The Department of General Internal Medicine (DGIM) Research is home to more than 40 full-time investigators with an annual research budget of $14.5 million. DGIM investigators conduct research in clinical epidemiology, health services research, cost effectiveness analysis, implementation science and health policy. Areas of focus include important primary care research topics like cancer prevention, substance use disorders, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, obesity, atrial fibrillation and primary care delivery, particularly for vulnerable populations. A growing body of recent work has focused on the burden and consequences of COVID-19 in a range of high-risk populations. DGIM research faculty collaborate with the Massachusetts General Hospital Chelsea Health Center and Boston Health Care for the Homeless and also work with faculty at the Mass General Mongan Institute, a multidisciplinary community of scientists and programs in population and health care delivery science dedicated to transforming health care and achieving health equity locally, nationally and globally.

Our residency and fellowship programs develop sustainable career paths in academic primary care as well as community-based health centers and have become a model for academic engagement.

Division investigators are actively engaged in optimizing the management of patients with multiple chronic diseases and in developing innovative means to implement proven preventive and therapeutic strategies by conducting studies within our primary care Practice-based Research Network.

Other division research programs include:

  • Breast cancer screening
  • Cost-effective care for patients with HIV
  • Genetics of diabetes and metabolic syndrome
  • Improving treatment choice in patients with lumbar spine disorders
  • Novel behavioral approaches to obesity
  • Optimizing prevention and treatment of pneumonia
  • Prostate cancer screening
  • Smoking cessation
  • Stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation

DGIM Institutional Partners within the Mass General Brigham Network

The Mongan Institute Health Policy Center

The Mongan Institute Health Policy Center (MIHPC) conducts research to support quality and efficiency improvement within Mass General Brigham, to inform and influence health policy on the national level and to improve health and health care across America. With an interdisciplinary faculty skilled in health policy research, health services research, social science, survey science and clinical care, MIHPC’s research focuses largely on two areas:

  • Health and health care experiences of disadvantaged populations, including racial and ethnic minorities, persons with chronic physical and behavioral health conditions and multimorbidity, individuals with disabilities and persons with low socioeconomic status
  • Reforming and innovating within health care delivery systems, including improving health care quality and efficiency, addressing future workforce needs, assessing the professionalism of health care practitioners and leveraging opportunities offered by health information technology and electronic clinical data

Learn more about the Mongan Institute Health Policy Center

Health Decision Sciences Center

The Health Decision Sciences Center (HDSC) works to improve the quality of decisions made by patients and health care providers about medical tests and treatments. The HDSC develops, implements and evaluates decision aids and decision quality measures to support shared decision making in medical encounters.

Learn more about the Health Decision Sciences Center

Medical Practice Evaluation Center

Led by Kenneth Freedberg, MD, the Medical Practice Evaluation Center is a multidisciplinary center within the Department of Medicine specializing in the evaluation of clinical outcomes, costs and cost-effectiveness of preventing, managing and treating HIV and other infectious and non-communicable diseases.

Learn more about the Medical Practice Evaluation Center

Tobacco Research and Treatment Center

The Tobacco Research and Treatment Center (TRTC), based in the Department of Medicine and Division of General Internal Medicine at Mass General, aims to reduce the health consequences of tobacco use by offering state-of-the-art clinical treatment to smokers and by conducting research to identify better ways to prevent and treat tobacco use in youth and adults. The TRTC uses an externally funded research group that conducts projects to identify and implement effective tobacco cessation interventions in various health care settings.

Learn more about the Tobacco Research and Treatment Center