that serves more than 40 counties in central and northern Pennsylvania. Geisinger began implementation of the electronic health record in 1996 and Geisinger researchers have been conducting electronic health record research for more than fifteen years, including multi-site studies in diabetes. Geisinger was a member of the SUPREME-DM (Surveillance, Prevention, and Management of Diabetes Mellitus) Network, funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and is currently a site in the Diabetes LEAD (Location, Environmental Attributes, and Disparities) Network, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Contact Information
Annemarie G. Hirsch, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor
Department of Population Health Sciences
Geisinger
100 N. Academy Ave
Danville, PA 17822-4400
Phone: 570-214-9845
aghirsch@geisinger.edu