FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, January 7, 2013
Contact:
Leslie Champlin
American Academy of Family Physicians
(800) 274-2237, Ext. 5224
lchampli@aafp.org
WASHINGTON — The Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care and Georgetown University have renamed their premier research and clinical fellowship program to honor long-time Robert Graham Center director, Robert Phillips, MD, MSPH.
The Robert L. Phillips Jr. Health Policy Fellowship provides a one-year experience that combines scholarly research and clinical practice. Fellows collaborate with and contribute to local and national institutions that focus on public and health policy research, planning and implementation. The Graham Center and Georgetown University renamed the fellowship to honor Phillips for his leadership in research that made significant contributions to the nation’s health care policies.
“We’re extremely pleased to honor Dr. Phillips in this way,” said Andrew Bazemore, MD, MPH, director of the Robert Graham Center. “He has been an inspiration to a distinguished group of fellows who have gone on to become leaders in American health care policy and leaves a legacy of shaping evidence on health policy that inspires all of us who worked at the Graham Center. He is an exceptional leader in primary care policy research and richly deserves this honor.”
Phillips served as director of the Robert Graham Center from 2004 to 2012. He then became vice president for research and policy at the American Board of Family Medicine. During his tenure, the Robert Graham Center developed invaluable tools using geographic information systems to identify the distribution patterns for public health care services, primary care physicians and other health services. He also was a key leader in research into collaborative care processes, the interactions between physicians and health care systems, and their effects on the quality of health care.
He worked closely with and mentored Robert Graham Center research fellows, who combine clinical practice and scholarly research during their one-year fellowship. Among its distinguished alumni are David Meyers, MD, director of the Center for Primary Care, Prevention, and Clinical Partnerships at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; and Janelle Guirguis-Blake, MD, former medical officer of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
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About the Robert Graham Center
The Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care works to improve individual and population health by enhancing the delivery of primary care. The Center staff generates and analyzes evidence that brings a family medicine and primary care perspective to health policy deliberations at local, state, and national levels.
Founded in 1999, the Robert Graham Center is an independent research unit affiliated with the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). The information and opinions contained in research from the Center do not necessarily reflect the views or policy of the AAFP.