Research Co-Design Team (Heart Failure) Member Bios

Susan Ammon, Clinician:  Ms. Ammon worked as a nurse practitioner in the General Cardiology and Heart Failure Clinic at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. This past November 2016, she retired from her position after 34 years of service but continues to be involved in several heart failure committees/board positions.  She participated in Phase I of pSCANNER on the research prioritization panel for heart failure. Her life’s passion has been in heart failure care; her clinical experience and research background provide excellent support for contributing to this field of research.

William Bolt, Patient Representative: Mr. Bolt has worked as a registered nurse since 1998; currently he is coaching and teaching downhill skiing.  A heart transplant recipient (January 2016), he continues to be active with patient and transplant groups through social media forums; engaging with others about diet, lifestyle and heart health.  He participated in Phase I of pSCANNER on the research prioritization panel and looks forward to working on areas of research that will provide a deeper understanding of the underlying reasons for hospital readmissions relating to heart conditions. 

Barbara Hanna, Researcher: Ms. Hanna has over 35 years of experience as a RN providing home and community based care. She recently completed her PhD (2015); her dissertation was an observational study that reviewed the relationship between home health care on quality of life and overall health status of community dwelling. She participated in Phase I of pSCANNER on the research prioritization panel for heart failure and would like to continue to explore research interests which include patients with heart failure that receive care in home and community based settings.

Shilo McGrew, Clinician: Ms. McGrew has experience as a nurse and patient advocate and currently resides as an Advisory Board member of a major medical center Heart and Vascular Institute. She remains active as associate chair of an advisory panel supporting women's cardiac treatment and research. Ms. McGrew participated in Phase I of the pSCANNER project on the research prioritization panel, and as a representative on the Education Stakeholder Advisory Board (SAB) specific to heart failure.  She looks forward to this opportunity and to be part of a larger team working to develop and further heart health research. 

Althea Miller, Patient Representative:  Ms. Miller retired as an administrator from LA County Department of Children’s and Family Services after 15 years of service.  She has encountered a wide variety of experiences, both positive and negative in her ongoing relationship with heart failure, and is interested in helping others who may travel this path after her.  Ms. Miller participated in Phase I of pSCANNER on the research prioritization panel for heart failure and describes herself as detail oriented, flexible and loyal with a sense of humor that does not allow her to take herself too seriously.

Allyn Phillips, Patient Representative: Mr. Phillips is a retired executive from the Ford Motor Company.  He participated on the pSCANNER Phase I research prioritization panel for heart failure and was impressed with the results that were distributed in terms of patient involvement and awareness.  As a heart failure patient he believes he will bring a different perspective than clinicians or researchers and looks forward to helping the medical community better understand the issues from a patient’s perspective.

Bruce Sawyer, Patient Representative:  Mr. Sawyer is a retired public school educator with a background in science/technology. He is involved with the pSCANNER project because of an interest in getting medical information to patients in understandable language.  This would empower patients to make informed decisions about their course of treatment and feel more positive about their health care. Mr. Sawyer participated in Phase I of the pSCANNER project on the research prioritization panel for heart failure as well as the SAB-Governance and SAB-Education (HF).

Janice Schwartz, Researcher: As a cardiologist, geriatrician and clinical pharmacologist, Dr. Schwartz believes that better approaches are needed in order to meet patient and/or clinician goals.  She is interested in working with a diverse group of people; to hear concerns articulated and to form research based on greater understanding. She participated on the Phase I pSCANNER research prioritization panel for heart failure and is excited that clinically relevant topics were selected and endorsed by patient stakeholders.  Her current research focus is on patient-centered as well as pharmacological research.

Sophia Tcheung, Clinician: Dr. Tcheung is an internal medicine physician at the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Healthcare System and is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine.  She participated in the pSCANNER Phase I research prioritization panel and is interested in identifying strategies to better treat patients on an outpatient basis to support self-management and quality of life.

Felix Yam, Clinician: Dr. Yam is currently a faculty member at UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy. His clinical site is at the VA San Diego Healthcare System where he practices in a multidisciplinary heart failure clinic. He also precepts pharmacy students and residents in cardiology and medicine rotations. He participated on the Phase I pSCANNER research prioritization panel for heart failure.  His primary research interests include investigations into noel therapies for heart failure and evaluating the use of remote monitoring technologies to improve patient outcomes.

pSCANNER Research Team

Katherine Kim, Principal Investigator, UC Davis Lead:  Dr. Kim is an Assistant Professor at UC Davis, Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. Her research centers on the role of technology in consumer and patient engagement in health and technology-enabled care models with a particular focus in mobile Health (mHealth) and social networks, distributed research networks (DRNs) and health information exchange (HIE).

Hugo Campos, Patient Co-Investigator: Mr. Campos is a member of the pSCANNER National Steering Committee, an ePatient Advisor at Stanford Medicine X, and a former advisor to the Health Data Exploration Project, UCSD. He has been at the forefront of the battle to give patients more access to their medical device data.  In July 2015, he was honored by the White House as a Champion of Change for Precision Medicine for his data liberation advocacy. Mr. Campos served as the patient co-chair on the Phase I pSCANNER SAB-Governance and continues in that role for Phase II.

Paul Heidenreich, pSCANNER Clinical Champion (Heart Failure): Dr. Paul Heidenreich is Professor of Medicine and Health Research and Policy at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He also serves as a Vice-Chair for Quality in the Department of Medicine.  He is a practicing non-invasive cardiologist and active clinical researcher. He has an extensive background in outcomes and health services research in the areas of technology assessment including use of screening with diagnostic tests, quality improvement, and economic analyses.

Kate Marie, UC Davis Project Manager:  Ms. Marie is the Research Manager for the UC Davis Center for Health and Technology providing management and oversight for technology-enabled health programs.