Dr. Alicia Arbaje has been appointed chair of the Health Care Research and Training (HCRT) study section at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in the Department of Health and Human Services. AHRQ is the lead Federal agency charged with improving the safety and quality of healthcare for all Americans. AHRQ’s mission is to produce evidence to make healthcare safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable, and affordable, and to work within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and with other partners to make sure that the evidence is understood and used.
The HCRT study section is one of five standing study sections at AHRQ and reviews applications requesting support for health services research training and career development at the dissertation, junior faculty, and senior faculty level. Research infrastructure applications are also reviewed in this study section and demonstrations and evaluations in topics spanning the entire spectrum of health services research, including but not limited to cost, quality, access, outcomes, quality and effectiveness research, and implementation and innovation research. The study section reviews applications submitted through the auspices of the National Research Service Awards (NRSA) (institutional T32 awards, individual fellowship awards [such as F32 postdoctoral awards and other similar programs]); requesting support for dissertation research (R36), curriculum development, training models, innovations (R25 awards), individual and program career development awards (K series grants), mid-career training enhancement awards, healthcare-related IT training; and training-related conferences and workshops (R13).
Dr. Arbaje has been serving as an ad hoc and later standing member of the study section since 2015. She joined the study section early in her career as an AHRQ K08 career development awardee. Her appointment as chair is a reflection of her leadership in the field, research training and experience, broad scientific perspective, respect of her peers, and reputation for integrity.
