The Oscar Auerbach Visiting Scholar Program

Dr. Oscar Auerbach, a physician
scientist who studied and
proved the relationship between
smoking and the development
of lung cancer.
Courtesy: George F. Smith Library of the
Health Sciences/Rutgers University

The Oscar Auerbach Visiting Scholar Program supports VA investigators who are motivated to understand the incidence and prevalence of cancers (and/or other potential health conditions) among AHOBPR participants. This program provides multi-year support to highly accomplished VA investigators who are working to pursue research questions pertaining to long-term health outcomes (i.e., cancer or other noncommunicable diseases) among Veterans with military environmental exposure.

The Visiting Scholar Program is named in honor and memory of Dr. Oscar Auerbach, a physician scientist who most notably conducted seminal pathological studies on the relationship between tobacco smoke and lung cancer. His work also included studies on exposures related to asbestos and mining of uranium. Dr. Auerbach's pioneering work was featured prominently in the 1964 U.S. Surgeon General Report, which officially linked smoking to lung cancer. This work was conducted at the East Orange Campus of the VA New Jersey Health Care System—and the current site of the AHBPCE.

Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry

The AHBPCE, through the Health Outcomes Military Exposure program office, manages and oversees the AHOBPR and is chiefly responsible for the integrity and use of these data. The AHOBPR was established by Public Law 112-260 (Sec. 201) requiring VA to establish and maintain a registry comprised of information to ascertain and monitor health effects of military exposure. Hundreds of thousands of Veterans are currently enrolled.

2024 Visiting Scholars

Bhavika Kaul, MD, MAS

Project: Novel Radiomics Methods for Phenotypic Assessment of Post-Deployment Lung Disease

Dr. Kaul is an investigator at the VA Center for Innovation in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (IQuESt), staff physician in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Kaul’s scholarship focuses on improving timely access to care for post-deployment Veterans with interstitial lung disease by leveraging “big data” generated from electronic health records to reduce missed opportunities for diagnosis, developing novel care delivery models to improve access to subspecialty care, and the thoughtful implementation of artificial intelligence tools for care pathway optimization.

Dr. Kaul earned her B.S. from Rice University and her M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine. She completed residency in internal medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, where she served as chief resident, and fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where she served as chief fellow. She completed additional advanced training in interstitial lung disease and health services research at UCSF and is board certified in internal medicine, pulmonary, and critical care medicine.

Mohamed Seedahmed, MD, MPH

Project: The Impact of Service-related Burn Pit and Embedded Metal Fragments Exposure on Sarcoidosis Incidence and Mortality

Dr. Seedahmed is an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and an attending physician at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, with a concurrent role as a core investigator at the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP). He is also a faculty member at the Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease at UPMC and the VA deployment-related Respiratory Disease Clinic.

He earned his master’s degree in public health with a focus on applied epidemiology from Emory University and completed a Clinical Research Informatics Postdoctoral (CRISP) Fellowship at UCSF. He specializes in managing sarcoidosis and other interstitial lung disease. His research focuses on leveraging real-world data from electronic health records (EHR) to study the impact of sarcoidosis heterogeneity and the role of environmental exposures on the natural history of the disease. Through his research, he aims to inform innovative clinical care for sarcoidosis patients and support evidence-based practices that improve clinical outcomes.

More About the Program

In addition to pursuit of their research question(s), the Visiting Scholars will have the following opportunities as part of the AHBPCE: 1) participate in existing AHBPCE-initiated or supported projects, 2) lead and/or participate in national webinars, journal clubs, and related scholarly activity, 3) respond to ad-hoc inquiries from VA senior leadership as a subject matter expert, and 4) assist AHBPCE in recruiting future Visiting Scholars, center faculty, and scholars.

The AHBPCE will commit salary support for a minimum of 50% effort per year for the two-year Visiting Scholar Program with option for renewal on an annual basis. Requested support >50% may be approved if justified by project scope. The AHBPCE also provides travel support for the Visiting Scholars for in-person consultation with collaborators, professional meeting attendance, and an annual visit to the AHBPCE. Other project-related costs and publication fees may also be provided upon request.

For any questions, please feel free to contact us directly: VHAEASAirHazardsCoE@va.gov