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Denys Lau, PhD

Denys Lau, PhD


d-lau@northwestern.edu
312-503-1231

Denys T. Lau, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor and the Section Director of Health Services and Policy Research at the Buehler Center on Aging, Health & Society. As a health services and outcomes researcher, Dr. Lau applies quantitative and qualitative research methodologies in studying the safety concerns of health services use among the aging population. Specific topics of interest include patient safety, medication management and errors, and safety in the home and community. He is the Principal Investigator of a five-year K-01 grant from the National Institute on Aging to examine issues related to medication management among home hospice patients. His previous research also has been supported the United Way.

Prior to joining Northwestern University, Dr. Lau was a research fellow working jointly at the University of Michigan and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Inc., where he conducted psychometric evaluations of patient-reported outcomes instruments, qualitative exploratory studies, retrospective claims analyses, and large national complex surveys.

Dr. Lau also worked at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), where he spearheaded a project developing the analytical files of the prescribed medicine data in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Nursing Home Component. Prior to AHRQ, he worked as an economic strategist at Covance Health Economics and Outcomes Research Inc., a healthcare consulting firm that provided services related to medical product development.

Dr. Lau earned a B.A. with distinction from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in health services research from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. He received recognitions from various organizations, including AHRQ (2004 Director Citation for Outstanding Performance), American Public Health Association (2003 Jay Drotman Memorial Award and 2001 Laurence G. Branch Research Award), AcademyHealth (2002 Outstanding Dissertation Award), Delta Omega Honor Society (2000 Endowment Scholarship), and Covance (1998 Covance Consulting Check).

Publications

 

  1. Conviser R, Murray M, Lau DT. Medicaid Managed Care Reimbursement for HIV and Its Implications for Access to Care.  American Journal of Managed Care. 2000; 6(9): 990-999.
  2. Lau DT, Nau DP. Oral Antihyperglycemic Medication Non-Adherence and Subsequent Hospitalization among Persons with Type 2 Diabetes.  Diabetes Care. 2004; 27(9):2149-53.
  3. Lau DT, Kasper J, Potter DEB, Lyles A. Potentially Inappropriate Medication Prescriptions among Elderly Nursing Home Residents: Its Scope and Associated Resident and Facility Characteristics.  Health Services Research.  2004; 39(5):1257-76.
  4. Lau DT, Kasper J, Potter DEB, Lyles A, Bennett R. Hospitalization and Death Associated with Potentially Inappropriate Medication Prescriptions among Elderly Nursing Home Residents.  Archives of Internal Medicine.  2005; 165:68-74.
  5. Lau DT, Morlock R, Hill C. Psychometric Evaluation of the MOS-Sleep Scale in Persons with Overactive Bladder.  Clinical Therapeutics. 2006; 28(12):2119-2132.
  6. Lau DT, Banaszak-Holl J, Nigam A. Perception and Use of Guidelines and Inter-Professional Dynamics: Assessing their Roles in Guideline Adherence in Delivering Medications in Nursing Homes. Quality Management in Health Care. 2007; 16(2):135–145.
  7. Chang CH, Boni-Saenz AA, Durazo-Arvizu RA, DesHarnais S, Lau DT, Emanuel LL.  A System for Interactive Assessment and Management in Palliative Care.  J of Pain and Symptom Management. 2007; 33(6):745-755.
  8. Bennett CL, Nebeker JR, Yarnold PR, Dorr DA, McKoy JM, Edwards BJ, Hurdle JF, West DP, Lau DT, Angelotta C, Weitzman SA, Belknap SM, Djulbegovic B, Tallman MS, Kuzel TM, Benson AB, Evens A, Trifilio SM, Courtney DM, Raisch DW. Evaluation of serious adverse drug reactions: A proactive pharmacovigilance program (RADAR) vs. safety activities conducted by the food and drug administration and pharmaceutical manufacturers.  Archives of Internal Medicine. 2007;167(10):1041-9.
  9. Rhee YJ, Taitel MS, Walker DR, Lau DT.  Narcotic Drug Use Among Lower Back Pain Patients in Employer Health Plans: A Retrospective Analysis of Risk Factors and Health Care Services.  Clinical Therapeutics.  (In Press)
  10. Lau DT, Glasser-Scandrett K, Jarzebowski M, Holman K, Emanuel L.  Health-Related Safety:  A Framework to Address Barriers to Aging in Place.  The Gerontologist.  (In Press)
  11. Chang CH, Gonzalez CM, Lau DT, Sier HC.  Urinary Incontinence and Self-Reported Health among the U.S. Medicare Beneficiaries.  Journal of Aging and Health.   (In Press)