Contributors

My career has been focused on patient-oriented research. I have been a life-long Michigan resident but left briefly for training as a pediatric resident at New York University. I returned for sub-specialty training as a fellow in hematology-oncology at the University of Michigan. Wonderful mentors, patients, and families led me toward the field of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Through additional hands-on training in Clinical Research Design and Statistical Analysis at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, I was equipped with skills to conduct well-designed clinical and translational studies. I have been fortunate to work with a great team of interdisciplinary investigators examining clinical and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) outcomes in the HCT field. This stemmed from a deep interest in the translation of novel agents to help prevent a major complication that occurs in patients after allogeneic HCT known as graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). With this interest, I appreciated the important need to better support caregivers who provide care for their loved ones (patients) 24/7.

These two areas of research (GVHD, caregiving) have formed the basis of our team’s research goal to implement and disseminate a scalable product that optimizes caregiver health and well-being, which will, indirectly lead to more effective patient support and improved clinical outcomes. While illness impacts the patient directly, the complete picture of human disease is a collage of the affected patient and family caregiver, experienced by both. As a clinician, I have the privilege to intervene and provide care to patients but also recognize the role to intervene and provide training, coping skills, and self-management strategies to caregivers. This model of family-centered care has inspired me as both a clinician and a scientist. In this NIH-funded Roadmap 2.0 project, the goal is to conduct a two-arm randomized clinical trial where participants (caregiver-patient pairs) will be randomized to a mobile health app arm or to a control arm (or usual care). Our team is very enthusiastic about pursuing the proposed work because we will leverage new technology and novel data analytic tools, which may provide greater insight in patient and caregiver outcomes for future work.

Dr. Barton is currently the Associate Dean for Research and the Mary Lou Willard French Endowed Chair of Oncology Nursing at the University of Michigan School of Nursing. Her research career has focused on oncology symptom management since 2002, having developed, implemented and completed 13 large multi-site intervention trials. Dr. Barton has expertise with clinical trial methodology and symptom self-management, particularly cancer related fatigue and sexual health. Dr. Barton has developed phase II and III clinical trials in a variety of oncology related symptoms including fatigue, hot flashes, peripheral neuropathy, sleep problems, cognitive changes related to chemotherapy, nausea and vomiting, and sexual health using pharmacologic and behavioral interventions such as hypnosis and imagery as well as dietary supplements. Dr. Barton develops complex interventions to improve the health related quality of life of cancer survivors who are facing multiple physical and mental health related issues. Dr. Barton has also focused on mechanistic secondary aims in symptom intervention trials, with support from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and American Cancer Society in addition to NCI funding for phase III trials. The phase III trials evaluating testosterone for libido, ginseng for fatigue and vaginal dehydroepiandosterone for vaginal atrophy all included translational aims that provided data for hypothesis generation on the mechanism of action of the intervention as well as predictors of symptom expression.

Dr. Braun received his doctorate in Biostatistics from the University of Washington in 1999 and joined the University of Michigan faculty that same year. Prior to his graduate studies in Seattle, Dr. Braun was an actuary with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Over the past 20 years, Dr. Braun has served as the primary statistician for clinical studies at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry and the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center. He is the author of nearly 150 collaborative and methodologic papers.

Dr. Braun's current research interests include: (1) adaptive phase I trial design methodology for oncology, including optimizing schedule of administration, accommodating patient heterogeneity, and incorporating multiple toxicity grades; and (2) Bayesian statistical methodology and study designs for clinical trials in rare diseases and studies that allow patients to choose which treatment to receive. Dr. Braun also continues to participate in ongoing studies of recipients of allogeneic transplants and their caregivers and many other studies examining how to treat and prevent acute graft-versus-host disease in transplant recipients.

In his spare time, Dr. Braun coaches and plays as much volleyball as possible, plays and composes music for the piano, and seeks to one day become fluent in Spanish.

Dr. Carlozzi is an Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Clinical Outcomes Development and Application (CODA) within the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the University of Michigan. With a broad background in clinical psychology and specific training in neuropsychology, she is an expert in outcomes measurement development, measurement application, and cognitive test development. Much of her work involves measurement development including both neuropsychological test development and patient-reported outcome (PRO) measurement development using state-of-the-art item response theory-based methods to develop computer adaptive tests (CATs). Dr. Carlozzi’s research portfolio includes experiences as Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-Investigator (Co-I) on several extramurally funded projects for a variety of different clinical populations (Huntington disease, traumatic brain injury, caregivers of traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, stroke, and nephrotic syndrome). Of note is the development of the HDQLIFE measurement system, a PRO measurement system that evaluates health-related quality of life that is specific to Huntington disease, and the TBI-CareQOL measurement system, a PRO measurement system that evaluates health-related quality of life that is specific to caregivers of persons with traumatic brain injury. Dr. Carlozzi also has expertise in psychometrics, as well as the application of outcomes assessment (both PROs and neuropsychological tests); much of this work includes establishing reliability and validity data for PROs that examine health-related quality of life, with an emphasis on PROMIS and Neuro-QoL measures. Dr. Carlozzi also provides expert consultation to clinicians and persons in industry with an interest in utilizing PROs or the NIH Toolbox in research or clinical care. She has recently begun to apply her outcomes measurement expertise in innovative ways, such as utilization of mobile health applications to evaluate real-time assessment of symptoms and functioning.

David Hanauer is an associate professor at the University of Michigan Medical School. His background is in clinical and health informatics. His work has focused on issues related to clinical information systems such as electronic health records (EHRs), including their implementation and impact on workflow. He has also conducted research on the secondary use of clinical data including information retrieval in free text clinical documents and data mining. Additionally, his work has focused on topics related to consumer-health informatics. Much of the work he does is collaborative in nature and he has contributed informatics expertise to many research and operational initiatives, including network-based research. He also devotes significant effort to develop innovative software to support multiple initiatives including care, quality, and research. Examples include a search engine for electronic medical record systems (EMERSE) and a case finding engine for cancer registrars. As program director of clinical informatics for the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research (MICHR), he also oversees a team of developers on a subject recruitment platform called YourHealthResearch.org which is currently being disseminated to other academic medical centers.

Dr. Hassett is a licensed clinical psychologist and an Associate Research Scientist in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Michigan. As a principal investigator at the Chronic Pain & Fatigue Research Center, she conducts highly collaborative research related to exploring the role of cognitive, affective and behavioral factors in chronic pain populations. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and is a leader in the field of resilience and pain. She has extensive federal funding. She is the Co-PI of the University of Michigan BACPAC Mechanistic Research Center (U19 AR076734 Clauw and Hassett) and the Phenotyping Core co-lead along with Dr. Williams on the UM Fibromyalgia CORT center grant (P50 AR070600 Clauw and Williams). Yet, her most innovative research involves developing resilience-enhancing activities to promote functional improvement and the sparing of premature cellular aging in patients with chronic pain (R01-AR070296 Hassett and Williams), as well as developing “prehabilitation” programs for surgical patients to optimize outcomes including the reduction of presurgical anxiety using an electronic platform, MiCarePath. Dr. Hassett is a past President of the Association of Rheumatology Professionals – a division of the American College of Rheumatology.

Jonathan Tyler, Ph.D., joined the Choi Lab as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in 2020. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Michigan. He received his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics with a concentration in Mathematical Biology from Texas A&M University in Summer 2019. His background is in the development, validation, and calibration of mathematical models of circadian clocks. He is interested in applying mathematical and computational techniques to understand how circadian rhythms are disrupted in cancer patients, as well as how to use knowledge of a patient's circadian phase to optimize drug delivery and efficacy. In his free time, he enjoys reading, playing the piano, and spending time with his wife and two precious children.

Christine Cislo received a B.A degree from the University of Michigan, majoring in Anthropology with a minor in Biology. Prior her current position she worked as a clinical assistant in the Division of Hospital Medicine starting in 2015. Her day-to-day responsibilities included supporting Internal Medicine attending hospitalist physicians on the inpatient units and coordinating tasks directed to patient care, managing communication between referring physicians, ancillary services, and nursing which includes participating in discharge rounds, bridging the gap between inpatient and outpatient settings, and working to enhance both patient and physician satisfaction by ensuring uninterrupted continuum of care, and monitoring, identifying and participating in improving clear system issues. She hopes to one day continue her education and get a higher degree in a research related field. In her free time she likes to run, play tennis, and spend time with friends and family.

Caroline Clingan graduated in the spring of 2020 from the University of Michigan with a B.S. in Biology, Health, and Society and in International Studies. As a student, she worked as a research assistant on various projects related to diabetes and human rights. She recently joined the Choi Lab as a Research Coordinator, and she is excited to further develop her research skills and learn about a new medical subspecialty, bone marrow transplant. Caroline hopes to attend medical school in the next couple of years, and as a physician, she hopes to focus her career on urban community health.

Kristen Gilley graduated with a B.S. in Biomedical Laboratory Science from Michigan State University in 2018 and will graduate with her MPH in Epidemiology in 2020 from University of Michigan. She will be joining the Choi Lab as one of the Research Coordinators upon spring graduation. Her previous interest and research lie within cancer, rheumatology, and mental health. Further down the road, she hopes to go back to school for her MD in oncology and eventually engage in both research and clinical practice.

Michelle Rozwadowski joined the Choi Lab in October of 2019. She works as the data manager for Dr. Choi and Dr. Tewari. She received her B.S. in Neuroscience from Michigan State University in 2018, and has previous research experience in neuropharmacology and in human cognition. She hopes to one day go back to school to get a higher degree in the medical or research fields (or both). In her free time, Michelle enjoys being outdoors, playing the saxophone, and spending time with her fiancé, friends, family, and two cats.

Manasa Dittakavi is currently a junior studying Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience with an intended minor in Medical Anthropology. With an interest in medicine and health, she joined the Choi Lab in the Summer of 2019 because of her interest in pediatrics and cancer research. She hopes to continue to learn aspects of clinical research, decision making, and data analysis. In between work and school, Manasa enjoys watching movies and TV shows with friends, singing, and exploring new places.

Jacob Kedroske joined the Choi Lab in the Fall of 2017 through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program. He is currently a junior in the School of Public Health. Jacob joined the lab because he wanted experience with research techniques and to gain more exposure on what medical professionals do on a daily basis. In his spare time, Jacob enjoys volunteering with friends and traveling with his family.

Rebecca Vue is a junior pursuing a major in Biopsychology, Cognition, & Neuroscience. In Fall 2017, she joined the Choi Lab through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program. She joined the lab because of her desire to learn how clinical research is conducted. In her spare time, Rebecca enjoys reading, traveling, spending time with her friends and family and cheering on the University of Michigan's football team as a trumpet player of the Michigan Marching Band.

Skylar Ketteler joined the Choi Lab Winter 2020. She is currently a junior studying Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology on the Pre-Medical track. She joined the lab to learn correct patient interaction procedures and clinical data collection and analysis. In her free time, Skylar likes watching movies with friends and reading mystery and romance novels.

Vibhuti Gupta joined the Choi Lab as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in 2020 after finishing his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Texas Tech University. He works for both Dr. Choi and Dr. Tewari research. He is primarily interested in performing analytics of Big Data Stream generated from variety of sources such as wearable sensors, clinical data, social media etc. using AI Techniques. In addition, Vibhuti is exploring research areas in application of Machine Learning in healthcare data and developing scalable preprocessing techniques for Big Data streams. In his free time, Vibhuti enjoys watching movies and traveling.

Amanda Mazzoli completed her studies at the University of Michigan in the spring of 2018. She graduated with a major in Spanish along with completing the necessary courses to apply to medical school. Amanda was originally hired as a research assistant but has since been promoted to the coordinator position. Her roles include the screening / enrolling of patients on to study, and following once on study through to completion of the study period. She is responsible for amending current IRB approved studies, creating new IRB Human Subjects Studies, and assisting in the writing of protocols. Additionally, she is in charge of performing neurocognitive testing with pediatric patients before and six-months after chemotherapy. She is also in charge of managing the undergraduate students. Amanda is a prospective medical student, with the hopes of entering medical school in 2020. Ultimately she hopes to continue on with her passion for pediatrics, while bridging the gap between a lack of proper health education and access, for medically underserved populations.

Dima Chaar, MHI, is an Epidemiology PhD student at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a Master of Health Informatics in May 2019, and from Barnard College of Columbia University with a B.A. in Neuroscience and Behavior in May 2016. Dima worked as a research assistant during her Master’s program to gain experience in utilizing health information technology to improve health outcomes in caregivers. After also being exposed to the U-M’s Precision Health Initiative as a research assistant at the Center for Healthcare Engineering and Patient Safety (CHEPS), Dima realized that the future of medicine and public health will heavily involve human genetics and population health informatics. As such, she is currently studying genetic epidemiology to address human health and disease through rigorous statistical analysis at the interface between genomics, statistics and computer science. She is particularly interested in genetic factors that are associated with cognitive function, cognitive decline and clinically diagnosed Alzheimer’s disease in populations of different ancestry. In her free time, Dima loves to play piano and stay active with Pilates and Zumba.

Sajjad Seyedsalehi is a PhD student at the department of Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan. He joined the Choi Lab in 2016 while he was completing his master's degree in Industrial Mathematics at Michigan State University. Sajjad worked on data analysis of the BMT Roadmap to find patterns of usage. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer, hanging out with friends and watching movies.

Ji Youn Shin is a doctoral student in the Department of Media and Information at Michigan State University. Her research interests lie at the intersection of Design, Health Communication, and Human-Computer Interaction. She joined the Choi Lab in August of 2017 after she completed the Master of Design at the University of Michigan. She joined the lab because she wanted to learn how technology-mediated interventions can facilitate patient-provider communication and the family caregiver's coping experiences in managing chronic illness. She hopes to pursue her career in a research-oriented university as a professor and continue to support children and family's wellness through design. Ji Youn enjoys traveling with her husband and a daughter.

Grant Chappell is from Monroe, Michigan. He recently graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S. in Biology. He joined the Choi Lab in 2016 to learn about BMT and caregiving research. Grant worked with her team for four years during his undergraduate studies. Upon graduation in December 2019, Grant accepted a full-time position in the Solid Organ Transplant team and is currently in the process of applying to medical schools. In his free time, Grant enjoys Intramural sports, fantasy football, and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Erin Gatza was part of the Choi research team between July 2013 - January 2020. She recently undertook a new position at a Clinical Research Organization and is now there leading their clinical trials portfolio in Immunology. Erin is originally from Bay City, Michigan. She received her Bachelors of Science degree in Biochemistry from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Michigan. Erin has been studying stem cell transplant and its complications for the last 15 years. She has a passion for learning and loves to be challenged. Outside of work, Erin enjoys weight training and competing in powerlifting and strongman contests, cooking (and eating!), and time with family and friends.

It is a privilege to be associated with the dedicated healthcare and research professionals leading the Roadmap Project. Arbormoon Software is proud to have collaborated on a number of initiatives in healthcare research and connected health at the University of Michigan and Michigan Medicine. In business since 2004, we have created technology and mobile solutions for academic institutions, startups, medium-sized companies, and well-known national brands. For more information, visit us at www.arbormoon.com.