Wagahta Semere, MD, MHS
Associate Professor
Medicine
School of Medicine

My work is focused on developing strategies, informatics-based tools, and using CBPR and computer science to better engage racially/ethnically diverse patients and their caregivers with providers in chronic disease management.

My current work focuses on examining communication between culturally and linguistically diverse patients, their caregivers, and providers. I am analyzing over 400,000 secure messages exchanged over an online patient portal between more than 9,500 ethnically diverse diabetes patients with limited health literacy, their caregivers, and their providers. I have applied machine learning, natural language processing, and novel computational linguistics techniques to characterize secure message communication. As an example, through the application of natural language processing, I have worked with computational linguists to identify caregivers’ “hidden proxy” communication on behalf of patients. We have characterized a socially and medically vulnerable group of patients who rely on proxies. I am particularly interested in leveraging technology-based platforms and clinical informatics methods to develop communication tools that promote safe and effective family-centered care.

• Caregiving Needs Are Unmet for Many Older Homeless Adults: Findings from the HOPE HOME Study.
  Journal of general internal medicine 2022 Semere W, Kaplan L, Valle K, Guzman D, Ramsey C, Garcia C, Kushel M
• "We need to bring them out from the shadows:" A qualitative study of safety net physician leaders' perspectives on caregivers.
  Patient education and counseling 2021 Semere W, Cemballi AG, Schillinger D, Casillas A, Lemberg M, Lyles CR
• Descriptive examination of secure messaging in a longitudinal cohort of diabetes patients in the ECLIPPSE study.
  Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA 2021 Cemballi AG, Karter AJ, Schillinger D, Liu JY, McNamara DS, Brown W, Crossley S, Semere W, Reed M, Allen J, Lyles CR
• Poor patient health is associated with higher caregiver burden for older adults with advanced cancer.
  Journal of geriatric oncology 2021 Semere W, Althouse AD, Rosland AM, White D, Arnold R, Chu E, Smith TJ, Schenker Y
• Challenges and solutions to employing natural language processing and machine learning to measure patients' health literacy and physician writing complexity: The ECLIPPSE study.
  Journal of biomedical informatics 2020 Brown W, Balyan R, Karter AJ, Crossley S, Semere W, Duran ND, Lyles C, Liu J, Moffet HH, Daniels R, McNamara DS, Schillinger D
• An Untapped Potential in Primary Care: Semi-Structured Interviews with Clinicians on How Patient Portals Will Work for Caregivers in the Safety Net.
  Journal of medical Internet research 2020 Casillas A, Cemballi AG, Abhat A, Lemberg M, Portz JD, Sadasivaiah S, Ratanawongsa N, Semere W, Brown A, Lyles CR
• Secure Messaging with Physicians by Proxies for Patients with Diabetes: Findings from the ECLIPPSE Study.
  Journal of general internal medicine 2019 Semere W, Crossley S, Karter AJ, Lyles CR, Brown W, Reed M, McNamara DS, Liu JY, Schillinger D
• Caregiving for Older Adults with Limited English Proficiency: Transitioning from Hospital to Home.
  Journal of general internal medicine 2019 Semere W, Nápoles AM, Gregorich S, Livaudais-Toman J, Karliner L
• Using the Children with Special Health Care Needs Screener with Immigrant Families: An Analysis of the National Survey of Children's Health.
  Journal of immigrant and minority health 2019 Warden C, Yun K, Semere W
• Factors Associated with Refugee Acute Healthcare Utilization in Southern Connecticut.
  Journal of immigrant and minority health 2018 Semere W, Agrawal P, Yun K, Di Bartolo I, Annamalai A, Ross JS
• Challenges in Identifying Refugees in National Health Data Sets.
  American journal of public health 2016 Semere W, Yun K, Ahalt C, Williams B, Wang EA
• A pediatric surgery study: parent usage of the Internet for medical information.
  Journal of pediatric surgery 2003 Semere W, Karamanoukian HL, Levitt M, Edwards T, Murero M, D'Ancona G, Donias HW, Glick PL
• The world wide web and robotic heart surgery.
  The heart surgery forum 2003 Semere WG, Edwards TM, Boyd D, Barsoumian R, Murero M, Donias HW, Karamanoukian HL