PHDR Faculty Spotlight, Elizabeth Rogers

Dr. Rogers shares her research background and how she began at the Program and Health Disparities Research. Read about her work with PARADIGM and additional projects. We invite you to read her story.

Can you share your background and experience?

I am a faculty researcher with the Program in Health Disparities Research (PHDR) and a clinician. I began research after completing my internal medicine and pediatrics residency. After witnessing disparities in chronic disease and how our systems don't work well for all people, I wanted to work beyond clinical care to answer the bigger question of improving health systems. My experiences thus far include working with the health system through health services research and implementation science. I love exploring solutions and establishing how we can improve in supporting patients in managing their chronic conditions.

Recently, I was named the Division Director for General Internal Medicine within the Department of Medicine University of Minnesota. I am also a practicing clinician with the Community University Health Care Center (CUHCC). I've been practicing at CUHCC since October 2013, the same time that I started with PHDR in my UMN faculty role. When I'm in the clinic, I see patients and serve as a preceptor for residents. Working in these capacities as a researcher and clinician, it’s been a pleasure to mentor others. I love connecting people and resources so student and early-career health professionals can achieve their goals. It feels satisfying.

Tell me about your current work and research.

I'm finishing up a career development award funded by the NIH NIDDK. The last part of this project has been to pilot test a tool to screen for people living with diabetes for their sense of burden related to their treatment regimen. This brief survey tool helps us to quickly identify where patients are feeling most burdened. The intent is to provide useful information for clinicians to create patient-centered care plans. We recently completed data collection for us to analyze, which is exciting.

In addition to this work, I am a part of the Investigator Development Core for C2DREAM. In this capacity, I have the opportunity to contribute to how this center supports early career researchers in health disparities research. I am also a part of the UMN site of the Kidney Precision Medicine Project, a nationwide study to better understand and treat chronic and acute kidney disease.  My role in the project is to lead the community advisory board, and it’s given me the opportunity to network with and learn from other researchers and community members passionate about improving equitable outcomes in kidney disease.
A fourth project that I’m working on is more clinically based. With endocrinologist Dr. Anne Bantle, I am co-principal investigator of a UMN site of the multi-site study called PRECIDENTD.  It is a randomized trial to compare two new diabetes medications to assess differences in cardiac and kidney outcomes.

The last project I am working on is funded through the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), a relatively new federal funding agency, through their PARADIGM program, which aims to decrease disparities in rural America through developing mobile health units to deliver hospital-level care in rural areas. I'm leading the evaluation of this project through the Center for Learning Health Systems Science at the University of Minnesota. I'm learning so much and am excited to be involved in this project, especially since I grew up in a rural Nebraska town with a population of just 1,000.

What parts of the PHDR mission/value do you connect with?

My motivation for research extends from practicing primary care. Seeing disparities in chronic diseases and how the system doesn’t work for all motivates me to do better. During medical school, I focused on global health and spent time working in Central America, particularly in El Salvador. It deepened my understanding of the realities people face in their healthcare experiences and daily life. I think it fostered being compassionate to the needs of patients who live in different contexts that influence their health. Seeing the same issues come up over and over in the health system, and it not working well for certain groups, made me want to also work at improving systems and more upstream causes of the health disparities that are so entrenched in our country.

Any personal hobbies or interests that you have?

I love spending time outdoors as much as possible, especially with my two young kids, who are three and six. Most of our outdoor activities are family-oriented. We enjoy bike rides, walks, hikes, and swimming in lakes. Over the past decade, I’ve learned to swim in open water. Hiking is a personal favorite, and I love taking trips to the mountains to explore new trails. I also enjoy baking and cooking, but I’m more of a baker than a chef. I like the structure of following recipes, and I find baking especially fun and relaxing. One of our family favorites is a clementine almond cake. The recipe is simple, not too fancy, and is always a winner at family events. I also love traveling. My husband is French, so we regularly travel to France to visit our in-laws who still live there. I love visiting my in-laws and, of course, immersing my children in parts of their heritage.