Nasal Steroids, Nasal Irrigation, Oral Antibiotics, and Subgroup Targeting for Effective Management of Sinusitis Study (NOSES)

NOSES Team

Georgetown University

Principal Investigator

Daniel Merenstein, MD

Dr. Daniel Merenstein is a Professor with tenure of Family Medicine at Georgetown University, where he also directs Family Medicine research. Dr. Merenstein has a secondary appointment in the undergraduate Department of Human Science, in the School of Health. Dr Merenstein was a Robert Wood Johnson Fellow at Johns Hopkins Medical School from 2003-2005. He joined the faculty at Georgetown after graduating from fellowship. Dr. Merenstein teaches two undergraduate classes, a research capstone and a seminar class on evaluating evidence-based medical decisions. He has been funded by PCORI, NIH, USDA, Foundations and Industry.

The primary goal of Dr. Merenstein’s research is to provide answers to common clinical questions that lack evidence and improve patient care. Dr. Merenstein is a clinical trialist who has recruited over 2,000 participants for 10 probiotic trials since 2006 and published over 150 articles. He is an expert on probiotics, antibiotic stewardship in outpatient settings, and also conducts HIV research in a large women’s cohort. He sees patients in the clinic one day a week. Dan lives in Maryland with his wife and 4 boys.

Lead Coordinator

Keisha Herbin Smith

Keisha Herbin Smith is the Lead Project Coordinator for the NOSES study. She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Masters’ degree at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. After graduation, for three years, she worked for the State of North Carolina as a research specialist for the North Carolina Birth Defects Monitoring Program. For over 18 years, Keisha has worked with Dr. Merenstein at Georgetown University in various areas of research, including many probiotics trials and respiratory illness trials. Keisha is married and is a mom to two boys, ages 10 and 14, and an aunt to Kayla, age 18, whom she raises. She enjoys attending her kids' many sporting events, working out, teaching bible study, and spending time with friends and family.

Project Coordinator

Jessy Sparenborg

Jessy Sparenborg, originally from Chile, graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Conservation Biology where she gained valuable research and teaching experience. Since 2006, Jessy has been part of the Family Medicine Department at Georgetown University, working with providers, students, and patients. She has used her native Spanish to connect with the Hispanic community, making research more accessible and fostering trust to encourage patient engagement. Jessy has contributed to several probiotic clinical trials, serving as Project Coordinator for two of them. Living in Washington, DC, Jessy enjoys outdoor adventures, drawing, camping, and hiking with her husband and their three sons, aged 13, 11, and 9.

Project Coordinator

Tina Tan

Tina Tan, MS, CCRC, CRA is the Lead Research Program Manager for the Department of Family Medicine. She has over 15 years of experience in clinical trial operations and sponsored research, including pre- and post-award processes, protocol design and implementation, IRB and regulatory support, and budget administration. She received her MS in Clinical and Translational Research from Georgetown University and AB in Math from Bryn Mawr College. She holds active certifications from the Association of Clinical Research Professionals and the Research Administrators Certification Council.

Research Assistant

Aneesha Kumar

Aneesha is originally from Los Altos, California and moved to Washington D.C. in 2019. She graduated from Georgetown University in May of 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Human Science and a minor in French. Since 2021, she has been working in Dr. Merenstein’s lab on a variety of probiotic and respiratory illness-based clinical trials. She has completed two independent research projects, including her senior thesis concerning adverse events in randomized controlled trials involving the probiotic BB-12. This study has been presented at the NAPCRG conference and is currently being considered for publication. She will be starting medical school in 2025. Aneesha is an avid runner, dancer, and 49ers fan.

MedStar Health Research Institute

Principal Investigator

Nawar Shara

Dr. Shara is the founding director of MedStar-Georgetown Collaborative Center for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Research and Education AI CoLab, chief research data science, director of the Center of Biostatistics, Informatics, Data Science at the MedStar Health Research Institute, and Associate Professor of Medicine and Chief of AI Applications (“Chief AI”) at Georgetown university with over 20 years of experience. A seasoned biostatistician, Dr. Shara also serves as an associate professor of medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine and director of the Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Research Design (BERD) Core and co-director of the Biomedical Informatics core at the Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science (GHUCCTS).

Dr. Shara has more than 18 years of experience overseeing statistical and data management activities for large, multi-center clinical trials, and has established herself as an expert in the field with numerous NIH-funded projects and federal research awards.

As director of the CBIDS, she leads a multi-disciplinary team whose mission is to engage and support research by providing infrastructure services such as study design, statistical consulting, data management, cohort discovery, and innovative data solutions. As director of BERD and co-director of Biomedical Informatics for GHUCCTS, she oversees a wide range of projects stemming from multi-disciplinary collaborations spanning several institutions across the CTSA consortium, she develops courses and workshops, and mentors junior faculty and research scholars.

Dr. Shara’s research interests focus on collaborative and team approaches for big data solutions, predictive analytics, data mining, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML data solutions such as voice-assisted devices to improve patient outcomes, patient-provider communication, and reduce healthcare utilization.

Dr. Shara is experienced in designing and developing biostatistical curricula, modular courses, and workshops with a focus on applications of AI/ML in health sciences. She has decades of serving as a scientific reviewer on study sections for the Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, and National Institutes of Health (NIH), and has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers. Dr. Shara is the site lead for the AIM-AHEAD NIH-funded consortium for the Training Core.

Dr. Shara received her undergraduate degree in Economics from Damascus University and received her master’s degree and PhD in applied statistics from American University in Washington DC.

Penn State College of Medicine

Principal Investigator

David Rábago

David Rábago MD is an academic family physician working across clinical, education, and research mission areas. He maintains an active continuity of community-based clinical practice. Educational activities include clinical teaching with medical students and research-related instruction and mentorship as director of the NRSA/HRSA-funded T32 Penn State Primary Care Research Fellowship. His 22-year research program is focused on therapy for clinical concerns important to patients including upper respiratory conditions and chronic pain.

Site Project Coordinator

Joshua Blaker

Josh is a Research Project Manager in the Penn State College of Medicine’s Department of Family and Community Medicine. In his 6-year tenure, Josh has assumed responsibility for overseeing initiation, direction, and conduct of clinical trials; developing project infrastructure, standard operating procedures, and data collection instrumentation and methodology; collaborating with individuals internal and external to the project to establish and maintain relationships critical to the project’s operations; developing proposals, budgets, and research plans; and training, leading, and developing members of the research team. Effective November 2023, Josh is set to assume the role of Site Project Coordinator in the NOSES Antibiotic Stewardship Trial.

University of California, Los Angeles

Principal Investigator

Derjung Mimi Tarn

Derjung Mimi Tarn, MD, PhD is Professor of Family Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a practicing family physician. Dr. Tarn’s career is marked by a passionate commitment to advancing primary care research, with a particular focus on preventive health, medication adherence, and physician-patient communication. Her recent endeavors center on bolstering the utilization of preventive health services among older adults and improving clinical trial participation among underserved older adults. Dr. Tarn employs a multi-faceted approach in her research, using both qualitative and quantitative research methods, including audio recordings of office visits, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and surveys.

Recognized for her outstanding contributions, Dr. Tarn is the recipient of the Family Practice Excellence in Research Award from the California Academy of Family Physicians and has received an Honorable Mention for the Society of Teachers in Family Medicine (STFM) Best Paper Award. Her research has been featured through Distinguished and Extended Paper talks at meetings of the Society of Teachers in Family Medicine and the North American Primary Care Research Group. Her current work is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and the Food and Drug Administration.

Dr. Tarn earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biological Sciences from Stanford University, an M.D. from New York Medical College, and a Ph.D. in Health Services from UCLA. She honed her expertise through advanced research training via the National Research Service Award (NRSA) Primary Care Research and UCLA Specialty Training and Advanced Research (STAR) fellowships at UCLA.

Senior Research Coordinator

Danielle Schramm

Danielle Schramm, MSPH is a Senior Research Coordinator in the Department of Family Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA where she manages research projects and clinical trials funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Prior to her time at UCLA, she had over 10 years of experience conducting large-scale research studies and evaluation projects for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention across a variety of health topics, including school health, obesity prevention, cancer prevention, vector-borne disease prevention, and public health emergency preparedness and response.

Danielle earned an MSPH in Health Policy & Management from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a BA in Political Science and an ABJ in Public Relations from the University of Georgia.

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Principal Investigator

Bruce Barrett

Bruce Barrett, MD, PhD, is a practicing family physician and primary care researcher. He serves as the Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Barrett’s current work is focused on common cold and influenza-like illness, especially as it relates to mind-body interactions and placebo effects. He is committed to doing research that reflects his values as an engaged citizen with interests in environmental health, equity, and human rights.

Research Program Manager

Shari Barlow

Shari Barlow is a Research Program Manager at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. She has over 20 years of experience managing complex clinical and community-based research projects focusing on respiratory disease transmission, antiviral prescribing practices, long-term care facility outbreak detection, and the effects of alternative medicine on acute respiratory infections. She has assisted in publishing over 35 research reports and manuscripts. Throughout her career, Shari has prioritized building connections and has found success in fostering a collaborative environment that supports open cooperation between research teams, public health entities, and laboratory teams. Shari and her research team have achieved impressive participant recruitment and retainment rates on numerous longitudinal studies, and she looks forward to applying those skills in future research endeavors.

Virginia Commonwealth University

Principal Investigator

Alex Krist

Alex Krist, M.D., M.P.H. is a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Population Health at Virginia Commonwealth University and an active clinician and teacher at the Fairfax Family Practice residency. He is co-director of the Virginia Ambulatory Care Outcomes Research Network, director of community-engaged research at the Center for Clinical and Translational Research, and a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. His areas of interest include community engagement, implementation of preventive recommendations, patient-centered care, shared decision-making, cancer screening, and health information technology. He is the primary author of numerous peer-reviewed publications and has presented to a wide range of audiences at national and international conferences.

Site Project Coordinator

Gaby Villalobos

Gaby Villalobos (she/her) is a Research Coordinator in the Department of Family Medicine and Population Health at VCU. Our work is centered on improving primary care through research. She is also a Practice Advocate as part of the Virginia Ambulatory Care Outcomes Research Network. Gaby has been with the department for over eight years working in various areas of research, including women’s health, substance use, and youth violence prevention.

University of Washington

Principal Investigator

Sebastian Tong

Dr. Tong (he/him) is a practicing family physician, addiction medicine specialist, and health services researcher. He serves as the Associate Director of the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho) region Practice and Research Network, a practice-based research network of over 120 primary care practices. His research is informed by his clinical practice at the Harborview Family Medicine Clinic in Seattle, WA, and his areas of interest include behavioral health, loneliness, chronic pain, and unhealthy substance use. Before moving to UW, he served as a senior staff fellow from 2020-2022 at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality where he co-led the behavioral health and substance use research portfolios.

Research Coordinator

Nicholas Franko

Nick (he/him) is a Research Coordinator supporting Dr. Tong’s research group. He is interested in research that will improve and inform clinical practice in the primary care setting. Growing up and living in Seattle, Nick is passionate about improving the health and wellness of his community in the Pacific Northwest. Nick is pursuing a career as a physician. Outside of work, Nick enjoys spending time skiing and surfing throughout Washington State.

Page updated

Report abuse