THE WINNER!!! Gib Parrish top five most influential researchers for 2010

Silly grin from ear to ear!

It is official! 

Today Robert Woods Johnson Foundation announced the

winners for the most influential research articles of 2010.

We are delighted for all 20 nominees and congratulate the five winners 

And, we are ecstatic and grateful that Dr. R. Gib Parrish

was among this happy group of esteemed scientists 

for his paper "measuring population health outcomes"

To have ones work recognized and nominated by RWJF is an honor

An honor made more poignant and powerful because the final selection comes from the votes of his peers -- fellow scientists and health practitioners 

This support is humbling and a source of great joy

Sometimes nice guys finish first-- or the top five.

Thanks to the RWJ Foundation for their continued advocacy in public health and all its determinants and interconnected forces.

Links to the announcement by RWJ and to the articles themselves are included below.

So, what is the big deal?  In this paper Gib proposes specific ways to measure whether a population is healthy that goes beyond the familiar approach-- counting death and disease ---  but includes life expectancy, social factors and an individuals personal perception of their health. This seemingly simple list represents years of research and operationalizes a paradigm that has emerged from the recognition that we are social creatures.  The length of our lives and the occurrence of disease is inextricably linked to our sense of connection and efficacy.  Moreover, we have valid ways to measure these factors and we should do so much more avidly in surveys, information systems, and health investigations.  The view of ourselves as separate and separated-- physical bodies separate from mind, people separated from each other is not only unscientific but a kind of blindness we have grown beyond.

Congratulations also to Dr. Ross Brownson for his paper on measuring health policy. Finally, it is a great personal satisfaction to see the article on nurse practitioners included among the winners.

Top five winners!!

and his paper

Measuring population health by R. Gib Parrish

Yippeee!!!  Make a fuss.