Current Research and Scholarly Interests
I am a clinical scientist (PhD epidemiology), endocrinologist, and CMO at VAPA Cooperative Studies Program Coordinating Center. My group is interested in pattern and prediction mapping along the life-course of interventions/outcomes and how healthcare system can positively impact health longitudinally. We use novel molecular epi, 'big' data like EHRs with advanced new designs/methods/technologies. We use both research based longitudinal cohorts, such as WHI, SWAN, CHS, SHS, plus clinical based electronic health records (EHR) 'big data'. We are interested in novel effective patient-clinician shared decision making and enhancing clinical data collection and analytics to drive value in evidence based health care practices.
My group strives for a bidirectional learning healthcare system with close partnerships among research activities, quality and process improvement, and clinical operations of health care system.
My group includes clinicians, biostatisticians, epidemiologists, biochemists, engineers, informaticians, data managers, and health services researchers. We lead efforts in:
1. Leveraging electronic health information to advance precision medicine (LEAP) using the longest running large VA EHR System and symbiotic conduct of clinical trials and observational cohorts using EHR (CSP#2012).
https://med.stanford.edu/jleelab.html
2. Stanford’s Health Information Exchange efforts (Diabetes Sandbox in Solano County) with Stanford’s Center for Population Health Sciences.
3. National VA's Million Veteran Program (MVP) -- large genetic epidemiology study of a million Veterans, with genetic/genomic data and EHR data.
4. U.S.’s All of Us initiative (formerly, Precision Medicine Initiative)
5. Training future ‘big data’ scientists in health care, emphasizing the need for clinical and clinician insights, epidemiology, biostatistics, health services, along with informatics, and molecular sciences. See VA-NCI BD-STEP.
As CMO at the VA's Cooperative Studies Program Coordinating Center at Palo Alto, I provide clinical and clinical research leadership for the Center, which sponsors and coordinates large multi-site clinical research studies. We innovate on novel and more efficient research designs, methods, and conduct to optimize positive impact on the healthcare system.
These interests cut across multiple complex chronic diseases, aging, & critical lifespan stages, for better insights to etiology & enhanced health care and patient decision making. Chronic conditions include cardiometabolic diseases, fractures, hormone-related cancers, cognitive decline.
I have worked in academe and Kaiser Permanente (East Bay; TPMG and Division of Research in Oakland).
Huge Thanks to participants of research studies, trainees, research collaborators, supporters/funders of research and operations, grants administrators, and institutional support locally & nationally (e.g., NIH, VA, Foundations).
See PhD program in Epidemiology and Clinical Research (Dept of Epidemiology and Population Health); Center for Population Health Sciences; Palo Alto VA Health Care System; VA Cooperative Studies Program Coordinating Center
