Research news | Department of Family and Community Medicine | UC Davis Health

UC Davis Health researchers evaluated California’s mental health crisis management and prevention programs in a report that called for more sustainable programs and community collaborations to support people with mental illness. Joy Melnikow, professor emeritus in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, is a co-lead author of the report. Learn more from this UC Davis Health article.

A UC Davis medical student takes their research to a national audience of family medicine physicians to advocate for better health care access for people experiencing homelessness. The student received invaluable guidance from several mentors from the Department of Family and Community Medicine, including research faculty members Alicia Agnoli and Na’amah Razon. Learn more from this UC Davis Health article.

A new study sheds light on disparities in telehealth access and use among older adults, particularly concerning social isolation and loneliness. Department of Family and Community Medicine researchers Alicia Agnoli, Grace Amadi, Joshua Fenton and Rebecca Howe co-authored the study. Learn more from this UC Davis Health article.

A $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice will provide funding to help promote safe prescribing and reduce overdoses that involve prescription drugs. Joshua Fenton, a professor and vice chair of research in the UC Davis Department of Family and Community Medicine, is a co-investigator on the project. Learn more from this UC Davis Health article.

The specialist you see first for your neck pain has a big impact on how your condition gets diagnosed and treated, a UC Davis study has found. The study's lead author is Joshua Fenton, a professor and vice chair of research in the UC Davis Department of Family and Community Medicine. Learn more from this UC Davis Health article.

New Department of Family and Community Medicine research faculty member Dr. Adeola Oni-Orisan has been selected to the 2022-2023 cohort of the prestigious Center for the Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives on Science (CAMPOS) Faculty Scholars program! You can read more here: Meet the 2022 CAMPOS Faculty Scholars | Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ucdavis.edu)

Dr. Joshua Fenton, co-investigator Dr. Alicia Agnoli and their team have received a new CDC research grant to study the risks of combined opioid and benzodiazepine therapy.

Dr. Elizabeth Magnan and colleagues from multiple UC campuses recently published a policy brief on the potential impacts, benefits and risks of universal screening for adverse childhood events (ACEs) among children and adults. This work arose from a bill analysis they conducted for the CA state legislature last year as part of the California Health Benefits Review Program (CHBRP). The brief may be read here

Dr. Mika Godzich, Department of Family and Community Medicine Residency Director, was a co-author of “Mental health implications of abortion restrictions for historically marginalized populations,” in New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Godzich and colleagues review the implications of the Supreme Court’s Dodd decision through an intersectional lens that takes in structural racism, reproductive injustice, and mental health.

Dr. Alicia Agnoli, whose lead author paper previously published in JAMA, entitled “Association of Dose Tapering with Overdose or Mental Health Crisis Among Patients Prescribed Long-Term Opioids,” received Distinguished Clinical Research Achievement Award at the 2022 Clinical Research Forum in Chicago. Dr. Agnoli’s was one of the Top 3 papers at the meeting (out of 10 finalists). Her Department of Family and Community Medicine co-authors were Drs. Beth Magnan, Anthony Jerant, and Joshua Fenton.