Mentorship and Research in Spirituality and Health

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Joel Tsevat, MD, MPH is an Associate Professor with tenure at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. He is Director of Outcomes Research in the Department of Internal Medicine, Research Director in the Center for Clinical Effectiveness in the Institute for Health Policy and Health Services Research, and Director of Health Services Research and Development (HSR&D) for the VA Healthcare System of Ohio. As President of the Society for Medical Decision Making, he is an internationally recognized expert in decision analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, and health-related quality of life assessment, in particular utility (health values) assessment. Dr. Tsevat is currently principal investigator on an NCCAM grant entitled "Spirituality and Will to Live in Patients with HIV/AIDS" and a VA HSR&D grant entitled "Health Values and Spirituality in Veterans with HIV/AIDS." These studies, both in their first year, are characterizing and assessing the extent of spirituality in 325-350 patients with HIV/AIDS from Cincinnati and Washington (NCCAM study) and 100 veterans with HIV/AIDS from Cincinnati and Pittsburgh (VA study), and exploring the relationship of spirituality and health status to the will to live and to whether patients feel that their life has improved. Patient enrollment is well ahead of schedule, and the project has drawn interest from many of Dr. Tsevat's colleagues and mentees who had not been written into the grant, spawning several new spin-off projects and creating opportunities for many more. Dr. Tsevat is fully committed to a career in patient-oriented research, in particular outcomes research, and to mentoring students, residents, fellows, and junior faculty interested in pursuing careers in patient-oriented research. He has strong institutional support to pursue his current line of research in health values and spirituality while continuing to mentor trainees and junior faculty. He anticipates that quite a few of his mentees will work on his currently funded NCCAM and VA studies, carving out niches for themselves, developing ancillary studies, and writing papers and grants. A K24 would be invaluable, enabling Dr. Tsevat to cover the lion's share of the time he currently donates to train and mentor fellows and junior faculty; to supervise spin-off projects from the spirituality studies; and to learn and teach mentorship skills.