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"The McDevitt award is named in honor of our late chairman and visionaryhealth care leader, Frank J. McDevitt, D.O. We honor Michigan researchers withthis award for their contributions to improving health and medical care," saidIra Strumwasser, executive director and CEO of the Blue Cross Blue Shield ofMichigan Foundation.
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The foundation awards four McDevitt awards of $10,000 each annually in theareas of clinical, health policy or health services research. Awards are to beused for further research.
The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation is dedicated toimproving the health of Michigan residents by supporting health careresearch and innovative health programs. The foundation's grantprograms are conducted in Michigan by Michigan-based researchers and nonprofitcommunity health care organizations.
Over the past 25 years, the BCBSM Foundation has contributed approximately$20 million in grants for research and $5 million for community healthprograms. This funding has resulted in enhancements to quality, patient safetyand access to care for the people of Michigan. The foundation also supportsefforts to control the rising costs of health care through research,demonstration and evaluation projects.
The BCBSM Foundation is the philanthropic affiliate of Blue Cross BlueShield of Michigan. The foundation is a 501( c )(3) nonprofit organization andan independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Formore information, visit bcbsm.com/foundation.This year's award winners are: -- Mei-Wei Chang, R.N., assistant professor in the College of Nursing Research Center at Michigan State University, for her research on nutrition. Chang studied a specific population of people at risk for poor nutrition and obesity: young mothers with lower income and education levels. She discovered different behaviors regarding high-fat food intake among normal weight mothers and obese mothers, and created a set of strategies to help make positive changes encouraging weight loss for the entire population. -- Scott Compton, assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Wayne State University, for his clinical research on emergency medics' experience with family members during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The American Heart Association recommends that, whenever possible, family members should have the option to remain with their loved ones during CPR. Compton's research concluded that bereavement support and death notification skills should be addressed in paramedic training, and medical facilities should have support services for family members of CPR patients. -- Andrew Haig, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Michigan Medical School, for his clinical research on electromyography and back pain. Haig led a spinal stenosis study and found that EMG can accurately diagnosis debilitating and serious spinal disorders. The American Association of Electrodiagnostic Medicine has described his finding in the field as the "dawn of a new era." -- Allison B. Rosen, M.D., assistant professor at the University of Michigan Medical School and School of Public Health, for her policy research on medications. Rosen found that if medicines that help prevent heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure are offered without out-of-pocket costs to elderly diabetic patients, their quality of life and life expectancy would improve. Rosen
