Assistant Professor, Hongdao Meng of the Stony Brook Graduate Program in Public Health Receives New Investigator Award

STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Assistant Professor, Hongdao Meng, from the Stony Brook Graduate Program in Public Health was awarded the James G. Zimmer New Investigator Research Award from the American Public Health Association for his research in the cost-effectiveness of community-based disease management/health promotion interventions among older adults with chronic conditions.

The James G. Zimmer New Investigator Research Award recognizes “new investigators”, someone who is within three years of completing a terminal degree. The award is intended to recognize and further the careers of future leaders in aging research. The criteria for selection include the importance of the topic, the rigor of the design, the quality of writing, and the potential benefit to the field.

Dr. Meng's research project and paper was titled "Effectiveness and Cost of a Health Promotion Nurse Intervention among Older Adults with Heart Conditions: The Role of Rural and Urban Residence." It found significant evidence that a community-based disease management/health promotion nurse intervention led to better physical functioning and had the potential to reduce total health care expenditures among high risk Medicare beneficiaries with heart conditions. He also studies innovative financing mechanism for consumer-directed home care to individuals with long-term care needs. This research project is funded by the Office of Rural Health Policy, Health Resources and Services Administration, DHHS.

Professor Meng will be accepting the Award at the award ceremony during the upcoming 134 th APHA Annual Meeting in Boston . He has also been a recipient of other prestigious awards like the Aging and Rural Health Policy Research Award and the Nobuo Maeda International Research Award.

The Gerontological Health Section/APHA, with a mission to stimulate public health actions to improve the health, functioning, and quality of life of older persons and to call attention to their health care needs, has over 600 members. The APHA is the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals in the world, representing more than 50,000 members from over 50 occupations of public health. It deals with a broad set of issues affecting personal and environmental health, including federal and state funding for health programs, pollution control, programs and policies related to chronic and infectious diseases, a smoke-free society, and professional education in public health.