Kudos
The Roudebush VA earns citation of merit; SRPinAM oral presentation winners announced
Aug. 14, 2014
Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center honored for commitment to quality
The Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center is one of five U.S. hospitals recently recognized for its leadership and innovation in quality improvement and safety.
The hospital received the Citation of Merit as part of the 2014 American Hospital Association-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize. The prize, which is supported by a grant from the McKesson Corporation, is presented annually to honor leadership and innovation in quality improvement and safety.

The Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis
The criteria for the 2014 award include demonstration of an organizational commitment to and progress in achieving the Institute of Medicine’s six quality aims: safety, patient-centeredness, effectiveness, efficiency, timeliness and equity. One goal of the award is to honor hospitals that are making progress in quality improvement with models that can be replicated by others in the hospital field.
"The Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center is proud to serve Veterans and is committed to the highest level of quality and safety," said Tom Mattice, director of the Roudebush VA Medical Center. "We have made impressive efforts in community engagement to improve the health status of the Veteran population we serve. Our staff demonstrates a passion for their patients, working with homeless veterans, offering suicide prevention services, family support, job training and other wellbeing efforts."
The winner of the prize was the VCU Health System in Richmond, Va. Carolinas Medical Center-NorthEast in Concord, N.C., part of Carolinas HealthCare System, was honored as a finalist. The University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison, Wis., also received a Citation of Merit.
"These remarkable hospitals started an important journey with their staff, patients and communities to create a culture that prizes safe and effective care," said Rich Umbdenstock, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association. "By involving their whole organization, these hospitals have become national leaders in providing the highest quality of care."
The Richard L. Roudebush Indianapolis VA Medical Center, located two miles northwest of the heart of downtown Indianapolis, has been serving Indiana Veterans since 1932. As Indiana’s tertiary care facility, Indianapolis VA Medical Center receives referrals from VA facilities at Fort Wayne and Marion, Ind., and from nearby Danville, Ill. Indianapolis VA Medical Center provides acute inpatient medical, surgical, psychiatric, neurological and rehabilitation care, as well as both primary and specialized outpatient services.
The Roudebush VA Medical Center has also received Bronze certification by the Planetree Organization for its dedication to patient centered care and has been named to Health & Hospital Network's "Most Wired" for 10 years running. A leader in the application of systems redesign and lean thinking, the medical center is proud of the tradition of improving safety, patient centeredness, effectiveness, efficiency, timeliness and equity.
Student Research Program in Academic Medicine Participants oral presentation winners
Eight medical students at the IU School of Medicine recently received scholarships for summer research projects conducted through the IUSM Medicine Student Research Program in Academic Medicine.
Students spent 12 weeks this summer under the mentorship of IU School of Medicine researchers on their own research projects. They also attended weekly seminars to learn more about the process of considering research as a future endeavor.
The winners were named based on oral presentations delivered July 31 and Aug. 1 in the VanNuys Medical Science Building atrium.
Chen Mu, a second-year medical student, received first place with a scholarship of $13,000. Mu's research mentor was Yan Liu, Ph.D., assistant professor of pediatrics.
Additional scholarship winners and their mentors are:
- Erica Ting, second place (mentor: Matthew Bair, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine)
- Andrew Srisuwananukorn, third place (mentor: Jason Organ, Ph.D., assistant professor of anatomy and cell biology).
- Colin Ip, fourth place (mentor: Kenneth White, Ph.D., David D. Weaver Professor of Genetics and professor of medical and molecular genetics).
- Frank Duerson, fifth place (mentor: Ragini Vittal, Ph.D., assistant research professor of medicine).
- Romina Deldar, sixth place (mentor: Bryan Schneider, M.D., Associate Professor of
- Medicine and of medical and molecular genetics and Vera Bradley Investigator in Oncology).
- John Baute, tied for seventh place (mentor: Angelo Cardoso, M.D., adjunct assistant professor of pediatrics).
- Daniel Murphy, tied for seventh place (mentor: Nadia Carlesso, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pediatrics and of medical and molecular genetics).
All students in the program are second-year medical students. Dr. Carlesso serves as the director of the Student Research Program in Academic Medicine.
The judging was based on student's oral presentation using the following criteria: ownership of the project, quality of science, understanding of the clinical relevance and the “big picture,” quality of the presentation (delivery and clarity), and ability to respond to questions and clarity about the student’s own contribution versus the lab’s contribution to the project.
Judges were Simon J. Atkinson, Ph.D., professor and chair of biology, IUPUI; Janice S. Blum, Ph.D., IUPUI Chancellor’s professor of microbiology and immunology; Rebecca Chan, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pediatrics; Daniela Matei, M.D., professor of medicine; Robert P. Nelson, Jr., M.D., associate professor of medicine; Irina Petrache, M.D., professor of medicine; Peter J. Roach, Ph.D., IUPUI Chancellor’s professor of biochemistry and molecular biology; Kent Robertson, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pediatrics; Timothy Sutton, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine; and James P. Walsh, M.D., associate professor of medicine.
SRPinAM students will also present their research at a poster session from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4, in the VanNuys Medical Science Building atrium.