{"id":24464,"date":"2025-10-13T09:56:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T13:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/?p=24464"},"modified":"2025-10-13T09:56:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T13:56:14","slug":"joanna-leyenaar-named-paul-batalden-chair-for-clinical-improvement-and-professional-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/2025\/joanna-leyenaar-named-paul-batalden-chair-for-clinical-improvement-and-professional-development\/","title":{"rendered":"JoAnna Leyenaar Named Paul Batalden Chair for Clinical Improvement and Professional Development"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine is pleased to announce the appointment of JoAnna Leyenaar<\/a>, MD, MPH, MSc, as the Paul Batalden Chair for Clinical Improvement and Professional Development. Leyenaar, a professor of pediatrics and of health policy and clinical research at Geisel and a pediatric hospitalist and health services researcher at Dartmouth Health, brings more than a decade of experience addressing healthcare disparities and improving outcomes for vulnerable pediatric populations.<\/p>\n

\"JoAnna
JoAnna Leyenaar, MD, MPH, MSc<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Paul Batalden Chair was established in 2008 in honor of Paul Batalden, MD, a professor emeritus of health policy and clinical practice, pediatrics, and community and family medicine at Dartmouth, and guest professor of quality improvement and leadership at J\u00f6nk\u00f6ping University in Sweden. The endowed chair recognizes faculty whose teaching and research embody the highest standards of healthcare improvement scholarship and whose work advances the quality, value, and safety of healthcare delivery.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe selected Dr. Leyenaar for the Batalden Chair after a rigorous national search. We were delighted that the most exceptional candidate for this endowed professorship was already here at Dartmouth,\u201d says Amber Barnato, MD, MPH, MS, the John E. Wennberg Distinguished Professor, department chair and director of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice. \u201cRecognizing Dr. Leyenaar\u2019s exceptional contributions as one of the top pediatric health services researchers in the U.S. with this professorship is a privilege. Her commitment to translating clinical observations into meaningful research that drives healthcare improvement for vulnerable children and their families will increase [The Dartmouth Institute\u2019s] impact on population health by focusing earlier in the life course than our historical work in the Medicare population. I am so grateful to Dr. Batalden for his generosity and leadership in establishing this professorship, and am excited to see the many ways that Dr. Leyenaar and her team will make healthcare better for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Research Driven by Clinical Observation<\/strong><\/p>\n

At Dartmouth Health, Leyenaar\u2019s research portfolio spans critical areas of pediatric healthcare, with particular focus on vulnerable and underserved populations. Her current projects, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of Nursing Research, Defense Health Agency, and National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, investigate some of the country\u2019s most pressing healthcare challenges, such as disparities in care for children with medical complexity, long-term outcomes for infants with prenatal opioid exposure, and suicide prevention in rural emergency departments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat drives my work is seeing problems firsthand in clinical practice and recognizing opportunities to make things better through research and advocacy,\u201d says Leyenaar. \u201cEvery research project I undertake stems from a clinical experience that highlighted a gap or disparity in care. Research becomes a way to shine a spotlight on issues that are under-researched or under-resourced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Powerful clinical experiences have often inspired Leyenaar\u2019s research focus. Early in her tenure at Dartmouth Health, Leyenaar encountered a medically complex child whose family was preparing to take him home despite his need for intensive nursing support. Upon inquiring about home nursing services, she learned that while insurance approved the care, no pediatric home nurses were available in the family\u2019s rural community. The parents had been managing his complex medical needs entirely on their own, taking shifts around the clock.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat experience opened my eyes to the unique challenges facing rural families with medically complex children,\u201d Leyenaar says. \u201cIt led to my first major research project examining urban-rural disparities in healthcare quality for children with complex or disabling health conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building Bridges<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leyenaar\u2019s appointment represents a strategic opportunity to strengthen collaboration between The Dartmouth Institute and Dartmouth Health\u2019s healthcare enterprise. \u201cThis position allows me to have one foot at Dartmouth Health and one foot on the college side,\u201d she explains. \u201cI hope to accelerate research by building bridges between the research community and clinicians, fostering the kind of collaboration that leads to meaningful healthcare improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n

The endowed professorship provides dedicated funding that enables rapid response to emerging healthcare challenges without the typical lag time associated with grant-funded research. This flexibility, Batalden notes, creates \u201can opportunity for the chairholder to lead\u201d rather than simply follow external funding priorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have many individuals doing excellent research, but we lack a shared umbrella for collaboration,\u201d Leyenaar observes. \u201cI\u2019m excited about the opportunity to bring people together, build efficiencies, and create shared resources within the maternal and child health space.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Natural Alignment with Pediatric Care<\/strong><\/p>\n

Batalden and Leyenaar\u2019s shared focus in pediatrics align experientially and philosophically. \u201cPediatricians know that more than two parties are engaged in health and healthcare service,\u201d Batalden says. \u201cSo, pediatricians are in the habit of dealing with a small team of others\u2014sometimes known as mothers and fathers, sometimes known as grandparents, and sometimes known as patients. You\u2019re in the midst of a small group of people all the time.\u201d This multi-party dynamic inherent in pediatric care naturally embodies the collaborative approach that Batalden has championed throughout his career, and sees in the chairholder.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery soon after I arrived [to Dartmouth Health], I was struck by the differences in the rural environment, differences in resources, and differences in catchment area relative to my work in Boston where I had been previously,\u201d Leyenaar says. That early exposure to rural healthcare challenges became the foundation for her research career focused on vulnerable populations.<\/p>\n

Leyenaar completed her medical degree at McMaster University School of Medicine in 2001 and pediatric residency training at the IWK Health Center in Halifax, NS, Canada, and the Children\u2019s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in 2005. She is board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Hospital Medicine. She earned her Master of Public Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and her PhD in Clinical and Translational Research from Tufts University.<\/p>\n

In 2016, Leyenaar joined Dartmouth Health as a pediatric hospitalist and has maintained active clinical practice alongside her research career. Her research has been published in leading journals including Pediatrics<\/em>, JAMA<\/em>, and BMJ<\/em>. She currently serves on grant review panels and national pediatric research committees, contributing to the broader academic community\u2019s efforts to improve child health outcomes.<\/p>\n

The Paul Batalden Chair for Clinical Improvement and Professional Development represents the latest milestone in Leyenaar\u2019s career dedicated to improving healthcare for vulnerable children and families. Her appointment ensures that this important work will continue to thrive at the intersection of clinical care, research excellence, and healthcare improvement\u2014principles that Batalden championed throughout his distinguished career and continues to nurture.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the long-term nature of this work, Batalden speaks with characteristic optimism. \u201cPart of the challenge is to prepare people one and two generations ahead of me.\u201d This sentiment is on full display in his office, where a weaving featuring an ancient Greek proverb sits above his desk: \u201cSociety grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Written by Jeremy Martin<\/em><\/div>\n
Jeremy Martin is an Advancement Writer in the Office of Medical and Healthcare Advancement at the Geisel School of Medicine.<\/div>\n
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