The Division of General Internal Medicine has made significant research contributions in the areas of medical education, doctor-patient communication, health disparities, immigrant health, torture and its impact, substance abuse, research methodology, cardiovascular prevention and testing, geriatrics, medical informatics, and medical genetics. The following is a selection of recent research activities in the Division.

• The Center for Immigrant Health received funding from the National Cancer Institute for its Cancer Awareness Network for Immigrant Minority Populations to increase utilization of cancer prevention, detection, and treatment services by immigrant and minority populations.

• The Program for Survivors of Torture completed a study evaluating the health of asylum seekers held in federal immigration detention facilities in the New York City area. The results of the study were published in The Lancet.

• A study funded by the Macy Initiative in Health Communication demonstrated the effectiveness of an intervention to improve the communication skills of medical students.  Principal findings were published in JAMA.

• Research in substance abuse focuses on defining generalizable strategies for integrating substance abuse related care into general internal medicine practice.  We are conducting an NIH-funded randomized clinical trial to treat prescription opiate abuse with buprenorphine, based in Bellevue’s primary care clinic.  We are studying attributes of successful implementation in general primary care of buprenorphine treatment for persons dependent on heroin or prescription opioids and of depot naltrexone for primary care-based treatment of alcohol dependence.  In addition, we are exploring the effectiveness of strategies for offering substance abuse treatment to incarcerated persons as they transition back into the community.
  
  
• Research in Geriatrics focuses on risks, mechanisms and treatment strategies for Alzheimer’s disease, falls prevention, the role of PEG feedings in demented elderly persons, immunological markers of aging, and hypertension in the elderly. 

• Investigations in Medical Informatics focus on the areas of educational informatics, simulation and modeling, knowledge representation, knowledge discovery, software engineering, and distributed systems. The section’s research activities include modeling nosocomial transmission in the medical intensive care unit, psychosocial aspects of bioterrorism, enhancing medical and public health capabilities during times of crisis, residency evaluation (ResEval), infrastructure for rich media educational environments (IRMEE), an e-mail emergency response study, and a handheld prescription writer study. 

• Research in Medical Genetics addresses the pathophysiology, molecular basis, and therapy of inherited diseases, primarily focusing on two “inborn errors of metabolism”—adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency and acid alpha-glucosidase deficiency.