Joyce M Lee, MD, MPH

I am a Physician, Designer, Researcher, and the Robert P. Kelch, MD, Research Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Michigan. I am committed to design for health through the application of a Learning Health Systems framework. (Click here to learn more). This requires leveraging health information technology and the electronic health record to support measurement and direct intervention, improving the quality of care for children in delivery systems, and incorporating methods of patient-driven design thinking. I engage in these activities through my roles as Associate Chief Medical Information Officer for Pediatric Research, Associate Chair for Health Metrics and Learning Health Systems, and Ambulatory Care Clinical Chief for Pediatric Medical Subspecialties. My work in healthcare involves an extensive range projects and approaches, but the short version is:

-I create learning health systems using the methods of quality improvement, clinical informatics, and patient-centered participatory design.
-I collaborate with human computing interaction and machine learning/artificial intelligence experts to understand how data can be used to solve real world healthcare problems.
-I study online health communities and patient innovation, and my work supports the integration of the Maker Movement and DIY design into healthcare.

I am a pediatric translational researcher and was named the Robert P. Kelch, MD, Research Professor of Pediatrics in 2016. As one of the few individuals across the country who has completed dual training in Pediatric Endocrinology and Pediatric Health Services Research and a Master in Public Health, my research agenda focuses on the overarching themes of obesity and type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Because of my specialized training, I have been able to approach these problems from a unique vantage point, using a variety of methodologies including applied clinical research, epidemiologic analyses of nationally representative data, state transition modeling, cost-effectiveness analysis, as well as design and emerging technologies (design ethnography, participatory design, human-centered design, quality improvement science).

At the 2016 Pediatric Academic Societies meeting, I was the first recipient of the Paul Kaplowitz, MD, Endowed Lectureship for my contributions to quality and cost-effective care in Pediatric Endocrinology, an award sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Pediatric Endocrine Society. My major research contributions have included studies evaluating recommended screening guidelines for type 2 diabetes for overweight and obese children, studies evaluating the link between overweight and obesity and timing of puberty and chronic disease risk factors, studies focused on quality measurement and quality of care for overweight and obese children, and research in health outcomes for type 1 diabetes.

I am now pursuing my research under the broader framework of “Learning Health Systems”, which are systems in which “research, improvement, management and patient care, are intentionally integrated." I have taken on the roles of Associate Chief Medical Information Officer for Pediatric Research, Associate Chair for Health Metrics and Learning Health Systems for the Department of Pediatrics, and Ambulatory Care Clinical Chief for Pediatric Medical Subspecialties, which allow me to support this vision for pediatric health.

My learning health system work focuses on two main areas:

1) Type 1 Diabetes: We collaborate with the T1D Exchange Quality Improvement Collaborative to improve the quality of care and health outcomes of individuals with Type 1 Diabetes. Particular areas of interest include adoption of telemedicine, Epic tool development and Tableau dashboard development for support operations and QI, measurement of patient reported outcomes (i.e. psychosocial outcomes) using Health IT tools, and interventions to support data literacy and data engagement among parents of children with T1D.

2) Prevention and treatment of childhood overweight/obesity: We are focused on development of statewide collaboration in the state of Michigan to address childhood overweight/obesity (funded by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund). Furthermore, In 2020 we established the Childhood Obesity Research Core (CORC), an NIH-funded core of the Michigan Nutrition Obesity Research Center which supports basic, clinical, and translational researchers focused on childhood nutrition and obesity and enhances integration of research into the clinical delivery system.