Dr. Cooper and Dr. Nguyen have been awarded a $1.6M NIH National Institute on Aging grant for the program Mentored Research Training in Aging and Surgery (MERITAS).
The Mentored Research Training in Aging and Surgery (MERITAS) program at the Center for Surgery and Public Health (CSPH) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital will train surgical residents in health services research at the intersection of surgery and aging, with particular focus on frailty, Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias, multimorbidity and serious illness. The overall goal of this training program is to create a diverse community of superbly trained surgeon-scientists to conduct studies and take on the mounting research, clinical and policy challenges to improving care for older surgical patients.
Zara Cooper, MD, MSc
Michele and Howard J. Kessler Distinguished Chair in Surgery and Public Health
Kessler Director, Center for Surgery and Public Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Chair, Executive Advisory Committee, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Community Health
Director, Center for Geriatric Surgery
Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Cooper is an acute care surgeon, trauma surgeon and surgical intensivist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she also serves as Kessler director of the Center for Surgery and Public Health (CSPH), chair of the Executive Advisory Committee for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Community Health and director of the Center for Geriatric Surgery. Dr. Cooper is an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and adjunct faculty at the Marcus Institute for Aging Research. A graduate of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Dr. Cooper completed her general surgery residency and critical care fellowship at the Brigham; a trauma fellowship at Harborview Medical Center and the University of Washington; and training in hospice and palliative medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Brigham.
Her research aims to improve palliative and geriatric care for older seriously ill surgical patients. A national leader in surgical palliative care and geriatric trauma, she has authored over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts, chapters, and abstracts and lectures nationally about surgical care in complex older patients. Dr. Cooper is currently funded through the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), the National Palliative Care Research Center (NPCRC), the Department of Defense and is a co-investigator on multiple federally funded grants. She also serves on numerous editorial boards and committees for professional societies, Mass General Brigham and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Louis L. Nguyen, MD, MPH, MBA
Vice Chair for Digital Health Systems, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Fellowship Director, Center for Surgery and Public Health
Associate Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Nguyen has a career that combines clinical practice, outcomes research and digital health. He is associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and a practicing vascular surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Within the Department of Surgery, he serves as the vice chair for Digital Health Systems; fellowship director for the Center for Surgery and Public Health; and within the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, he is the director of Clinical and Outcomes Research, as well as the director of Quality, Safety, and Value.
Dr. Nguyen earned a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology at Northwestern University. He then received his medical degree from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and his business administration degree from the University of Chicago Booth Graduate School of Business. He completed his general surgery residency at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and the Washington University in St. Louis, the Vascular Biology Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, and a vascular surgery clinical fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. During his clinical fellowship, he also earned a Master of Public Health from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.
Dr. Nguyen’s health services research program combines clinical outcomes and economic analysis with three major focus areas: quantitative modeling of complex socioeconomic factors and interactions in patient care; quality and incentives in provider and systems health care delivery; and health care environmental sustainability. His fields of expertise include racial and ethnic disparities, innovation and market competition, novel statistical methods in HSR and the application of behavioral economics to implementation programs. He has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). His unique education and experiences allow him to bring medical expertise to health economics research and to bring econometric analytical techniques to medical research. He is most proud of his research mentorship of students, residents, and young faculty who come from diverse medical and surgical specialties for research training. In his role as fellowship director at CSPH, he oversees the research and career development of surgical residents during their academic years.
Dr. Nguyen’s clinical interests are in vascular and endovascular surgery. He utilizes a combination of open and minimally invasive modalities to diagnose and treat diseases of the arterial and venous system. He is nationally recognized for his care of vascular thoracic outlet syndrome, a rare condition affecting young active adults. He is also a recognized expert in the treatment of acute and chronic venous disease, having a broad referral base for patients with complex venous issues.
