Family Medicine

Our mission is to promote research that positively impacts the health of our community. We strive to accomplish this aim by reducing health disparities; enhancing access to primary care; and improving the quality of healthcare services. Research in our department is designed to be translational and rapidly disseminated into practice. We provide research opportunities for students and learners from a wide range of disciplines who are interested in primary care research or public health.

Contact Information

Hazel Tapp, Research Office:	704-304-7120 / 704-304-7102 Fax
Department of Family Medicine:	704-304-7110
Mailing address:	Department of Family Medicine 2001 Vail St. Charlotte, NC 28207

Faculty Research Interests
Michael Dulin, MD, PhD Hazel Tapp, PhD Matthew Alexander, PhD Michele Birch, MD Rhett Brown, MD Mary Hall, MD Sindy McCrystle, ANP-C, MSN	Vanessa McPherson, MD Darlyne Menscer, MD David Price, MD Lawrence Raymond, MD, ScM Jessica Saxe, MD Dael Waxman, MD Patricia White, MD Irene Zink, MD

Michael Dulin, MD, PhD
Research Director
704-446-7740

Dr. Dulin's research interests center on improving access to and the quality of primary care services. He currently serves as the Research Director for the Department of Family Medicine and Directs the Mecklenburg Area Partnership for Primary Care Research (MAPPR).

Dr. Dulin was awarded a PhD in neurophysiology prior to receiving his MD at The University of Texas at Houston Medical School. He completed residency training in Family Medicine at CMC and then worked in private practice in Harrisburg for three years. In 2004, he returned to academia by joining the CMC Department of Family Medicine as the director of research and evidence-based medicine. He completed additional fellowship training at UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine and recently completed the AAFP's national Grant Generating Project.

While at CMC, he founded the Mecklenburg Area Partnership for Primary Care Research (MAPPR) in collaboration with UNC-Charlotte, the local and state Health Departments, and the Latin American Coalition. Dr. Dulin is also co-founder of a statewide consortium of research networks, the North Carolina Network Consortium (NCNC), which includes networks from UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University and East Carolina University. Dr. Dulin was selected by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to the 2008 class of their Physician Faculty Scholars Program that will assist him with funding for his research endeavors and additional training for the next three years.

The Mecklenburg Area Partnership for Primary Care Research (MAPPR)

The Mecklenburg Area Partnership for Primary Care Research is a practice-based research network (PBRN) designed to study barriers to healthcare access for the growing Latino population in Charlotte. The goal for this network is to utilize different sectors of the community to bring about positive change in individual's lives by improving healthcare and quality of life.

The network comprises ambulatory care clinics located within Carolinas HealthCare System (such as Eastland Family Practice, CMC-NorthPark and CMC-Myers Park Pediatrics), private/otherwise affiliated practices and community advocacy organizations (such as the Latin American Coalition, El Centro Betesda and Our Lady of Guadalupe church).

MAPPR is headquartered at the Department of Family Medicine, under the leadership of Michael Dulin, MD, PhD, and is funded through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Recent Publications

Tapp H and Dulin MF. The Science of Primary Healthcare Improvement: Potential and Use of Community Based Participatory Research by Practice Based Research Networks for Translation of Research into Practice. 2010. Experimental Biology and Medicine. In Press.

Dulin MF, Ludden T, Blackwell J, Tapp H, Hernandez B, Furuseth O, Smith HA. (2010) Using Geographical Information Systems to Understand a Community's Primary Care Needs, JABFM 23(1):13-21.

Dulin MF, Ludden T, Blackwell J, Tapp H, Hernandez B, Furuseth O, Smith HA. (2009) Application of MAPCATS to Target Interventions to Improve Healthcare Access for a Transitioning Hispanic Community, JABFM 23(1): 109-120.

Pearson WF, Dube SR, Seeff LC, Ford ES, Mokdad AH and Dulin MF (2009) A Population Based Study Examining Language as a Predictor of Colorectal Cancer Screening Among Overweight and Obese Hispanic Adults in the United States. Open Epi. Journal 2:44-50.

Hirsch MA, Dulin MF, Iyer SS, and Hammond FM. (2009) Exercise for Management and Treatment of Parkinson Disease, American Family Physician, 79(12) 1043.

Dulin MF, Kennard T, Leach L. (2008) Cervical Adenitis. FPIN, American Family Physician, 78(9) 1079.

Dulin MF, Hatcher LA, Sasser HC, and Barringer TA (2006). Policosanol Ineffective in Treatment of Hypercholesterolemia: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 2006 Dec;84(6):1543-8.

Gasull X, Liao X, Dulin MF, Phelps C, and Walters ET (2005). Evidence that long-term hyperexcitability of the sensory Neuron soma induced by nerve injury in Aplysia is adaptive. J. Neurophysiol. 94(3):2218-30.

Walters ET, Bodnarova M, Billy A, Dulin MF, and Moroz, LL (2004) Somatotopic organization and functional properties or mechanosensory neurons expressing Sensorin-A mRNA in Aplysia californica. J. Comp. Neurol. 471(2):219-40

Current, Recent and Pending Grant Support

Grant Title: Community Participatory Approach to Improving the Health of a Hispanic Population (#R24 MD004930-01)
Funding Agency: NIH / NCMHD
Role: Principal Investigator
Years: 2009-2011

Grant Title: Primary Care Practice Based Research Networks (PBRNs)
Funding Agency: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (RFP #AHRQ-06-0029)
Role: Co-Investigator
Years: 2007-2012

Grant Title: A Community-Based Participatory Approach for Improving Primary Care Access
Funding Agency: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Role: Principal Investigator
Years: 2008-2011

Grant Title: Development of Geospatial Models to Evaluate Interventions Designed to Enhance Primary Care Access for Vulnerable Populations, (#2KR10806)
Funding Agency: NC TraCS Institute
Role: Principal Investigator
Years: 2009-2010

Grant Title: Disease Management and Health Promotion in the Ambulatory Care Setting
Funding Agency: The Duke Endowment
Role: Principal Investigator
Years: 2007-2011

Grant Title: Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD)
Funding Agency: NHLBI / NIH
Role: Local Co-Investigator
Years: 2001-2009

Grant Title: Creation of a PBRN to Study Healthcare Delivery to a Transitioning Community
Funding Agency: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (R03 HS016023-01)
Role: Principal Investigator
Years: 2006-2008