North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper recognized Core Faculty Member Charlene Wong and Margolis Scholar Alum Madhu Vulimiri for their outstanding efforts on the state's response to COVID-19 at a reception hosted in the Raleigh executive mansion.

HEALTH POLICY IN ACTION

In the wake on the revised July 27^th CDC guidance, and the new Duke requirement, that both vaccinated and unvaccinated people should return to wearing masks indoors in areas where COVID transmission is high, Director Mark McClellan discussed the reasons for and impact of the updated masking guidance with CNN. Watch the interview.

Policy Analyst Thomas Roades, former Research Director Adam Kroetsch, and Director Mark McClellan, co-authored, with the COVID Collaborative, a white paper that identifies the key causes of drug supply chain failures that were accentuated by the COVID pandemic, and provides potential solutions to guide policymakers and other stakeholders as they work to establish more resiliency. The brief builds on and complements the White House’s “100-Day Review” on Building Resilient Supply Chains,” Read the white paper here.

In a USA Today op/ed, Core Faculty Member Gavin Yamey and his co-authors outline the ideals that America’s founders had regarding freedom, public health, and their belief in science and how they understood patriotism in a time of public health crisis. Read the opinion piece here.

Duke-Margolis published a timeline of the Center’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The chronology details the comprehensive efforts the Center has taken to address the multiple health policy aspects of the pandemic since March 2020. The Center will regularly update the timeline going forward to reflect our ongoing response to COVID-19. Click here to view it.

Assistant Research Director Katie Greene, Policy Analyst Katie Huber, and Director Mark McClellan published, with the COVID Collaborative, a policy brief, “Improving Immunization Information Sharing to Support Targeted COVID-19 Vaccination Outreach.” The brief identifies current barriers to sharing COVID immunization information with health care partners, highlights innovative strategies for leveraging state immunization data and health care partners to support targeted outreach efforts, and provides considerations for state and federal leaders for strengthening state immunization information systems and supporting improved outreach, coordination, and information sharing with health care partners. Read the policy brief here.

Core Faculty Member Nancy Allen LaPointe discussed the process for full FDA approval of the COVID vaccines and why it is important for further vaccination uptake with The Hill and Spectrum News. Read the article from The Hill and the article from Spectrum News.

Director Mark McClellan and Core Faculty Member Krishna Udayakumar co-authored an op/ed in The Hill that cautions that accelerating vaccine production alone is not enough to contain the pandemic globally. “In the coming months, as vaccine availability rises, vaccine delivery capabilities and vaccine hesitancy will become the critical bottlenecks to vaccinations in most countries,” they note. The authors call for a US Emergency Plan for COVID Relief that would work with the countries with the highest burden of disease and the lowest vaccination rates in Latin America, South and Southeast Asia, and Africa. This initiative could drive similar efforts by G7 and EU countries—and demonstrate US global leadership—by ensuring that vaccine pledges translate into life-saving vaccinations. Read the op/ed here.

Health Equity Policy Fellow Andrea Thoumi, together with colleagues from the National Governors Association and the National Academy for State Health Policy, have posted a case study on the Commonwealth of Virginia’s effort to integrate principles of equity and inclusion into the infrastructure of state government—an approach that has been instrumental in the state’s response to COVID-19. This case study is part of a series that features innovative state practices to address health equity in COVID-19 response across the country. Read the case study.

Digital Health Policy Fellow Christina Silcox discussed the importance of COVID-19 testing with MPR News in relation to the rise of the delta variant and how better testing can create benefits for the state of Minnesota. Read the full story.

Core Faculty Member Dev Sangvai joined experts from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, UNC Center for the Business of Health, and WakeMed in Matters in Managed Care panel where they discussed how they are working together to address some of the North Carolina’s unique primary care needs. Watch the recording here.

RESEARCH

Research Assistant Mira Gill, Margolis Intern Laura Benzing, and Director Mark McClellan co-authored a paper, “Understanding Use of Real-World Data (RWD) and Real-World Evidence (RWE) to Support Regulatory Decisions on Medical Product Effectiveness,” published by the Journal of American Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics. The co-authors discuss the various roles RWE can play when included in the evidence package to support the effectiveness of an FDA-regulated medical product. Read the report here.

Core Faculty Member Kim Lyerly co-authored a study published in Plos One that address the link between neurodegeneration and long-term exposure to air particulate matter. Read the research here.

Research Associate Jonathan Gonzalez-Smith, Assistant Research Director William Bleser, and Research Director Robert Saunders evaluated potential changes in regulatory waivers to promote value-based and alternative payment arrangements in a policy brief “Improving Waiver and Program Flexibilities for Advanced Payment Models.” Support for this brief was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Read the brief here.

A study co-authored by Research Associate David Anderson and published by the Milbank Quarterly addressed the impact of policy changes on insurance plan choice in California in 2018. Read the full article here. David also published an article in JAMA Health Forums regarding the outcomes observed after the US health insurance marketplace created changes to the automatic renewal process.

Core Faculty Member Barak Richman published two articles this month. The first article, published in the Wall Street Journal, shared the story of a cancer patient’s nearly six-hour commute to meet a doctor due to telemedicine restrictions. Barak’s second article address the recently FDA approved treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, aducanumab, and the difficult coverage decision facing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid to pay for the drug.

Core Faculty Member Nina Sperber co-authored “Strategies to Integrate Genomic Medicine into Clinical Care: Evidence form the IGNITE Network”, published by the Journal of Personalized Medicine. The article discusses the role clinical decision support can play in streamlining the complex process of genomic medicine. Read the article here.

Assistant Research Director William Bleser discussed the process of prior authorization in an interview with The Washington Post, found here. The article references a 2020 Duke-Margolis publication that addresses prior authorization under value-based contracts. Red the paper here.

A recent Duke-Margolis case study on successful integrative pain management programs was highlighted in an article from WVNews. See their coverage here.

Learn about the incredible work by the Duke-Margolis 2021 Summer interns through the Center’s virtual Summer Research Symposium. Through a series of Ted Talks and posters, the Center’s 30 interns summarized their work with Duke-Margolis mentors and faculty, industry partners, and various funding agencies during their eight-week health policy educational experience. Congratulations to all our amazing 2021 interns! Visit the virtual Symposium page and the 2021 Margolis Summer Research Symposium Playlist on our YouTube page.

Duke-Margolis hosted a roundtable meeting, “Understanding Payer Evidentiary Needs for Alzheimer’s Disease Monoclonal Antibody Treatments,” as part its cooperative agreement with FDA. The roundtable convened public and private payers, clinicians, academics, patient groups, and industry for an initial discussion related to coverage and evidence challenges associated with emerging monoclonal antibody treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease. Meeting materials from this event can be found here.

Duke-Margolis hosted a public workshop regarding the safe use of benzodiazepines that brought together a diverse range of perspectives for a discussion about the use of these compounds in clinical practice, and key gaps in our understanding of benzodiazepines. View the video recordings and presentations here.

Congratulations to Corinna Sorenson, Nathan Boucher, Trevor Lentz, Brystana Kaufman for graduating from the Duke School of Medicine’s 2021 LEADER cohort.

A former Duke Internal Medicine resident, Frank Wharam has returned to Duke University after 17 years and joins Duke-Margolis Center as a Core Faculty member. A general internist and health policy researcher, Frank studies the impact of national and state policies on the health outcomes of chronically ill and vulnerable populations. His research often examines the effects of health insurance benefit designs, such as value-based, consumer-directed, and high-deductible health plans. Frank also focuses on interventions that affect people with substance use disorders, diabetes, obesity, mental illness, and respiratory diseases. Other interests include the adverse effects of wasteful health care spending on medical and non-medical outcomes.

Rushina Cholera is a general pediatrician and health services researcher. Her research is dedicated to promoting health and health equity for children and their families by addressing social drivers of health. Using interdisciplinary approaches, she aims to examine the etiologies and impacts of social and health inequities from early childhood, and develop cross-sector community-driven interventions across the practice, policy, and health systems levels. Dr. Cholera practices clinically as a pediatric hospitalist and in the newborn nursery.

Milena Berhane is a new Policy Analyst who works on medical product payment, policy, and innovation as part of the Center’s Biomedical Innovation team. Milena earned her Bachelor of Arts in Public Health Studies from Johns Hopkins University, and her Masters of Public Health from George Washington University.

Brian Canter is a new Senior Policy Analyst working on policy issues related to biomedical innovation and COVID-19 therapies. Prior to joining Duke-Margolis, Brian completed a PhD in Biomedical Sciences with a focus in Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers University. Brian also graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Tufts University.

Victoria “Tori” Gemme is a new Research Associate for the Biomedical Innovation team. Victoria graduated from Vassar College with a Bachelor’s degree in neuroscience, from Suffolk University with a Master’s in Ethics and Public Policy, and from Quantic School of Business and Technology with a Master’s in Business Administration.

Derick Rapista is a new Research Assistant, who works on our medical products payment, pricing, and coverage portfolio as part of the Biomedical Innovation team. Derick explored health policy at both the USC Schaeffer Center and Emory Healthcare. He earned his Bachelor’s in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology with a minor in quantitative sciences at Emory.

Elizabeth Staton joins Duke-Margolis as a new Policy Analyst with the Biomedical Innovation team. Elizabeth graduated from Swarthmore College where she majored in Economics and Philosophy.