Research
UMass Palliative Care is a leader in medical education research, clinical research in music therapy, and collaborates with the Program in Digital Medicine in the Department of Medicine. During the peak of the COVID pandemic, we partnered with an artist to implement PPE Portraits and study its impact on fear and isolation in health care.
Palliative care and neurology colleagues accepting the 2023 PACE award to fund a randomized controlled trial on music therapy to prevent delirium in hospitalized adults with Parkinson’s disease and Lewy Body dementia.
Learn more about our portfolio of music therapy research and program development here.
"Working with Dr. Nagpal and Dr. Reidy on research and program development has been a transformative experience for me. They were extremely enthusiastic and supportive in the development of a proposal to implement a music therapy intervention to prevent delirium. Their dedication and expertise, and their wholehearted and passionate support of this work has been a major factor in the success in funding and program growth thus far. They have been ideal scientific collaborators and I hope our team will continue to grow.”
Kara Smith, MD, Neurologist
Meet our collaborators from the Program in Digital Medicine
“Palliative Medicine at UMass is among the most extraordinary group of physicians and compassionate colleagues I have encountered in medicine. Their interest, enthusiasm, and innovation in adopting new technologies in better care of their patients makes my work more fulfilling, knowing that it is directly impacting patient and provider experience.”
Apurv Soni, MD, PhD
Pictured above:
Apurv Soni, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Health Systems Science, Clinical Informatics Section, Co-Director, Program in Digital Medicine
Constantinos (Taki) Michaelidis, MD, MBA, MS
Medical Director, UMass Memorial Health’s Hospital at Home Program, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Hospital Medicine
Laurel O'Connor, MD
Faculty, Program in Digital Medicine, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
Humanizing care amid social isolation in the COVID pandemic
The pandemic created an urgent need for creative solutions to maintain and enhance human connection. UMass Palliative Care partnered with artist Mary Beth Heffernan, MFA, professor at Occidental College, to deploy and study PPE Portraits, a simple yet profound act of affixing health care workers’ smiling faces on their protective equipment for patients to see during an often-frightening experience in health care.
Meet our nationally known UMass partners in palliative care research
Jennifer Tjia, MD, MSCE, FAAHPM
Dr. Tjia is a professor and geriatric-palliative care physician whose NIH-funded research agenda aims to improve healthcare delivery for vulnerable populations. Her multicenter projects focus on the impact of structural racism and implicit bias on care delivery and goal-concordant prescribing for people with serious illness. Learn more about Dr. Tjia here.
Suzanne Mitchell, MD, MS
Dr. Mitchell is an associate professor, palliative care physician, and health services researcher whose work focuses on care transitions and palliative care for underserved populations. She is an award-winning entrepreneur and studies the use of virtual reality to improve patient care and caregiver empowerment. Learn more about Dr. Mitchell here.