For Immediate Release Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 9, 2014) – Jean Slutsky, PA, MSPH, will join the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute as Director of PCORI’s Communication and Dissemination Research Program. She comes to PCORI from the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) where she has directed the Center for Outcomes and Evidence since 2003.

In her new role at PCORI, Slutsky will be responsible for leading a program that has committed more than $43 million to research on how to most effectively communicate and disseminate research results among patients, caregivers, clinicians and other critical health and healthcare decision-makers. The program carries out its work under one of PCORI’s five National Priorities for Research. With her arrival on Monday, Feb. 17, PCORI will have senior leaders for all six of its scientific programs.

Close collaboration between PCORI and AHRQ is essential to coordinating dissemination activities and avoiding duplication of goals. Slutsky’s experience at the agency and her leadership in developing programs to advance CER and the translation and implementation of CER findings make her an ideal leader for PCORI’s Communication and Dissemination Research program, says PCORI Chief Science Officer Bryan Luce, PhD, MBA.

“As the research we fund begins producing results, and as the field of comparative effectiveness research grows and evolves, it will become ever more critical to know how to advance the uptake of evidence in practice and help patients, clinicians and others make better-informed clinical decisions,” Luce said. “We will benefit greatly from Jean Slutsky’s recognized expertise in this field.”

During her tenure at AHRQ, Slutsky oversaw several clinical outcomes and effectiveness research activities, including the Effective Health Care Program; Evidence-based Practice Center program; Technology Assessment Program; extramural and intramural research portfolios concerning translating research into practice, pharmaceutical outcomes, and cost-effectiveness analyses; and the National Guideline, Quality Measures, and Health Care Innovations Exchange Clearinghouses.  She also has served as a project director for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

That experience will be especially valuable as PCORI builds its infrastructure for research dissemination and implementation activities, Luce said. PCORI held a roundtable on these topics in July 2013 and issued a Request for Proposals to develop a blueprint for a Dissemination and Implementation Action Plan in September 2013. An awardee is expected to be announced on Monday, Feb. 3.

In addition to her work at AHRQ, Slutsky currently serves as a member of PCORI’s Methodology Committee, which developed the PCORI Methodology Report, a compilation of baseline requirements for following best practices in the conduct of scientifically valid patient-centered outcomes research. She also is a member of the AcademyHealth Methods Council.

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About PCORI

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is an independent, non-profit organization authorized by Congress in 2010. Its mission is to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed healthcare decisions. PCORI is committed to continuously seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders to guide its work.