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2018–2019 Research Training Institute Faculty

The institute faculty are recognized experts in a wide range of research areas. They will help librarians use, create, and apply research-based evidence to enhance decision-making, address evolving user needs, communicate library value, and support quality health care. The training and strong support offered by the expert faculty of scholars and practitioners will lay the foundations of evidence-based practice for the next generation of health sciences librarians.

gore_sally.jpgSally Gore is a research evaluation analyst for the University of Massachusetts Center for Clinical & Translational Science and responsible for overseeing evaluation efforts of the different core components and programs on the center. Gore is an expert instructor and researcher, specializing in data analysis and presentation. Prior to her current position, she was an embedded research librarian and informationist at the Lamar Soutter Library, UMass Medical School, serving on grant-funded clinical and community outreach research teams, providing information, data, and knowledge management services for the projects. She also previously served as head of research and scholarly communication services, overseeing the library’s efforts at collaboration with researchers on campus, as well as all scholarly communication endeavors, including eScholarship@UMMS (institutional repository). Gore earned her graduate degree in library and information science from Syracuse University and a master’s of science in exercise physiology from Ithaca College. Fore is a sought-after speaker for library conferences; writes the popular blog, “A Librarian by Any Other Name”; and can be found on Twitter at @mandosally.

koda.jpgLorie Kloda, AHIP, is the associate university librarian at Concordia University in Montreal. Previously, she was a health sciences librarian and later the assessment librarian at McGill University. She has a master’s of library and information science (MLIS) and a doctorate (PhD) in information studies from McGill University. Her interests include the information needs of health professionals, expert searching for systematic reviews, planning and assessment, and evidence-based practice. Her recent research includes an exploration of the value of journal club participation by academic librarians and an investigation of research output of Canadian library and information studies faculty. She has taught workshops on planning research for librarians and was a peer mentor at the Canadian Association of Research Libraries’ Librarians Research Institute. Kloda is the editor in chief of the open access journal, Evidence Based Library and Information Practice.

mark copy.jpgMark MacEachern is an informationist at the University of Michigan (UM) Taubman Health Sciences Library. As an informationist, MacEachern works closely with health students and professionals on education and research projects. MacEachern teaches systematic review methods and evidence-based practice skills as part of the curricula in several of the UM health sciences schools. He has extensive experience consulting on systematic review projects and leads the Taubman Library’s flipped continuing education course Systematic Reviews: Opportunities for Librarians. MacEachern received his master of library and information science (MLIS) degree from the University of Western Ontario. Prior to joining the Taubman Health Sciences Library in 2007, MacEachern interned at Mills Memorial Library at McMaster University.

philbrick_jodi.jpgJodi Philbrick, AHIP, is a senior lecturer at the College of Information, Department of Information Science, University of North Texas (UNT). Philbrick teaches graduate-level courses in library and information sciences and health informatics at UNT. Prior to her faculty appointment, she was the assistant director of the Houston Program for the Department of Information Science. Philbrick’s research interests include mobile technology, virtual reference services, and professional competencies in health sciences libraries, and she has conducted research, presented, and published in these areas. Philbrick and her collaborators have received multiple Elizabeth K. Eaton Research Awards from the South Central Chapter of MLA. Active in MLA, she served as the chair of Section Council and member of the Board of Directors from 2012–2017, and she was recently appointed as interim editor of the MLA News with a term to begin in January 2018. She received the MLA President’s Award in 2017 for her service to Section Council, work on the Task Force to Review MLA’s Competencies for Lifelong Learning and Professional Success, and participation in the Rising Star’s Program.

evardell.jpgEmily Vardell is assistant professor in the School of Library and Information Management at Emporia State University. Vardell is an expert instructor and researcher, specializing in qualitative research and health information behavior. She has taught at the graduate and undergraduate levels on topics from human information behavior to health sciences information resources. Vardell’s research interests include health insurance literacy, health-related decision-making behavior, and Affordable Care Act information needs. She has received research and teaching awards, including the Beta Phi Mu Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship (2017), the MLA Thomson Reuters/MLA Doctoral Fellowship (2016 to 2017), the University of North Carolina (UNC)–Chapel Hill School of Information and Library Science Deborah Barreau Award for Teaching Excellence (2016), and a Fulbright Award (2005 to 2006). Vardell is also the editor of the book The Medical Library Association Guide to Answering Questions about the Affordable Care Act (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015) and the author of articles published in the Reference Librarian and Medical Reference Services Quarterly. Prior to receiving her doctorate in information science from the School of Information and Library Science at UNC–Chapel Hill, she was the director for reference, education, and community engagement at the Calder Memorial Library at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She is active in MLA, serving as a member of the National Program Committee for 2017 and as the chair of the Professional Recruitment and Retention Committee.

For questions regarding the Institute, please contact Susan Lessick, AHIP, FMLA, Research Training Institute project director.

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