Recognition September 2015


Health IT researcher Dr. Pedja Klasnja to join GHRI faculty in December

This December Group Health Research Institute will welcome new Assistant Investigator Predrag “Pedja” Klasnja, PhD. Dr. Klasnja is currently an assistant professor in the School of Information and Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan (UM).

Dr. Klasnja’s research focuses on how technology can help individuals effectively manage health behaviors, both on their own and in collaboration with their health care providers. He has extensive experience developing technological interventions to support health management and has helped guide the design and evaluation of behavior-change technologies. His work spans consumer health informatics and human-computer interaction, drawing on behavior science to provide a theoretical foundation for the interventions he develops.

Dr. Klasnja has a PhD in information science from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree in physics and religious studies from the University of Tennessee.

Dr. Fishman appointed UW professor of health services

GHRI Senior Investigator Paul Fishman, PhD, recently accepted a position in the University of Washington’s School of Public Health as professor in the Department of Health Services, where he has served as an affiliate associate professor since 1986.

“As an economist focusing on costs and outcomes related to health improvement programs such as tobacco cessation and risk adjustment, Dr. Fishman has contributed greatly to Group Health’s development over the past several years,” said GHRI Executive Director Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH. “He is widely recognized as a leader in studies involving innovations in health behavior change and emerging models of care for chronic illness.”

Dr. Fishman’s new position at UW will allow him to continue this work as he pursues projects newly underway at GHRI, including a study with UW Assistant Professor Norma Coe, PhD, on cost and resource consumption involved in aging and Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Larson elected to Washington State Academy of Sciences

Group Health Vice President for Research and GHRI Executive Director Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH, was recently elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences (WSAS). The Academy’s mission is to increase the role and visibility of science in Washington State and to provide expertise to inform public policy. One of 24 new members appointed this year, Dr. Larson was elected by virtue of his membership in the National Academy of Sciences. The induction ceremony will take place at the Seattle Museum of Flight on September 17 as part of the WSAS eighth annual meeting.