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WSU Researchers Win Three of Four BCBSM Foundation Awards

Wayne State University researchers won three of four Excellence in Research Awards from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation. Awardees Mousumi Banerjee, PhD, Kendra Schwartz, MD, and Robert Welch, MD, were each awarded $10,000 to conduct clinical and health policy research. Each year, BCBSM funds two awards for physicians (MD or DO) and two awards for researchers with non-medical degrees (PhD, DrPH).

Dr. Mousumi Banerjee, associate professor in the Center for Healthcare Effectiveness Research, received the BCBSM Foundation Excellence in Clinical Research Award for her project titled “Recursive Partitioning for Prognostic Grouping of Patients with Clinically Localized Prostate Carcinoma.” This work, published in the journal Cancer in 2000, introduced a clinical decision model that helps physicians make rational treatment decisions for men with localized prostate cancer. The study identified patients who have the greatest potential to benefit from radical prostatectomy based on their age, PSA and other clinical characteristics, versus patients who may require advanced adjuvant therapies.

Dr. Kendra Schwartz, associate professor of family medicine, received the BCBSM Foundation Excellence in Research Award for Physicians for her project titled “Prostate Cancer Treatment Complications Among Detroit Area Men.” This study, published in the journal Cancer in 2002, provided a population-based depiction of treatment outcomes for men with localized prostate cancer. Patients were questioned about the side effects and outcomes associated with their cancer treatment which consisted of either radical prostatectomy or external beam radiation therapy. The paper concluded that the incidence of complications and side effects associated with these treatments is greater than what has been previously reported, and physicians and patients need to use this population-based evidence in discussing the most appropriate course of treatment.

Dr. Robert Welch, assistant professor in emergency medicine, received BCBSM Foundation Excellence in Research Award for Physicians for his project titled “Prognostic Value of a Normal or Nonspecific Initial Electrocardiogram in Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI).” This study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2001, found that AMI patients with initially normal electrocardiograms had substantial mortality rates. Dr. Welch and his colleagues concluded that some patients may be inappropriately discharged from the hospital after seemingly normal ECGs provide false confidence in a healthy prognosis.

The 2002 Excellence in Research Awards recognize work that contributes to improving health and medical care in Michigan.

The Wayne State University School of Medicine is the largest single-campus medical school in the country. Together with the Wayne State University Physician Group, the school is a leader in patient care and medical research in a number of areas including cancer, genetics, women’s and children’s health and the neurosciences.

Editor's Note:
Dr. Banerjee is a resident of West Bloomfield.
Dr. Schwartz is a resident of Farmington Hills.
Dr. Welch is a resident of Grosse Pointe Park