Camilla Pimentel

Expertise

Research Interests

Education

• Advanced Fellowship, Geriatrics (2017 – 2019), New England Geriatrics Research Education and Clinical Center, Bedford, MA
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, Implementation Science (2015 – 2017), Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA
• Ph.D., Clinical and Population Health Research (2015), Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA
• M.P.H., Sociomedical Sciences-Aging (2008), Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY
• A.B., Community Health (2006), Brown University, Providence, RI

Biosketch

Camilla Pimentel, M.P.H., Ph.D., is a Research Health Scientist at the Bedford VA Healthcare System, with joint appointments at the HSR&D Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research and the New England Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center.

Pimentel's work focuses on medication use among older adults, cancer-related symptom management, and quality improvement and person-centered care in nursing homes. Through a Career Development Award from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Services Research & Development Service, she is developing VA-specific approaches that accurately reflect the state of pain management in VA nursing homes and help improve the quality of VA residential long-term care.

Selected Awards and Honors

• Career Development Award (2021 – 2026), VA Health Services Research & Development
• Scientist-in-Training Research Award (2015), American Geriatrics Society
  
• Alice S. Hersh Student Scholarship (2013), AcademyHealth
• Intern Leader Award (2010), National Institutes of Health
• Presidential Management Fellowship (2008 – 2010), National Cancer Institute

Selected Publications

• Davila H, Mills WL, Clark V, Mohr DC, Sullivan JL, Hartmann CW, Baughman AW, Berlowitz DR, Pimentel CB. Quality improvement efforts in VA Community Living Centers increased following public reporting of performance. Journal of Aging & Social Policy, Forthcoming.
• Kernan L, Dryden E, Nearing K, Kennedy MA, Hung W, Moo L, Pimentel CB. Integrating CFIR-ERIC and e-Delphi methods to increase telegeriatrics uptake. The Gerontologist, Electronically published ahead of print. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnac107. (2022)
• Pimentel CB, Snow AL, Carnes SL, Shah NR, Loup JR, Vallejo-Luces TM, Madrigal C, Hartmann CW. Huddles and their effectiveness at the frontlines of clinical care: A scoping review. Journal of General Internal Medicine 36:2772–2783 (2021).
• Quach ED, Pimentel CB, Hartmann CW. Addressing inequity through “mentee-focused” mentorship. Journal of General Internal Medicine 36:1768–1770 (2021).
• Pimentel CB, Mills WL, Snow AL, Palmer JA, Sullivan JL, Wewiorski NJ, Hartmann CW. Adapting strategies for optimal intervention implementation in nursing homes: A formative evaluation. The Gerontologist 60:1555–1565 (2020)
• Lum HD, Nearing K, Pimentel CB, Levy CR, Hung WW. Anywhere to anywhere: Use of telehealth to increase health care access for older rural veterans. Public Policy and Aging Reports 30:12–18 (2020).
• Pimentel CB, Gately M, Barczi SR, Boockvar KS, Bowman EH, Caprio TV, Colón-Emeric CS, Dang S, Espinoza SE, Garner KK, Griffiths PC, Howe JL, Lum HD, Markland AD, Rossi MI, Thielke SM, Valencia-Rodrigo WM, Moo LR, Hung WW. GRECC Connect: Geriatrics telehealth to empower healthcare providers and improve management of older veterans in rural communities. Federal Practitioner 36:464–470 (2019). 
• Pimentel CB, Mills WL, Palmer JA, Dillon K, Sullivan JL, Wewiorski NJ, Snow AL, Allen RS, Hopkins SD, Hartmann CW. Blended facilitation as an effective implementation strategy for quality improvement and research in nursing homes. Journal of Nursing Care Quality 34:210–216 (2019).
• Mills WL, Pimentel CB, Palmer JA, Snow AL, Wewiorski NJ, Allen RS, Hartmann CW. Applying a theory-driven framework to guide quality improvement efforts in nursing homes: The LOCK model. The Gerontologist 58:598–605 (2018).
• Pimentel CB, Gurwitz JH, Tjia J, Hume AL, Lapane KL. New initiation of long-acting opioids in long-stay nursing home residents. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 64:1772–1778 (2016).
• Pimentel CB, Briesacher BA, Gurwitz JH, Rosen AB, Pimentel MT, Lapane KL. Pain management in nursing home residents with cancer. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 63:633–641 (2015).
• Pimentel CB, Donovan JL, Field TS, Gurwitz JH, Harrold LR, Kanaan AO, Lemay CA, Mazor KM, Tjia J, Briesacher BA. Use of atypical antipsychotics in nursing homes and pharmaceutical marketing. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 63:297–301 (2015)
• Pimentel CB, Lapane KL, Briesacher BA. Medicare Part D and long-term care: A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative research. Drugs & Aging 30:701–720 (2013).

Selected Presentations

• A scoping literature review of health and healthcare utilization among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander U.S. military veterans. Poster presentation at the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, November 2022 - Boston, MA
• The integral role of community-based outpatient clinics in rural healthcare: Promises and challenges. Symposium at the Gerontological Society of America Annual Meeting, November 2021, Phoenix, AZ
• Towards understanding the use of huddles among frontline staff in clinical settings: A scoping review - Research symposium at the American Nurses Credentialing Center National Magnet Conference, October 2019 - Orlando, FL
• Medicare Part D’s impact on pain management among nursing home residents with cancer: An interrupted time-series study. Presidential poster presentation at the American Geriatrics Society Annual Scientific Meeting, May 2015 - National Harbor, MD

Selected Contracts, Fellowships, Grants and Sponsored Research

• Disaggregation of Asian American and Pacific Islander Veteran Health Data to Promote Health Equity (2022), Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, VA Bedford Healthcare System
• Applying Positive Deviance Methods to Harness Optimal Practices for Effective Pain Management in Community Living Centers (2021 – 2026), VA Health Services Research & Development
• Healthcare Providers and Public Reporting of Community Living Center (CLC) Quality: Investigating Responses and Opportunities for Intervention through the PROACTIVE Mixed-Methods Study (2019), VA Health Services Research & Development
• Quality of Pain Management in VA Nursing Homes (2018), Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, VA Bedford Healthcare System