HSR&D Research Career Scientist Award

Dr. Hamilton is an accomplished researcher who has made pioneering theoretical, methodological, and empirical contributions to implementation and health services research related to the care, needs, and experiences of vulnerable populations. Funded by VA HSR&D, QUERI, and VA Women’s Health Services, her current portfolio focuses on women Veterans’ healthcare utilization and decision-making, implementation of gender-tailored care for women’s high-priority health conditions, and attrition and retention in the VA women’s health workforce. She also provides training and mentoring nationally on implementation science, particularly evidence-based quality improvement (EBQI), a strategy that emphasizes multilevel stakeholder engagement in local change processes. Dr. Hamilton is strongly committed to the quality and conduct of health services and implementation research, consistently developing and testing tailored qualitative and ethnographic methods for rapid turn-around projects with high demand for policy-relevant deliverables. The goal of this application is to provide support for an established investigator to expand her current lines of partnered research on women Veterans’ health, EBQI, and employee engagement, and to advance rapid, rigorous methods that are well-suited for implementation science. Dr. Hamilton has a track record of mentoring trainees at multiple levels and extensive collaborations with other investigators and VA operations partners. The proposed award will enhance her ability to mentor and train to early-stage and established VA investigators, and enable her to embark on new and innovative areas of investigation related to women Veterans’ health, multilevel stakeholder engagement, and dissemination of research findings to a wide variety of VA constituents, including policy-makers and Veterans.