Research Highlights
VA scientists among White House honorees
January 14, 2010
VA scientists Melina Kibbe, MD, and Alex Sox-Harris, PhD, were honored at the White House on January 13, 2010 when they received Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, along with researchers from eight other federal agencies.
The awards were established in 1996 as America's highest honor for early-career researchers. They are given each year for "innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology" and a commitment to community service. Winners receive up to five years in continued research funding from their respective agencies.
"These extraordinarily gifted young scientists and engineers represent the best in our country," President Obama said in a White House statement. "With their talent, creativity and dedication, I am confident that they will lead their fields in new breakthroughs and discoveries and help us use science and technology to lift up our nation and our world."
Kibbe is a vascular surgeon and biomedical researcher at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago. Her lab studies how a body chemical called nitric oxide promotes healthy blood vessels. The work aims to improve patient outcomes after procedures such as bypass surgery or balloon angioplasty and stenting. These procedures injure the inner lining of blood vessels, which thwarts production of nitric oxide. The result is unwanted tissue growth inside the vessels, leading to new blockages. In one project, Kibbe's group is developing a prosthetic vascular graft that releases nitric oxide. If the device proves successful in humans, it would be used in place of a standard vein graft and could improve outcomes after bypass surgery.
In addition to her VA role, Kibbe conducts research at the Institute for BioNanotechnology in Medicine at Northwestern University and is a surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Outside of her research and clinical duties, she developed a DVD movie library for veterans at the Chicago VA and for children at the local Shriners Hospital. She also raises money for the American Vascular Association to help provide scholarships for young investigators.
Alex Sox-Harris is a researcher at VA's Center for Health Care Evaluation, in Palo Alto. He has led efforts to study how well quality measures used widely by VA and other U.S. health systems predict outcomes for patients treated for drug or alcohol addiction. Based on his research, he has proposed a new strategy that would "pre-validate" quality measures to make sure they actually correspond to improved patient outcomes. "This would give administrators a means to identify high- and low-performing facilities, monitor the effects of system-wide initiatives, and incentivize particular practices," he said.
In related research, Sox-Harris has probed other issues in alcohol screening, counseling and treatment, and topics such as suicide attempts after addiction treatment and the impact of spirituality and religion on health. He is also a statistician with VA's Center for Bone and Joint Rehabilitation and is noted for his expertise in research methodology, often consulting for other research groups within VA. A recent article of his in the Journal of Psychiatric Research outlined common statistical and research-design problems in papers submitted to prominent psychiatry journals.
Aside from his VA role, Sox-Harris is a member of the Washington Circle Public Sector Workgroup for Substance Use Disorder treatment. He is active in his community as a Cub Scout volunteer.