Innovation Grants Recipients

In 2023, 20 projects at medical schools and teaching hospitals received grants ranging from $10,000 to $40,000, depending on the scope of the program, for a total of $470,000 in grant awards. Fourteen Alliance member institutions are recipients. 

Shub Shanti Agrawal, MD, MBA
Emory University School of Medicine
Case Completion 101: Building a Health Equity Case Competition Toolkit

Atlee Tyler Baker, MD, MPH
LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine
Live, Work, Play, Rest: Building Trust by Enhancing Resident Education in Health Equity

Jessica L. Bunin, MD, MHPE
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Herbert School of Medicine
Training Health Equity Leaders: Implementation of a “Health Equity Rounds” Curriculum Across a National Healthcare System

David Roy Chen, MD
University of Utah
Incorporation of Community Health Workers into Internal Medicine Resident Education through Simulation-Based Learning

Jason Ehrlich, MD
Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra Northwell
Overcoming Inequity with the Eliminating Barriers Initiative: Providing Standard-of-Care Diagnostic and Management Tools to Potentiate Self-Efficacy in Underserved Patients with Poor Diabetes Control

Anisha Ganguly, MD, MPH
Parkland Health
Integration of Voter Registration within a Safety-Net Health System to Address Voting as a Social Determinant of Health

Bijal Jain, MD
Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center/Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine 
Point-of-Care Ultrasound Curriculum to Enhance Pre-Medical Education for Under-Represented Students Enrolled in a Pipeline Program

Krista M. Johnson, MD
University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
Distinction in Health Equity Track for Internal Medicine Residents

Karen Keniston, MD
University of California Los Angeles Department of Medicine
The Saban/Silverlake Community Church Clinic: A Collaborative Partnership Between a Community-Based Program and Interdisciplinary Healthcare Team

Sophia Kostelanetz, MD
One Brooklyn Health System
Health Equity Advocacy and Leadership Development

Victor Liu, MD
Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center
Building Trust with Rural Communities via Mobile Cardiovascular Screening Unit

Ana Maria Lopez, MD, MHP, MACP
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
The Arts as a Catalyst for Un-Learning and Creating a Climate of Belonging

Regina Makdissi, MD
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Buffalo
Beyond Empathy: A Day in the Life of Our Patient, Bridging Care Gaps Through Inter-Professional Education and Collaboration

Caroline K. Milne, MD, MBA
University of Utah
Incorporation of Community Health Workers into Internal Medicine Resident Education through Simulation-Based Learning

Marlise Pierre-Wright, MD
McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University
Building Patient Trust Through Trauma Informed Care

Bharathi Selvan
Duke University School of Medicine
Preventing Colorectal Cancer Deaths Through Community Outreach Screening Initiatives

Andrea Schnell, MD
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
A Critical Review and Analysis of the Use and Harms of Race-Based Medicine

Leigh Simmons, MD
Harvard Medical School Massachusetts General Hospital
Expansion of the Patient Support Corps Model to Improve Care for Medically Complex Patients

Carlie Stein Somerville, MD
University of Alabama at Birmingham Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine 
“STAND Up”: Strategic Training and iNnovation to Develop Upstanders

Kelley Wachsberg, MD
Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center/Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Point-of-Care Ultrasound Curriculum to Enhance Pre-Medical Education for Under-Represented Students Enrolled in a Pipeline Program

Emily S. Wang, MD
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine
Evaluating Harassment of Learners: Assessing Differences Across Clinical Learning Environments

Julius Wilder, MD, PhD
Duke University School of Medicine
Preventing Colorectal Cancer Deaths Through Community Outreach Screening Initiatives

Aimee K. Zaas, MD, MHS
Duke University School of Medicine
A Public Health Education Initiative to Promote Internal Medicine Residents Engagement with HBCUs

The Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM), the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), the ABIM Foundation, the American College of Physicians (ACP), and the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation awarded 24 grants totaling $400,000 in 2022; 16 Alliance member institutions were recipients.

Kwabena Adubofour, MD
Dignity Health Saint Joseph’s Medical Center    
“A Better Vision of Healthcare: A Multi-Pronged Innovative Approach to Restoring Community Trust, Ensuring Health Care Equity and Strengthening a Health Profession Pipeline for Under-Represented Youth”        

Omowunmi Aibana, MD
UT Health Science Center at Houston - McGovern Medical School          
“Integrating Interprofessional Health Education with a Pipeline Program: A Novel Approach to Community Engagement and Recruiting for a Diverse Healthcare Workforce”

Ligia Maria Belalcazar, MD
University of Texas Medical Branch       
“Leap to Action: Addressing delays in career promotion among underrepresented faculty. What academic medicine can do to overcome inequities.”      

Alana Biggers, MD
University of Illinois at Chicago 
“Addressing Microaggressions in Medicine”

Katherine Copeland, MD
Yale New Haven Health Hospital
“STEP-uHP: A Service Learning Initiative to Close Opportunity Gaps for Disadvantaged Students in Health Careers”          

Elizabeth Cuevas, MD   
Allegheny Health Network        
“Outside the Walls: An Experiential Learning Curriculum for Social Determinants of Health”

Thomas Davis, MD       
Geisinger         
“Promoting Health Care Equality in Underrepresented Patient Populations through an Interprofessional Culturally Competent Curriculum”

Maria de Miguel, MD   
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
“Sociocultural Humility through Community Partnership”

Jonathan Doroshow, MD          
Lankenau Medical Center         
“The Philosophy of Building Trust in Healthcare”

Lynn Fitzgibbons, MD   
Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital
“Advancing Health Equity through Community Partnership and Interprofessional Residency Education: A Two-Year Workshop Series”

Jamie Garfield, MD       
Temple University Hospital       
“The UNIQUE Program – UNiting in Inter-professional learning to serve the Queer community though Education”

Victoria Gillet, MD        
Advocate Aurora Health
“Building community trust by realizing community environmental health goals”

Brooke Hooper, MD     
Eastern Virginia Medical School
“Community Health: Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy & Inequity”

Stephen Knohl, MD      
SUNY Upstate Medical University, Department of Medicine       
“Learning To Talk (Treat All Like Kin) & Education Through Theater Arts: An Innovative Teaching Curriculum Designed to Promote Trustworthiness Through Equitable Outcomes”

Jenny Melli, MD           
Cooper Medical School of Rowan University      
“Trust building between providers and patients through oral history training and art”    

Anna Morenz, MD        
University of Washington         
“Building trust and health equity: A multi-tiered curriculum for internal medicine residents”

Jason Morrow, MD, PhD           
UT Health San Antonio 
“Promotores and Residents in Internal Medicine for Equity (PRIME): A Collaborative Health Equity Curriculum”

Priya Radhakrishnan, MD         
HonorHealth    
“People Resource Groups: Building a Culture of DEI”

Luis Seija, MD  
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai           
“Utilization of Patient-Centered Information Exchange to Promote Systems-Based Innovation Among Internal Medicine Trainees”

Megha Shankar, MD     
University of California San Diego         
“A Perfect Pair: Didactic Sessions and Community Partnerships as Social Justice Curriculum for Internal Medicine Primary Care Residents”

Anna "Anya" Solotskaya, MD    
Oregon Health and Science University   
“Building an Equity Action Team – A longitudinal intervention to create capacity for a multidisciplinary group of trainees and faculty to serve as equity experts in hospital medicine”   

Julie Venci, MD
University of Colorado  
“Using Inter-Professional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Simulation Cases to Build a More Equitable Health System”

Keyur Vyas, MD
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences      
“Development and Implementation of a Trainee-Led Research Program to Identify, Audit, and Modify Stigmatizing Language in Internal Medicine Patient Charting at UAMS”

Monica Yepes-Rios, MD
Cleveland Clinic
“Mentor Families”        

The Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM), the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), the ABIM Foundation, the American College of Physicians (ACP), and the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation awarded a total of $287,500, split among 32 projects at medical schools and training programs. 

Margaret Hayes Baker, MD
Magnolia Regional Health Center
“Enhancing Education, Building Trust, and Eliminating Bias in Primary Care: A Novel Approach to Primary Care Track Resident Education in Inner-city and Rural Mississippi”

Christiana Beveridge, MD, MBA
University of Texas-Southwestern
“Building Trust to Improve Vaccine Hesitancy with the Hispanic Community: A Community Engaged Resident Practicum”

Marie Borum, MD, EdD, MPH
George Washington University
“Incorporating Health Equity and Diversity into Internal Medicine Training: A Colon Cancer Risk Reduction Program Focused on Community Collaboration, Trust Building and Inclusion”

Andrea Braun, MD
Baylor University
“Building trust between patients, families and health care professionals in the intensive care unit”

Daniel Cabrera, MD, MPH
University of Washington
“Novel Approach for Teaching: How to Confront Difficult Clinical Encounters Dealing with Bias and Discrimination”

Quinn Capers, IV, MD
University of Texas-Southwestern
“Bias and Racism Teaching Rounds”

Maria de Miguel, MD
Columbia University
“Residency-Community Partnership: Cultural Humility, Community Assets”

Allison Ferris, MD
Florida Atlantic University
“Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Curriculum for Residents”

Mirela Feurdean, MD
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
“Medical Improv Workshops to Enhance Resident Self-Reflection, Empathy and Ability to Address Patient Concerns About Bias”

Dirk Gaines, MD
University of California-San Diego
“The Power of Words: Improving the Use of Patient Centered Language in the EMR”

Tamara Goldberg, MD
Mount Sinai West
“Reducing A1c Among Patients with Food Insecurity in an Urban Primary Care Clinic”

Elena Jimenez Gutierrez, MD
University of Texas Health San Antonio
“Human Rights & Asylum Medicine Elective”

Robin Klein, MD
Emory University
“Influence of Gender, Ethnicity and Race in Assessment in Graduate Medical Education (InTERsect)”

Elizabeth Lamos, MD
University of Maryland
“Improving Care to Incarcerated Transgender Individuals with a Culturally Competent Educational Curriculum”

Anita Leon-Jhong, MD
University of Pittsburgh
“Walking the Neighborhood: Building Understanding through Community Engagement”

Tammy Lin, MD, MPH
University of California-San Diego
“INTEGRATE FIRST: Supporting Rising First Generation Pre-Medical Students”

Emily Mallin, MD
University of Arizona
“Navigating difficult conversation in difficult times: A workshop series”

Annia Martial, MD
University of Illinois, Peoria
“Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fellowship Program: Building Trust and Repairing Connections”

Rebecca Newman, MD
Stamford Health
“The I in DREAM: Implementing and assessing a residency program curriculum on Diversity, Racism, Equity, Antiracism, Inclusion, and Microaggressions (DREAiM)”

Ashley Odai-Afotey, MD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
“Development of Bias Incident Safety Reporting Tool within Internal Medicine Services at an Academic Medical Center”

Anais Ovalle, MD
Dartmouth Hitchcock
“Development of a Self-Sustaining Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Curriculum at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC)”

Ravishankar Ramaswamy, MD
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
“Addressing Ageism and Unconscious Bias among Medical Students during Geriatrics Clerkship Experience”

Brian Ricci, MD
Oregon Health & Science University
“A Structural Competency Needs Assessment for Medical Residents to Address Structural Racism in the Latinx Population of Hillsboro, OR”

Nicholas Salter, PhD
Hofstra University
“Development of a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) for use in Medical Education and Training”

Erin Stephany Sanchez, MD
University of California-Davis
“C.O.A.C.H. (Collaborative on Coaching and Advising Housestaff)”

Kacie Saulters, MD
Medstar Georgetown
“MedStar Social Medicine & Health Equity Track”

Lynetta Skoretz, MD
Riverside University Health System
“Crossing the transgender care gap: building confidence to provide competent and compassionate care through resident education”

Karina Whelan, MD
University of North Carolina
“Reducing Disparities through Medical Student QI”

Carla Williams, MD
NCH Healthcare System
“Reducing Healthcare Disparities Within Immokalee”

Matthew Young, MD
Hennepin Healthcare
“Competency Based Trauma Informed Care”

Donna Zulman, MD, MS
Stanford University
“Presence for Racial Justice: A Residency Curriculum to Foster Anti-Racism Communication Practices with Patients”

AAIM fosters educational innovations in academic internal medicine through our grant program.

The Innovation Grants Subcommittee selected fourteen projects to receive grants totaling $50,000. The Alliance congratulates the 2020 Innovation Grants recipients.
Read 2020 Grant Report

AAIM would like to thank the FY 2020 volunteer project coaches:

• Evelyn Chan, MD
• Laurel Fick, MD
• Susan Glod, MD
• Ajaykumar Rao, MD
• Richard Wardrop, MD, PhD

AAIM appreciates the hard work and outstanding applications of the FY 2020 Innovation Grant Finalists: 

• Jacylyn Albin, MD
• Heather Briggs, MD, PhD
• Thomas Ciesielski, MD
• Geoffrey Connors, MD
• Bhavan Dalal, MD
• Jessica Donato, MD
• Jehan El-Bayoumi, MD
• Honor Englander, MD, FACP
• Tamara Goldberg, MD
• Tracey Henry, MD, MPH
• James Jackson, MD
• Regina Makdissi, MD
• Diana Samberg, MD
• Alice Tang, MD
• Laura Thomas, MD
• Divya Venkat, MD
• Emily Wang, MD

AAIM fosters educational innovations in academic internal medicine through our grant program.

The Innovation Grants Subcommittee selected eight projects to receive grants totaling $30,000. The Alliance congratulates the 2019 Innovation Grants recipients.
Read 2019 Grant Report

AAIM would like to thank the FY 2019 volunteer project coaches:

• Winston Tan, MD
• Rehan Qayyum, MD
• Benjamin Doolittle, MD, M Div, FAAP, FACP
• Ajaykumar Rao, MD
• Neelima Thati, MD
• Evelyn Chan, MD
• Richard Wardrop, III, MD, PhD, FAAP, FACP
• Shorabh Sharma, MD

The Innovation Grants Subcommittee selected the following eight projects to receive grants totaling $30,000. The Alliance congratulates the 2019 Innovation Grants recipients:

Andrew J. Varney, MD
Southern Illinois University
Quality improvement project to create a safer workplace for residents and staff

Nicole Grogan, MD
University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
Framework to improve the quality of written and verbal feedback in UME and GME

Pramil Cheriyath, MD, MS, FACP
Ocean Medical Center
Improving emotional intelligence among internal medicine residents using evidence -based medicine workshop

Catherine Gao, MD
Yale New Haven Hospital
Automated scheduling tool to improve scheduling quality and resident satisfaction

Jessica Murphy, MD, MS
Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Developing residents’ critical consciousness through social determinants of health curriculum

Abby Spencer, MD, MS, FACP
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Key steps for women trainees to advance through leadership development

Julia Close, MD
University of Florida
Integrated implicit bias curriculum for house staff addressing health care disparities in patients with sickle cell disease

Gretchen Diemer, MD
Thomas Jefferson University
Creation of a self-contained pedagogical tool for the problem of opiate addiction

AAIM appreciates the hard work and outstanding applications of the FY 2019 Innovation Grant Finalists: 

• Cory Chevalier, MD
• Ashley Jenkins, MD
• Alisha Peet, MD
• Kathleen Finn, MD
• Kevin O’Brien, MD, FACP
• Steven Fox, MD
• Justin Chen, MD
• Reeni Abraham, MD
• Edwin Rosas, MD
• John Moriarty, MD, FACP
• Lekshmi Santhosh, MD
• Manasa Ayyala, MD
• Christiana Renner, MD, MS
• Ethan Cumbler, MD, FHM, FACP
• Benjamin Pflederer, MD

 

Following a highly competitive grant application season, the Alliance congratulates the 2018 Innovation Grant recipients, as well as commend the efforts of grant finalists who submitted outstanding applications.

Cinnamon Bradley, MD
Morehouse School of Medicine (SOM)
Curriculum to build trainee resilience using structured reflection

Leigh Eck, MD, FACP
University of Kansas SOM
A prospective study of emotional intelligence (EI) coaching v self-directed learning on EI changes

Patricia F. Kao, MD
Washington Univ. St. Louis SOM
Curriculum for clinical educator career track for UME and GME

Patricia Ng, MD
Stony Brook University Hospital
A quasi-experimential study to develop a structured women’s health curriculum based on program needs assessment

Anjali Niyogi, MD
Tulane University SOM
Global health curriculum to address real-life ethical scenarios

Shira Sachs, MD
Baylor College of Medicine
Expansion of prospective study to improve educational scholarship and research skills

Christopher Schott, MD
VA Pittsburgh and University of Pittsburgh/UPMC
Validated tool to teach use of ultrasonography in residency 

Lauren Shapiro, MD
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine (COM)
A prospective cohort study assessing whether wellness half-days and EAP service expsoure impacts burnout among PGY1s.

Melissa Swee, MD
University of Iowa Carver COM
Standardized tool to acquire community advocacy and leadership skills

AAIM appreciates the hard work and outstanding applications of FY18 Innovation Grant Finalists

• Catherine Apaloo, MD
• Bhavin Dalal, MD
• Yohana De Jesus. MD
• Zachary Epstein-Peterson, MD
• Brian Garibaldi, MD
• Brian Hilliard, MD
• Angela Jackson, MD
• Regina Makdissi, MD
• Adewunmi Nuga, MD
• Kehinde Odedosu, MD
• Ellen Parker, MD
• Brianna Rossiter, MD
• Lekshmi Santhosh, MD
• Laxmi Suthar, MD
• Galina Tan, MD

Download the 2018 Innovation Grants Report

AAIM fosters educational innovations in academic internal medicine through a grant program. For the FY 2016 grant cycle, 72 applications were received from various member organizations (APDIM, CDIM, ASP, and AIM). The Innovation Grants Subcommittee selected the following 21 projects to receive grants totaling $73,100.

Jane L. Andrews, MD: Putting the Action Back In Advocacy Training: Skills-Focused Training in Advocacy and Leadership For Graduate Medical Residents. Tulane University School of Medicine. Audience: Residents/fellows

Patrick Brine, MD and David Sweet, MD: Enhancing Transitions of Care: Simulation to Application. St. Elizabeth Health Center (Mercy) with Summa Health Systems- Akron City Hospital. Audience: Residents/fellows

John Joseph Gough, Nancy Jenkins, Janet M. Reagan, Jennifer Felten, Mary Freer, Sheri L. Lawrence, and Monica Fawthrop: Leveraging AIM Expertise – Creating and Maintaining a Research Administration Best Practices Toolkit Repository. Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine with Emory University School of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine Northwestern University, and University of Michigan Medical School. Audience: Faculty and staff

Brett Hendel-Paterson, MD: Development of Online Interactive Tropical, Travel, and Refugee Health Clinical Cases. University of Minnesota Medical School with the Clinical Group of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Audience: Medical students, residents/fellows, faculty, and staff

Wade T. Iams, MD: Reducing Unnecessary Chest X-Rays: A Housestaff-led Initiative to Implement Choosing Wisely Recommendations in Intensive Care Units. Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Audience: Residents/fellows and faculty

Rebecca C. Jaffe, MD: Safer Together: An Novel Interprofessional Near-Miss Root Cause Analysis Curriculum. Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. Audience: Medical students, residents/fellows, and staff

Maria S. Kokas, PhD: Unequal Care: What Are We Not Seeing When Treating Our Patients? Henry Ford Hospital/Wayne State University. Audience: Residents/fellows

Kristy Y. Kosub, MD: I-PROMISES: Innovative Program to Recruit and Outreach Medical and other Inter-professional Students into Service of the Terminally Ill. University of Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio. Audience: Medical students

William J. Leland, MD and Claudia Kroker-Bode, MD, PhD: Using Video-Guided Training as a Faculty Development Tool for Creating a Shared Mental Model of Safety for Resident Assessment: A Pilot Study. Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University with Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. Audience: Faculty

Anjuli Luthra, MD: Advancing Resident Financial Wellness and HealthCare Resource Awareness: a Curriculum to Decrease Resident Burnout and Improve Patient Care. Wake Forest School of Medicine of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Audience: Residents/fellows

Elizabeth A. Lyons, MD: Improving efficiency of resident handoffs through video role modeling and direct feedback. University of Virginia School of Medicine. Audience: Residents/fellows

Diana B. McNeill, MD, Debra Bynum, MD, Cristin M. Colford, MD, Michael R. Contarino, MD, Nancy R. Denizard-Thompson, MD, Rachel Harris, MD, Suzanne Kraemer, MD, Aimee Zaas, MD, and Kristin Dickserson: After the Match: Cultivating a Community of Support, Retention & Mentoring to Enhance Diversity. Duke University School of Medicine with University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and Morehouse University School of Medicine. Audience: Medical students, residents/fellows, and faculty

Brian K. Muthyala, MD: Multi-faceted Resident Training for Wellbeing Promotion and Burnout Prevention. University of Minnesota Medical School. Audience: Residents/fellows

Vandana Nagpal, MD: Teaching Effective Goals-of-Care Conversations: An Initiative to Enhance End-of-Life Communication for Residents and Faculty. University of Massachusetts Medical School. Audience: Residents/fellows and faculty

Kevin E. O'Brien, MD, D. Michael Elnicki, MD, and Cynthia H. Ledford, MD: Medical Student Abuse – Analysis from a Multi-Specialty Perspective. University of South Florida Health Morsani College of Medicine with University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and Ohio State University College of Medicine. Audience: Medical students, residents/fellows, faculty, and staff

Amit K. Pahwa, MD: "Show Me the Money!” A Web Based App for High Value Care. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with University of Minnesota School of Medicine, APDIM, and CDIM. Audience: Medical students, residents/fellows, and faculty

Kristen M. Rake, MD: Assessing the Impact of the Yale Resident Spanish Initiative (YRSI) on Effectiveness of Residents’ Interpreter Use: Does Partnering with Interpreter Services Make All the Difference? Yale-New Haven Medical Center. Audience: Residents/fellows

Jeremy B. Richards, MD: Case-Based Integration of Basic Science and Clinical Concept: Vertical Integration Grand Rounds (VIGR). Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine. Audience: Medical students

Shannon A. Scielzo, PhD: Resident Well-Being: Development and Validation of an Assessment System. University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas with University of New Mexico School of Medicine. Audience: Residents/fellows

Mark P. Tschanz, DO: Daily Milestone-Based Ambulatory Clinic Evaluation – Harnessing Mobile App Technology to Optimize Evaluation. Naval Medical Center (San Diego) with Scripps Mercy Hospital. Audience: Residents/fellows and faculty

Tasha R. Wyatt, PhD: Understanding the Process of Taking Ownership. Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University. Audience: Medical students, residents/fellows, and faculty