University of New Mexico Health Sciences researcher Larissa Myaskovsky, PhD, has received the 2024 Senior Investigator Award from the AcademyHealth Health Equity Interest Group.
The award was presented on June 29, 2024, at the group’s annual research meeting in Baltimore during a panel session titled “Health Equity Interest Group: What does it mean to be a Health Equity Researcher?”
"A lot of the health services research I do is to improve practice in the clinical setting," said Myaskovsky.
Myaskovsky is a professor in the UNM Department of Internal Medicine’s Division of Nephrology and serves as director of the Center for Healthcare Equity in Kidney Disease. She was a longtime faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh before joining UNM in 2017.
Since the early 2000s, she has been a member of the Health Equity Interest Group within AcademyHealth, a national organization comprising health services researchers, health policy analysts, and health practitioners that advances research and health policy.
“AcademyHealth has been an early academic home for me where I’ve always shared my science,” Myaskovsky stated. “I have a lot of great training from leaders in the field in the early 2000s and have been involved in presenting my scientific work there over the years.”
After completing her PhD, she pursued a health services research fellowship focusing on studying healthcare systems, patients, and providers.
“The focus is to do it from a research perspective, studying innovations and testing them using rigorous research methods at improving patient care and outcomes,” she explained. “A lot of the health services research I do is to improve practice in the clinical setting.”
Myaskovsky noted that her role within AcademyHealth has evolved over time. “As an assistant professor I learned a lot from the organization, and over the years I tried to share knowledge with the next generation,” she said.
AcademyHealth aims to improve health and healthcare by advancing evidence to inform policy and practice. The organization studies how healthcare systems function, supports patients and providers in choosing appropriate care, and seeks ways to enhance health through improved care delivery.
