Research

The Institute engages in clinical and health services research in support of its core mission to provide access to superior primary care, especially to those who are medically underserved. Our research enables us to continually improve the care we offer and to contribute to the advancement of primary care knowledge and practices. While the Institute engages in a wide variety of research projects, we have focused efforts in several key research areas:

• Racial and ethnic health disparities;
• Patient-centered care;
• Health information technology;
• Integration of mental health care and primary care; and
• Women’s health.

The Institute’s practice sites, providers, and organizational leaders comprise a primary care-based research network (PBRN) registered with the Agency for Health Care Quality and Research. The Institute fosters and supports research that is initiated by individual clinicians, including family practice residents, as well as broader, organizational-level projects implemented across all practice sites. Each of the Institute’s three family medicine residency programs has a required research curriculum through which residents complete a wide range of research projects under the supervision of a faculty member.

Institute research projects, as well as service and project grants with rigorous evaluation requirements, have received support from the National Institutes of Health, Agency for Health Care Quality and Research, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health Resources and Services Administration, New York State Department of Health, and a variety of private foundations. The research conducted by Institute staff and residency faculty has resulted in numerous publications in a range of medical journals, including JAMA, Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, and Journal of Healthcare for the Poor and Underserved. Institute staff have also published health policy articles, book chapters, commentaries, and letters to the editor on issues related to primary care and care for the underserved.

Click here for a listing of Institute publications.

How to Seek Research Approval

Any project that involves research and human subjects must be reviewed by the Institute’s Research Committee and if applicable, the Institutional Review Board (IRB).

Under no circumstances may a project be started, including any surveying, until researchers have contacted the Research Committee Administrator, Nandini Shroff, at nshroff@institute.org or 212-633-0800 x1363.

See Research Committee and Institutional Review Board for further information.