Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion

Profile

Michael J. Fine, MD, MSc is Director of CHERP, Staff Physician at VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS) and Distinguished Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. His research focuses on ways to improve the quality and equity of medical care for patients with common medical problems, such as pneumonia, diabetes, and pulmonary embolus. As Co-Founder and Director of CHERP, he is particularly interested in conducting research to detect, understand, and eliminate disparities in health and health care among vulnerable patient populations. His past research employed retrospective and prospective cohort designs, with extensive emphasis on assessment of patient-centered outcomes. His research has also utilized randomized clinical trial design to test the effectiveness and safety of implementing medical practice guidelines to improve the quality and efficiency of care for patients with common medical illnesses.

In May 2022, Dr. Fine was appointed to the faculty rank of Distinguished Professor of Medicine by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. This appointment "constitutes the highest honor that the University can accord to a member of the professoriate." This special category of distinguished professorship honors "extraordinary, internationally recognized scholarly attainment."

Dr. Fine received his MD from Hahnemann Medical School and his MSc in Epidemiology from Harvard School of Public Health. He founded VA CHERP in 2001 with David Asch, MD, MBA as the first two-site VA HSR&D Research Center of Excellence. At CHERP, Dr. Fine has led a high-impact national research program focused on improving the quality and equity of health and health care for vulnerable Veteran populations, successfully competing for Center renewal in 2007, 2013, and 2018.

Dr. Fine has advised and/or trained 70+ mentees within the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and/or its academic affiliate, the University of Pittsburgh. A cornerstone of Dr. Fine's mentorship involves the cultivation of scholarship through scientific publication. Using scientific writing as a powerful tool to develop his mentees' methodological, analytical, and critical thinking skills, he has published 200+ peer-reviewed papers, review articles, or commentaries with 63+ of his mentees; his mentees served as first author for ~80% of these articles. Both Dr. Fine's and his mentees' success is magnified by the impact their scholarship has had in shaping health services research, patient care, and healthcare policy. He received the VA HSR&D Daniel Deykin Award for Outstanding Mentor in 2018.