Grants per year
Personal profile
Research Interests
I received my PhD in immunology from the University of Chicago where I discovered the function of CTLA-4, the first checkpoint inhibitor. Following my MS in computer science, I worked in microbial genomics developing informatics tools to understand biochemical pathways in microorganisms. I joined the Nortwestern faculty to focus on medical informatics and am Associate Director for the Center for Health Information Partnerships and Director of the Chicago Health IT Regional Extension Center.
My goal is to improve health for people with autoimmune disease, using immunological, genomics, informatics and implementation science methods to study the development of autoimmunity. My research focuses on using electronic health records, intersected with genetic, social and environmental data to 1) develop translational models to elucidate the molecular and environmental mechanisms of human autoimmune disease and 2) develop EHR-based tools to improve care for people with autoimmunity.
Education/Academic qualification
MS, Computer Science, DePaul University
… → 2004
Immunology, PhD, University of Chicago
… → 1997
Research interests keywords
- Autoimmune Diseases
- Big Data
- Bioinformatics
- Genomic Medicine/Personalized Medicine
- Healthcare Quality
- Immunology
- Implementation Science
- Medical Informatics
- Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
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- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Transforming health at the intersection of implementation science, learning health systems, and genomics at Northwestern Medicine
Beidas, R. S. (PD/PI), Beidas, R. S. (PD/PI), Franklin, P. D. (PD/PI), Franklin, P. D. (PD/PI), Godley, L. A. (PD/PI), Godley, L. A. (PD/PI), McNally, E. M. (PD/PI), McNally, E. M. (PD/PI), Ahmad, F. S. (Co-Investigator), Ahmad, F. S. (Co-Investigator), Bass, M. (Co-Investigator), Bass, M. (Co-Investigator), Beach, L. B. (Co-Investigator), Beach, L. B. (Co-Investigator), Becker, S. (Co-Investigator), Becker, S. (Co-Investigator), Bradley, C. D. (Co-Investigator), Bradley, C. D. (Co-Investigator), Chisholm, R. L. (Co-Investigator), Chisholm, R. L. (Co-Investigator), Chorniy, A. (Co-Investigator), Chorniy, A. (Co-Investigator), Holmes, K. (Co-Investigator), Holmes, K. (Co-Investigator), Rasmussen-Torvik, L. J. (Co-Investigator), Rasmussen-Torvik, L. J. (Co-Investigator), Rini, C. (Co-Investigator), Rini, C. (Co-Investigator), Scott, K. (Co-Investigator), Scott, K. (Co-Investigator), Skolarus, L. E. (Co-Investigator), Skolarus, L. E. (Co-Investigator), Walunas, T. L. (Co-Investigator), Walunas, T. L. (Co-Investigator), Young, J. L. (Co-Investigator) & Young, J. L. (Co-Investigator)
National Human Genome Research Institute
9/1/24 → 7/31/29
Project: Research project
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Element B + Subcontracts
Becker, S. (PD/PI), D'Aquila, R. T. (PD/PI), Yancy, C. W. (PD/PI), Alshurafa, N. (Other), Ameer, G. A. (Other), Beidas, R. S. (Other), Blanco, I. (Other), Bradley, C. D. (Other), Brawley, C. (Other), Brown, O. E. (Other), Brown, C. H. (Other), Cameron, K. A. (Other), Carnethon, M. R. (Other), Cooper, L. A. D. (Other), Feinstein, M. J. (Other), Franklin, P. D. (Other), Helseth, S. A. (Other), Hill, V. B. (Other), Holmes, K. (Other), Kalhan, R. (Other), Khan, S. S. (Other), Kho, A. N. (Other), Li, D. H. (Other), Liebovitz, D. M. (Other), Luo, Y. (Other), Macapagal, K. (Other), O'Brien, M. J. (Other), Passman, R. S. (Other), Perreault, E. (Other), Peters, A. T. (Other), Pickens, C. I. (Other), Rasmussen-Torvik, L. J. (Other), Rivnay, J. (Other), Rosenberg, S. R. (Other), Schauer, J. M. (Other), Scott, K. (Other), Scott, E. A. (Other), Simon, M. A. (Other), Skolarus, L. E. (Other), Spring, B. (Other), Starren, J. (Other), Tandon, D. (Other), Walunas, T. L. (Other), Welty, L. J. (Other), Woitowich, N. C. (Other) & Wolf, M. (Other)
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
9/1/24 → 7/31/31
Project: Research project
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IMPACT project with Morehouse
Walunas, T. L. (PD/PI)
Morehouse School of Medicine, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
8/1/24 → 7/31/25
Project: Research project
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Machine learning to predict cure in severe pneumonia episodes
Gao, C. A. (PD/PI), Andrei, A. (Other), Budinger, G. S. (Other), Luo, Y. (Other), Misharin, A. (Other), Singer, B. (Other), Starren, J. (Other), Walunas, T. L. (Other) & Wunderink, R. G. (Other)
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
4/1/24 → 3/31/29
Project: Research project
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The Neu-Lung Consortium: Neutrophilic Mechanisms of Inflammation, Injury, and Repair in Lung and Airways Diseases
Fourati, S. (Co-Investigator), Luo, Y. (Co-Investigator), Morales-Nebreda, L. (Co-Investigator), Scholtens, D. M. (Co-Investigator), Wunderink, R. G. (Co-Investigator) & Walunas, T. L. (Other)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
4/1/24 → 3/31/29
Project: Research project
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A Dynamic Time Warping Extension to Consensus Weight-Based Cachexia Criteria Improves Prediction of Cancer Patient Outcomes
Forrest, N., Tran, S., Nandoliya, K. R., Houskamp, E. J., Gruchala, T., Guggilla, V., Sun, Z., Lukas, R., Wainwright, D., Furmanchuk, A., Johnson, J. L., Roy, I. & Walunas, T. L., Jan 29 2025, In: JCSM communications. 8, 1, p. e107Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Design of INSPIRE: Evaluation of the effectiveness of practice facilitation on implementation of screening, brief interventions, referral to treatment and medication for unhealthy alcohol use identification and treatment in primary care
Bannon, J., Smith, J. D., Van Ryzin, M. J., McHugh, M. C., Heinrich, J., Walunas, T. L. & Kho, A. N., Feb 2025, In: Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications. 43, 101413.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Rationale and design for Healthy Hearts in Manufacturing (HHM): A pragmatic single-arm hybrid effectiveness-implementation study for hypertension management and tobacco cessation
Jiang, H., Tian, Y., Bannon, J., Krefman, A. E., An, L. C., French, D. D., Maechling, C. R., Holl, J. L., Chagnon, R., Walunas, T. L., Burch, C., Musci, A., Latsis, D., Carey, D. & McHugh, M. C., Apr 2025, In: Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications. 44, 101444.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Reducing Stigma Through Conversations in Primary Care About Unhealthy Alcohol Use
Bishop, D., Parsons, D., Villalobos, G., Bannon, J., Rockwell, M., Krist, A., Jonas, D. E., Davis, M. M., Riley, S., Brouwer, L., Walunas, T., Kho, A., Cohen, H., McPherson, T., Rosenfeld, A. & Flanagan, E., Jan 27 2025, In: Annals of family medicine. 23, 1, p. 83 1 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Risk factors affecting polygenic score performance across diverse cohorts
Regeneron Genetics Center & Penn Medicine BioBank, Jan 24 2025, In: eLife. 12Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access
Datasets
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Does coaching matter? Examining the impact of specific practice facilitation strategies on implementation of quality improvement interventions in the Healthy Hearts in the Heartland study
Walunas, T. L. (Creator), Ye, J. (Contributor), Bannon, J. (Creator), Wang, A. (Creator), Kho, A. N. (Creator), Smith, J. D. (Creator) & Soulakis, N. (Creator), figshare, 2021
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5362375, https://springernature.figshare.com/collections/Does_coaching_matter_Examining_the_impact_of_specific_practice_facilitation_strategies_on_implementation_of_quality_improvement_interventions_in_the_Healthy_Hearts_in_the_Heartland_study/5362375
Dataset
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Electronic health record data use in the assessment of quality indicators for glucocorticoid osteoporosis screening in systemic lupus erythematosus
Ko, D. (Creator), Forrest, N. (Creator), Mai, Q. (Creator), Pawlowski, A. (Creator), Balsley, K. (Creator), Chung, A. (Creator), Ramsey-Goldman, R. (Creator) & Walunas, T. L. (Creator), SAGE Journals, 2022
DOI: 10.25384/sage.c.6235403, https://sage.figshare.com/collections/Electronic_health_record_data_use_in_the_assessment_of_quality_indicators_for_glucocorticoid_osteoporosis_screening_in_systemic_lupus_erythematosus/6235403
Dataset
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sj-xlsx-1-lup-10.1177_09612033211014952 - Supplemental material for Pleiotropy of systemic lupus erythematosus risk alleles and cardiometabolic disorders: A phenome-wide association study and inverse-variance weighted meta-analysis
Kawai, V. K. (Creator), Shi, M. (Contributor), Liu, G. (Creator), Feng, Q. (Creator), Wei, W. (Creator), Chung, C. P. (Creator), Walunas, T. L. (Creator), Gordon, A. S. (Creator), Linneman, J. G. (Creator), Hebbring, S. J. (Creator), Harley, J. B. (Creator), Cox, N. J. (Creator), Roden, D. M. (Creator), Stein, C. M. (Contributor) & Mosley, J. D. (Creator), SAGE Journals, 2021
DOI: 10.25384/sage.14588139, https://sage.figshare.com/articles/dataset/sj-xlsx-1-lup-10_1177_09612033211014952_-_Supplemental_material_for_Pleiotropy_of_systemic_lupus_erythematosus_risk_alleles_and_cardiometabolic_disorders_A_phenome-wide_association_study_and_inverse-variance_weighted_meta-analysis/14588139
Dataset
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A metadata framework for electronic phenotypes
Spotnitz, M. (Creator), Acharya, N. (Creator), Cimino, J. J. (Creator), Murphy, S. (Creator), Namjou-Khales, B. (Creator), Crimmins, N. (Creator), Walunas, T. (Creator), Liu, C. (Creator), Crosslin, D. (Creator), Benoit, B. (Creator), Rosenthal, E. (Creator), Pacheco, J. (Creator), Ostropolets, A. (Creator), Reyes Nieva, H. (Creator), Patterson, J. (Creator), Richter, L. (Creator), Callahan, T. (Creator), Elhussein, A. (Creator), Pang, C. (Creator), Kiryluk, K. (Creator), Nestor, J. (Creator), Mohan, S. (Creator), Minty, E. (Creator), Wei, W.-Q. (Creator), Natarajan, K. (Creator) & Weng, C. (Creator), Dryad, May 1 2023
DOI: 10.5061/dryad.rn8pk0ph3, https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.rn8pk0ph3
Dataset
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A metadata framework for electronic phenotypes
Spotnitz, M. (Contributor), Acharya, N. (Contributor), Cimino, J. J. (Contributor), Murphy, S. (Contributor), Namjou-Khales, B. (Contributor), Crimmins, N. (Contributor), Walunas, T. (Contributor), Liu, C. (Contributor), Crosslin, D. (Contributor), Benoit, B. (Contributor), Rosenthal, E. (Contributor), Pacheco, J. (Contributor), Ostropolets, A. (Contributor), Reyes Nieva, H. (Contributor), Patterson, J. (Contributor), Richter, L. (Contributor), Callahan, T. (Contributor), Elhussein, A. (Contributor), Pang, C. (Contributor), Kiryluk, K. (Contributor), Nestor, J. (Contributor), Mohan, S. (Contributor), Minty, E. (Contributor), Wei, W.-Q. (Contributor), Natarajan, K. (Contributor) & Weng, C. (Contributor), ZENODO, May 1 2023
DOI: 10.5061/dryad.rn8pk0ph3, https://zenodo.org/records/7883685
Dataset