About Us
Heart to Heart was developed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Division of General Internal Medicine
Short bios about the creators of the Heart to Heart Tool:
Michael P. Pignone, M.D., M.P.H.
Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine
Dr. Pignone is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine at University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. He received his medical degree and residency training in primary care internal medicine from the University of California – San Francisco. He then received fellowship training in clinical epidemiology and health services research through the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at UNC.
Dr. Pignone's research is focused on chronic disease prevention and physician – patient communication about risk in primary care settings. His main areas of interest include heart disease prevention, colorectal cancer screening, and disease management for common chronic illnesses such as diabetes, depression, heart failure, and chronic pain. He has conducted research examining the role of literacy in physician-patient communication and its effect on health outcomes, including racial/ethnic disparities.
Dr. Pignone is Director of the UNC Office of Disease Management and is an investigator for the RTI–UNC Evidence–based Practice Center, which helps to develop evidence–based systematic reviews of medical evidence. He is also a member of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and a Senior Research Fellow at the Cecil Sheps Center for Health Services Research.
Stacey L. Sheridan, M.D., M.P.H.
Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine
Dr. Sheridan is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology at University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. She received her medical degree from Pennsylvania State University and her residency training in internal medicine from Dartmouth College. She then received residency training in preventive medicine and fellowship training in primary care research from the University of North Carolina.
Dr. Sheridan's research is focused on chronic disease prevention and physician - patient communication in primary care settings. Her main areas of interest include heart disease prevention and prostate cancer screening. She has conducted research examining the role of shared decision-making in screening and chemoprevention, how well physicians and patients understand various presentations of risk, and the effects of literacy on health outcomes.
Dr. Sheridan is a member of the Cecil Sheps Center for Health Services Research.
Yueh Z. Lee, MS
Bio is coming soon
CHAI Core
Website Development and Programming of the Heart to Heart Decision Aid
The CHAI (Communication for Health Applications and Interventions) Core provides service to research projects that are developing interventions aimed at promoting health and disease prevention. They provide expertise in the areas of web development, survey design, database development, graphic design, gaming, and the facilitation of focus groups and usability testing. The CHAI Core is jointly funded by the NIH-funded Clinical Nutrition Research Center and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. If you would like more information about the CHAI Core, please visit their website at www.chaicore.com or send them an email.