Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Christina Wee, M.D., M.P.H.
Fellowship Director
Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Associate Section Chief of Research, Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, BIDMC

Dr. Christina C. Wee is Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Associate Section Chief for Research in the Division of General Medicine and Primary Care at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She is also Director of the Division's Health Services and Behavioral Research Program in Obesity, Co-Director of the Health Behaviors Research Program, and Program-Director of the Harvard-wide General Medicine Faculty Development Fellowship Program. Dr. Wee’s research interests in obesity primarily focus on questions of particular relevance to public health and primary care and can be characterized by three overarching goals: 1) to understand racial and ethnic differences in the costs and health outcomes of obesity; 2) to identify and address the stigma associated with obesity, particularly as it relates to disparities in healthcare and in medical decision-making; and 3) to define and promote the role of primary care physicians in the management of obesity.

Dr. Wee has led several R01 projects funded by NIDDK. She recently completed an R01 funded study to examine the role of race on health outcomes associated with obesity. She is currently the Principal Investigator of a multicenter study to examine patient preferences, decision-making and long-term health and quality of life outcomes associated with bariatric surgery. In addition, Dr. Wee is broadly interested in health disparities and health promotion research and has mentored several fellows in areas such as immigrant and women’s health, cancer screening, and medical decision-making. Her research and mentorship ability is nationally recognized. She is the recipient of a NIDDK-funded K24 Midcareer Mentorship Award, the 2010 HMS A. Clifford Barger Award for Excellence in Mentoring, and the 2011 Society of General Internal Medicine Midcareer Research and Mentorship Award. She was also inducted into the American Society of Clinical Investigation in 2012.

Dr. Wee is a former deputy editor of the Journal of General Internal Medicine and has served on several national scientific review committees. She currently chairs the Research Committee for the Society of General Internal Medicine.

Edward R. Marcantonio, M.D., S.M.
Fellowship Site Director
Director of Research, Division of General Medicine and Primary Care
Beth Israel Deaconess Site Director, Harvard Medical School Fellowship in General Medicine and Primary Care
Director, Research Program for Improving Quality of Care and Outcomes of Hospitalized Older Adults
Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Marcantonio is Director of Research for the Division of General Medicine and Primary Care at BIDMC, and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Within the Division, he leads the Research Program to Improve Quality of Care and Outcomes for Hospitalized Older Adults, which defines the broad theme of his research. He is an internationally recognized expert and clinical investigator in the area of delirium (acute confusion), in which he has performed numerous observational and interventional research studies. He currently leads three NIH-funded studies in this area (1 P01, 1 R01, 1 R03) focusing on improving diagnostic strategies for delirium, biomarker discovery, and evaluating the role of psychoactive medications in delirium treatment. He also leads the Epidemiology Core for the first-ever NIH Program Project focused on delirium. He has broader interests in improving quality of care for elders, and has authored papers on predictors of hospitalization and unplanned hospital readmission, and outcomes of non-cardiac and cardiac surgery in older adults. He is the BIDMC site director of the HMS Fellowship in General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, teaches Epidemiology in the Clinical Effectiveness Program at Harvard School of Public Health, and has mentored over 30 students, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty members. Dr. Marcantonio has authored over 90 peer-reviewed research articles, plus numerous clinical reviews, book chapters, and practice guidelines. He served for 5 years on NIH’s Aging Systems and Geriatrics study section, which he chaired from 2006-2008. Honors include the 1999 Paul Beeson Physician Scholarship in Aging Research, the 2003 American Geriatrics Society Outstanding Scientific Achievement in Clinical Investigation Award, the 2007 BIDMC Center for Faculty Development Award for Excellence in Mentoring, and the 2009 HMS A. Clifford Barger Award for Excellence in Mentoring. Dr. Marcantonio is the recipient of a Mid-Career Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research from the National Institute on Aging.

• Clinical epidemiology
• Clinical trials
• Aging research
• Delirium
• Cognitive function
• Quality of care

• Health services research
• Clinical trials
• Clinical epidemiology
• Biostatistics

• Quality of care
• Medical education
• Patient education
• Health services research

• Clinical ethics
• End-of-life care
• Health professional education in underserved communities
• Health care quality improvement in Africa

• Health services research
• Cost-effectiveness research
• Clinical decision marking in geriatrics and end-of-life care

• Health services research and quality of care
• The influence of physician and organizational factors on delivery of health care services
• Physician satisfaction
• Value-based purchasing

• Epidemiology of aging
• Disability, pain, chronic conditions in older adults
• Disease self-management
• Patient internet portals
• Research study design

• Racial/ethnic and age-related disparities in cancer screening, treatment and outcomes
• Clinical decision-making and treatment choices at the end of life
• Cancer screening and outcomes in the very elderly
• Public use databases

• Clinical epidemiology of cardiovascular diseases including studies of behavioral Dietary and environmental determinants of cardiovascular disease incidence and prognosis

• Lifestyle and nutritional factors, cardiovascular risk factors, and incidence
• Prognosis of cardiovascular diseases

• Clinical trials
• Epidemiology
• Statistical methodology and applications in completing risks
• Marginal structure models
• Model selection
• Linear mixed-effects models
• Diagnostic accuracy

• Women's health and decision-making
• Breast cancer among older women
• Preventative health for older adults

• Medical education
• Clinical prevention
• Patient-doctor communication
• Critical appraisal
• Decision analysis
• Cost-effectiveness analysis

• Patients’ perspective on quality of care
• Patients’ use of health information technology
• Preparing professionals to care for the underserved

• Mind-body therapies
• Complementary Medicine
• Preventive care
• Stress management
• Cardiopulmonary disease

Denotes faculty who have graduated from the Fellowship Program

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