Members

Elham Mahmoudi, PhD

Elham is an Associate Professor of Health Economics at the U-M Department of Family Medicine. Her research aims to reduce disparities in healthy aging by identifying the importance of social determinants of health and improving equity and efficacy in healthcare. Dr. Mahmoudi has extensive experience using various large secondary data (including nationally representative survey data, public and private administrative health insurance data, and electronic health records), quantitative analysis, and mixed methods approach (integration of quantitative and qualitative data analysis). She collaborates internationally with health services researchers at Pecking University in China. Dr. Mahmoudi has published over 80 peer-reviewed manuscripts and received funding from federal agencies (NIH and the Department of Defense) and private foundations (Craig Neilsen Foundation and Alzheimer’s Association).

She advises a wide range of undergraduate, graduate, medical students, residents, and postdoctoral fellows at different research levels and institutions. She is on the editorial board of the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences and serves in leadership roles in many national and international committees.  View CV

Lorrie Carbone, LMSW

Lorrie is a clinical researcher with the Department of Family Medicine at Michigan Medicine, working with Elham Mahmoudi, PhD, a health economist. The focus of our projects is the many aspects of care of people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) and their caregivers. We are especially interested in demonstrating that breaking down barriers between health and social care programs will provide better care and reduce unnecessary emergency room visits and inpatient hospital stays as well as allow patients to age in their own homes.

I have been a social worker for over 35 years. My career began in geriatrics, as a clinician researcher at the Cleveland Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, followed by a Geriatric Social Work fellowship at Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital and then the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Geriatrics Program. Since then, I have worked with patients throughout the life span in all clinical health care settings – inpatient, outpatient, the emergency room, and home care. I have built extensive skills in assessment, advocacy, critical thinking, cultural competency, communication, and case management/care navigation.

As a clinician and health researcher for the past 13 years, I have been excited to venture into better understanding the whole health needs of people with medical issues, creating models of care that address those needs, and creating care systems that acknowledge and address health-related social needs.