Jacqueline Merrill, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, FACMI

  • Professor of Nursing (in Biomedical Informatics) at CUMC
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Overview

Jacqueline Merrill, PhD, MPH, RN is public health nurse and health services researcher. She is a Professor of Nursing with an interdisciplinary appointment in Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University Medical Center. At the School of Nursing she teaches courses on health policy, eveidence-based practice, and research synthesis. At the Medical Center she lectures on the philosphy of science, public heatlh, and on systems science methods.

Dr. Merrill is a member of the small cadre of nurse scientists trained in the field of biomedical informatics. She integrates skills in nursing, public health, informatics, and design to direct an innovative program of system-focused research. Her work falls under the methodological rubric of data science. It is characterized by deep domain expertise and application of a variety of non-linear analytics, including dynamic models and network analysis. She has a particular interest in visualizing complex patterns in organizational data.

Dr Merrill has had a lifelong interest in addressing unjust systems and structures. She is particularly interested in the contribution of health and social policy to producing a just and equitable society where the hightest attainable level of health is within reach of all. She is currently spearheading an organizational iniative at ColumbiaNursing to intentionally integrate principles of Social Justice for Health Equity across educational programs, clinical practice, research, administrative/operational strategy, and internal and outward-facing policies.

Academic Appointments

  • Professor of Nursing (in Biomedical Informatics) at CUMC

Administrative Titles

  • Social Justice for Health Equity Initiative, lead

Gender

  • Female

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • MPH, Health Policy, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
  • PhD, Public Health Informatics, Columbia University School of Nursing
  • RN, Massachuetts General Hospital

Committees, Societies, Councils

  • 2015 - 2019 Health Policy Advisory Council, American Association of Colleges of Nursing
  • 2011 National Quality Forum Steering Committee on National Voluntary Consensus Standards for Population Health
  • 2011 - 2016 National Advisory Committee, Centers of Excellence in Public Health Workforce at U Kentucky and U Michigan Schools of Public Health
  • 2010 Steering Committee, New York Public Health Practice- Based Research Network, Office of Public Health Practice, NY State Department of Health
  • 2009 - 2013 National Advisory Committee, Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center, School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh
  • 2008 Co-Chair Public Health Informatics Track, 2008 American Medical Informatics Association Spring Congress
  • 2002 - American Medical Informatics Association, Public Health WG; People & Organizational Issues WG
  • 2001 - 2018 AcademyHealth, Public Health Systems Research Interest Group
  • 1999 - 2018 American Public Health Association, Public Health Nursing Section

Honors & Awards

2014 Fellow, American Academy of Nursing

2014 Fellow American College of Medical Informatics

2010 Institute on Systems Science and Health, supported by NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

2006 Public Health Scholar, Pfizer Medical and Academic Partnership Program

2006 Fellow, New York Academy of Medicine

2005 Doctoral Consortium on Organizational Issues in Informatics Annual Symposium, American Medical Informatics Association

2005 Center for Analysis of Social and Organizational Systems (CASOS) Summer Institute, Institute for Software Research International, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University

2002 Pre-Doctoral Training Award, National Institute of Nursing Research, Columbia University School of Nursing

2000 Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, Alpha Zeta Chapter, Columbia University School of Nursing

Research

Research Interests

  • Data science and information visualization
  • Emergency response and preparedness
  • Health Information Technology
  • Organizational management
  • Public health informatics

Selected Publications

Reading, M, Merrill, JA. 2018. Converging and diverging needs of patients and providers who are collecting and using patient-generated health data: An integrative review. J American Medical Informatics Association [e-pub ahead of print] DOI:10.1093/jamia/ocy006

Dowding, D, Merrill, JA, Onorato, N, Barron, Y, Rosati, RJ, Russell, D. 2017. The impact of home care nurses' numeracy and graph literacy on comprehension of visual display information: Implications for dashboard design. J American Medical Informatics Association 25(2):175-182

Baker, JM, Travers, JL, Buschman, P, Merrill, JA. 2017. An efficient nurse-led community-based service model for delivering coordinated care to persons with serious mental illness at risk for homelessness J American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 24(2):101-108

Merrill, JA, Zhi, Q. Gershon, RMM. 2017. Self-reported capability for responding to mass fatality incidents in 38 state health departments. J Public Health Management and Practice, 23(1):64-72

Kub, J, Kulbok, P, Miner, S, and Merrill, JA with Environmental and Public Health Expert Panel. 2017. Increasing the capacity of public health nursing to strengthen the public health infrastructure and to promote and protect the health of communities and populations. Nursing Outlook 65(5): 661-4

Merrill, JA, Sheehan, B, Carley, KM, Stetson, PD. 2015. Care transitions in a cohort of patients with congestive heart failure: an exploratory network analysis to inform care coordination. Applied Clinical Informatics 6(3): 548-564.

Merrill, JA, Keeling, JW, Phillips, AB, Kaushal, R, Senathirajah, Y. 2013. Effects of automated immunization registry reporting via an EHR deployed in community practice settings. Applied Clinical Informatics, 4(2): 267-275

Merrill, JA, Deegan, M, Wilson, RV, Kaushal, R, Fredericks, KM. 2013. A system dynamics evaluation model: Implementation of health information exchange for public health reporting. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 20: e131-e138

Merrill, JA, Orr, MG, Jeon, CY, Wilson, RV, Storrick, JM, Carley, KM. 2012. Topology of local health officials' advice networks: Mind the gaps. J of Public Health Management and Practice, 18(6):602-8.

Merrill, JA, Keeling, JW, Wilson, RV, Chen, TV. 2011. Growth of a scientific community of practice: Public health services and systems research. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 41(1): 100-104

Merrill, JA, Keeling, J, Carley, KM. 2010. A Comparative Analysis of Eleven Local Health Department Organizational Networks. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 16(6): 564-76.

Merrill, JA, Meier, BM, Keeling, J, Jia, H, Gebbie, KM. 2009. Examination of the relationship between public health statute modernization and system performance. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 15(7):292-98

Merrill, JA, Keeling, J, Gebbie, KM. 2009. Toward standardized, comparable public health systems data: a taxonomic description of essential public health work.. Health Services Research, 44 (5) Part II: 1818-41

For a complete list of publications, please visit PubMed.gov