CATALYST Clinical Scholars Program overview
The goal of this program is to prepare, develop, and mentor clinician researchers to engage in robust health services and implementation science research. Clinical Scholars will receive the necessary support to begin to develop a research program during their training and mentorship years with the goal of becoming productive independent researchers at program completion.
- The CCSP will accept four to six clinicians as part of a two-year clinical scholar training program.
- Some of the available spots are funded by ACCELERATE OSU, a T32 postdoctoral training grant funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
- Participants will receive close mentoring from experienced Health Services and Implementation Science faculty researchers.
- The program offers a core curriculum for clinical scholars that results in the development of a research grant at the conclusion of the CCSP.
- Weekly sessions will guide the development of scholars’ research and leadership skills.
- The program offers multiple training tracks, including options to pursue a master's degree.
To apply for the program, potential candidates should (1) complete the application through the link below; (2) submit a CV; and (3) submit a letter describing their career goals, their specific research goals, and their proposed mentorship plan outline. The proposed mentorship plan outline may involve naming specific individuals who are willing to serve as content, methodological, or career mentors, or it may be an outline listing specific areas in which the applicant will need support in identifying mentors. CVs and letters should be emailed to lauren.teuschler@osumc.edu.
Apply to the program for 2025-2026
Our leadership
Jim Burke, MD, MS
Co-Director of Neurology Health Services Research, Professor of Neurology, Endowed Professor of Health Services Research
Dr. Jim Burke, MD, MS, is the Co-Director of the Division of Health Services Research in the Department of Neurology and Professor of Neurology with tenure. Dr. Burke trained in neurology and vascular neurology at the University of Michigan, completed health services research training through the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, and served on the faculty of the University of Michigan before joining The Ohio State University to co-direct the HSR Neurology Division and the CCSP.
Dr. Burke has been continuously fully funded by the National Institutes of Health, has published over 200 publications in peer reviewed journals, has worked as a fellow at the National Academy of Medicine, and has been recognized for research accomplishments by the American Academy of Neurology. His research has focused on a variety of health services research topics including individualizing treatment decisions, optimizing systems of care for neurologic conditions, understanding racial disparities in stroke outcomes, understanding how end-of-life preferences influence care, and exploring how patient preferences affect health outcomes. Dr. Burke has methodological expertise in a variety of quantitative analyses and with simulation analyses.
Dan Jonas, MD, MPH
Director of the Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Director of the Primary Care Research Fellowship, Professor of Medicine with tenure, Endowed Professor of Health Services Research
Dr. Jonas is a primary care physician, health services researcher, and Director of the Division of General Internal Medicine. Dr. Jonas’ primary research interests and areas of expertise include preventive services delivered in primary care, unhealthy alcohol use, implementation, critical appraisal and synthesis of health literature, and training health services researchers. Dr. Jonas has led multiple clinical trials and numerous projects critically evaluating the scientific evidence on health care and health policy topics for groups making national recommendations, such as the Effective Healthcare Program of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). He has over 100 publications, including in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Annals of Internal Medicine, JAMA Internal Medicine, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Journal of General Internal Medicine, Systematic Reviews, Medical Care, and Medical Decision Making. Dr. Jonas has served as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on grants or contracts from AHRQ, the National Institutes of Health, and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).
Prior to joining The Ohio State University in December 2020, Dr. Jonas was at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for over 15 years where he worked as the Section Chief for Research in the Division of General Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology and as the Deputy Director for Research, Director of the Program on Medical Practice and Prevention, and Director of the Primary Care Research Fellowship at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. He has served as co-Director of the RTI-UNC Evidence-based Practice Center since 2012. Dr. Jonas received his MD from Ohio State and his MPH from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Ann Scheck McAlearney, ScD, MS
Executive Director of CATALYST, Associate Dean for Health Services Research, and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine in Ohio State's College of Medicine
Dr. McAlearney is the Executive Director of CATALYST, Associate Dean for Health Services Research, and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine in Ohio State's College of Medicine. She also holds appointments as a professor of health services management and policy in the College of Public Health and is a professor of biomedical informatics and pediatrics in the College of Medicine at The Ohio State University. She has over 30 years of health services research experience and has been actively involved in both performing research and disseminating research results to academic and practitioner audiences.
Dr. McAlearney enjoys collaborative research projects and engaging clinicians in health service research as well as mentoring junior faculty in their research endeavors. She is internationally known for her expertise in both qualitative and mixed methods analyses, and she has been continuously funded for over 20 years. Dr. McAlearney has authored over 300 peer-reviewed publications, 11 books/edited books, and more than 100 book chapters. Dr. McAlearney has served as a grant reviewer for 18 years including for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Institutes of Health, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and the National Science Foundation. In addition to co-leading the Center to STOP COVID at Ohio State (U54), Dr. McAlearney leads an R01 focused on applying management practices to prevent transmission of healthcare-associated infections, and she co-leads the “Better Birth Outcomes Through Technology, Education and Reporting (BETTER)” project funded by the American Heart Association as part of their newly established Health Equity Research Network. Her ongoing research focuses on addressing care disparities, information technology innovations in health care, population health management, quality improvement, and organizational development. Dr. McAlearney received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Stanford University and Harvard University’s T. H. Chan School of Public Health.
2023-2024 cohort
Dr. Agne is an associate professor of Internal Medicine in the Division of Palliative Medicine. Dr. Agne’s research focuses on outpatient palliative care delivery during cancer care. She is the co-director of the Thoracic Onco-Palliative Clinic at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.
Dr. Bauder is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. Her research interests include interdisciplinary and integrated approaches to suicide research and prevention with a focus on women firearm owners and those with oppressed gender and sexual identities. She is a licensed professional clinical counselor and provides suicide and trauma-focused evidence-based psychotherapy with the Suicide and Trauma Reduction Initiative (STRIVE).
Dr. Davenport is a post-doctoral research fellow in the Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery. Her research focuses on parental self-efficacy in parents and caregivers of children who are deaf/hard-of-hearing, parent-child interaction, and language development. She is currently funded through PCORI to build the capacity of families of deaf/hard-of-hearing children to engage in the research process.
Dr. Hawthorn is a post-doctoral scholar with CATALYST. Her work focuses on improving preventive service delivery through a better understanding of how health system organization and processes affect the provision of preventive care during individual clinical encounters. She is interested in applying qualitative inquiry and mixed methods research designs to explore ways to improve the experience of preventive service delivery for patients and clinicians across community and health care settings. Dr. Hawthorn received her MD and PhD in health services research from Case Western Research University School of Medicine. She did her preventive medicine training at University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University through the Department of Family Medicine.
Dr. Husain is a medical oncologist in the Department of Internal Medicine's Division of Medical Oncology. Her research focuses on quality-of-life metrics and assessment tools in the sarcoma population. She received her MD from The Ohio State University College of Medicine and her MPH from Wright State University College of Medicine. She is also the president of the national non-profit Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA).
Dr. Lee is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Urology. He completed a fellowship in endourology (endoscopic urology), and his clinical interests are in benign prostatic hyperplasia and nephrolithiasis. He is interested in using large datasets to understand prevalence of disease and studying surgical practice patterns, i.e., health care utilization. He is also interested in studying patient-centered outcomes after endourologic surgery. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Health with a focus in clinical translational research.
2022-2023 cohort
Dr. Adesanya is an instructor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at The Ohio State University. He is excited to focus on the confluence of society, medicine, and science as a primary care physician-scientist. He has clinical interests in cardiovascular health, and his research aims include studying biological mechanisms to prevent cardiovascular disease and reduce associated disparities.
Dr. Gordon is an Internal Medicine-Pediatrics physician with an interest in studying and reducing disparities in women’s health. Her primary research focuses are in postpartum transition to primary care and improving follow up of gestational diabetes. She is currently pursuing her Master of Public Health degree.
Dr. Were is an Academic General Pediatric Fellow at Nationwide Childrens Hospital. She has an interest in immigrant health and access to health care with the goal of creating a more equitable health system and is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health.