Freya Spielberg, MD, MPH; Vice Chair of Research
In April 2024, the Department of Family, Community and Preventive Medicine welcomed Freya Spielberg, MD, MPH, as the new Vice Chair of Research. Since joining, Dr. Spielberg has focused on advancing key research priorities to strengthen the department's scholarly impact and community engagement.
Our primary initiatives include:
- Developing Experience with Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN) Studies: Freya Spielberg, MD, MPH Vice Chair of Research Three PBRN studies have been launched, addressing lung cancer screening, contraception decision-making for women with chronic diseases and obesity interventions. These studies aim to support evidence-based improvements in primary care. We are co-launching the DESERT practice-based research network with our Tucson Family and Community Medicine Department partners.
- Enhancing Scholarly Activities: Faculty and students were actively involved in two key projects, Voting and Health and Heat Death Prevention Needs of Homeless Individuals, both of which are being prepared for submission to conferences and journals.
- Building Faculty Research Capacity: In collaboration with Arizona State University’s College of Health Solutions, three faculty members have enrolled in a funded Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Embedded Scholars program to strengthen their research skills and expertise.
- Increasing Grant Submissions: The department has submitted several grant proposals
Some specific areas of research focus in the department:
- Practice-based research – this is translational multi-site research that occurs in the outpatient primary care clinic, the real-world clinical environment. We participate in PBRN research sponsored by other institutions and we have our own PBRN called DESERT
- Heat Resilience – we have projects working with multidisciplinary partners to better understand, plan, prevent and intervene on adverse health outcomes related to heat
- Primary Care Workforce – We are leading initiatives to better evaluate, track, and design interventions around primary care workforce needs (and shortages).
- Community and Population Health – We are engaged in projects to help understand, track, collaborate and intervene on health and healthcare in our diverse Arizona communities. This work includes understanding and bridging gaps for rural, underserved, unhoused, non-English speaking, pregnant, depressed, addicted and/or experiencing any Social Determinant of Health.
- Food and Nutrition – We have a focus of activity around improving access and use of healthy food as a way to improve health and the interventions and efforts cover topics of food insecurity, food deserts, nutrition education, culinary medicine intervention, and obesity and lifestyle medicine.
- Mental Health – We have an interest in improving mental health outreach and outcomes, including integrated care team, new technology solutions, suicide prevention and emerging therapeutics in the treatment of depression and suicidality.