Department of Internal Medicine Dr. Polgreen Receives New Investigator Award 2/24/2005 Department of Internal Medicine faculty member Philip M. Polgreen, M.D., associate in internal medicine, has been awarded one of four 2004-05 College of Public Health-College of Medicine New Investigator Research Awards. The awards assist newly appointed primary or joint faculty in the UI College of Public Health or the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine to advance their research activities. Each recipient will receive up to $10,000 of funding for independent research projects. "I was very impressed with the number and quality of the applications. The review committee was thorough in its selection of four proposed studies that show great promise of important contributions to public health," said Leon Burmeister, Ph.D., associate dean of research and academic affairs for the UI College of Public Health. The New Investigator Research Awards are chosen on the basis of scientific merit, relevance to the College of Public Health mission and probability of attracting subsequent extramural research funding. Following is a description of Dr. Polgreen's winning research proposal: Title - "An Application of Network Theory to Optimize Influenza Vaccination Among Health Care Workers." Health care workers are at especially high risk of contracting influenza. However, there are no data, nor is there a theoretical framework, to identify health care workers who are most likely to acquire and transmit influenza virus. This project will use social network theory to help hospital epidemiologists identify these health care workers and develop effective influenza vaccination strategies. |