General Internal Medicine Research | Icahn School of Medicine

DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE

General Internal Medicine

The Division of General Internal Medicine research portfolio is concentrated in four areas: cancer (survivorship, epidemiology, screening, health behaviors, treatment, and comparative effectiveness); chronic illness self-management and behaviors; COVID-19 outcomes and treatments; and aging and cognition. Our faculty have led more than 50 active research studies involving ambulatory care, inpatient, home and community-based patient populations and studies that analyze data from national cohorts, registries, and insurance claims. A common thread through these concentrations is disparities in care and outcomes experienced by minoritized populations.

The Division’s staff of research project coordinators and data analysts supports the work by providing investigators with support for grants submission, data collection, document translation, study recruitment, statistical analysis, and more. We have extensive experience engaging sociodemographic diverse patients in research, and our studies routinely have high engagement and retention rates.

Research Areas

Investigators in the Division of General Internal Medicine conduct research that considers the cognitive impacts of chronic illness as well as the impacts of cognitive impairment on health behaviors. This work has included cohort studies and randomized clinical trials of interventions for adults with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and post-acute sequelae of COVID-19. Additionally, we are investigating the use of electronic medical records for cognitive impairment screening in primary care using machine learning methods, as well as the ethical implications of using artificial intelligence-based tools for automated cognitive impairment screening.

Aging and Cognition researchers include:

Research in cancer focuses on developing tools to help patients make informed decisions about cancer screening, understanding factors influencing disparities, comparing interventions to reduce incidence and improve outcomes, optimizing treatment strategies through modeling, and investigating cancer risks and optimal screening approaches in people living with HIV. The research employs mathematical modeling, analysis of clinical trials and observational data, assessment of biomarkers, and prospective longitudinal studies. The goal is to generate evidence to guide cancer prevention, screening, and treatment decisions that align with patient preferences and reduce disparities.

Researchers are also working in cancer survivorship, focusing on developing optimal screening and treatment strategies for cancer survivors. Specific areas of study include identifying tailored lung cancer screening approaches, evaluating factors influencing diabetes management in older breast cancer survivors, piloting early palliative care interventions for women with metastatic breast cancer, and modeling cardiovascular disease prevention strategies for cancer survivors. The goal is to improve outcomes for cancer survivors through evidence-based, patient-centered prevention, screening, and treatment approaches.

Cancer researchers include:

Investigators in the Division of General Internal Medicine have several active studies examining self-management behaviors among persons with chronic illness, factors affecting those behaviors and interventions that facilitate self-management. Asthma, COPD, diabetes and self-care in the cancer context are the major conditions of interest in our group.

Chronic Illness Self-management researchers include:

Substance use disordered and Hepatitis C care research focuses on developing and testing innovative models to treat substance use disorders and related conditions. This includes a trial comparing nicotine replacement therapy approaches for smoking cessation in people living with HIV, expanding buprenorphine treatment in primary care, implementing peer-driven hepatitis C screening and linkage for people who inject drugs, and delivering overdose education and naloxone distribution. The goal is to improve access to evidence-based treatment for substance use disorders among vulnerable populations.

Substance use disordered and hepatitis C care researchers include:

Our researchers are working on understanding and improving long-term outcomes for people affected by COVID-19. This includes studies examining the impact of COVID-19 on managing chronic conditions and comparing long-term effects in infected versus uninfected people. Additional studies are testing interventions such as cognitive rehabilitation to treat post-COVID conditions such as brain fog. The goal is to gain knowledge about the post-acute effects of COVID-19 and develop evidence-based approaches to reduce disability and improve function and quality of life.

COVID-19 researchers include: