New Grant Funding

In 2010 the Department of Emergency Medicine has been the recipient of several new grants funded by both federal and philanthropic sources. The highlights of selected grants are below.

In September 2009, the University of Pittsburgh, in consortium with Northwestern University and Carolinas Medical Center, was awarded a new project entitled, “Outpatient Treatment of Low-Risk Patients with Pulmonary Embolism” by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Funds for this award came from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (ARRA). Mark Courtney, MD, is serving as the principle investigator here at Northwestern. Of the 80 patients expected to be enrolled in the US, 30 will be enrolled at Northwestern over the course of two years. The objective of this multi-center project is to compare the safety and efficacy of outpatient treatment of low-risk patients with pulmonary embolism (PE) to inpatient treatment. Patients determined to be at low-risk for PE and wishing to participate can be enrolled. All subjects will receive treatment with enoxoparin and warfarin, however, they will be randomized to receive treatment as an inpatient or as an outpatient.
Chicago PNA Consortium: This project is funded by the CDC and is being lead in Chicago by Dr. Rich Wunderink from pulmonary and critical care Mark Courtney, MD from Emergency Medicine. The aim of the study is to enroll a near consecutive sample of patients admitted to the hospital with community acquired pneumonia. Specifically we aim to identify causative organisms and evaluate standard and novel diagnostic tools to identify viral and bacterial causes of pneumonia and also to perform risk stratification. This is a large nationwide effort that will re-write what we previously thought to be the case on the epidemiology and spectrum of pneumonia. The ED plays a critical role in the identification, consent and data gathering of these patients. This is an example of optimal multidisciplinary research that depends on time sensitive diagnosis and subject identification and enrollment.
In December 2009, the Institute for Healthcare Studies was awarded the Baum Grant in Simulation Research by the Northwestern Memorial Foundation. Seven Emergency Medicine faculty, John Vozenilek, MD, James Adams, MD, Michael Schmidt, MD, Michael Gisondi, MD, Rahul Khare, MD, David Salzman, MD and Emilie Powell, MD, are supported by this grant entitled “Improving Teamwork, Efficiency, and Reliability of Care in the Treatment of Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock in the Emergency Department with Risk-Informed Targeted In-Situ Simulation.” The successful management of patients in the emergency department (ED) with overwhelming infection requires a team approach. There is a “best care” model for these patients and despite our best intentions, when we measure our processes and patient outcomes, we often fall short. We hypothesize that by bringing simulated patients to the real ED and by carefully observing their management by ED staff, we may discover the barriers that lead to our shortcomings and that proposing solutions to these barriers will result in closer adherence to the “best care” model and improve patient outcomes.
In May 2010, Dr. Rahul Khare, MD was awarded a K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Development award from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Dr. Khare’s project entitled “Improving ED Quality and Safety by Enhancing Operations and Quality Management” will evaluate specific quality management and operational characteristics in the Emergency Department as well as identify and implement process improvements that will enhance quality and safety. His mentor for this project is department chairman Dr. James Adams, MD.