There are so many questions to be asked and processes to complete. There are countless opportunities to interface and collaborate with researcher and centers around Indiana University School of Medicine and with corporate partners outside of the university.
It’s exciting and inspiring, but it can also be very daunting, she said. So, she’s always thinking about how she can help make this ecosystem a little easier to navigate.
Fowler is the Department of Medicine’s new Vice Chair for Research. She stepped into the role on Jan. 1, 2025, replacing Kara Wools-Kaloustian, MD, who has taken on the post of Executive Site Director for AMPATH Kenya.
Fowler has been a faculty member at IU School of Medicine for 10 years and brings to the new role more than 15 years of experience in ground-breaking research and academic leadership.
In 2021, she became the inaugural Director of Research for the Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics – the largest division in the school’s largest department – and was tasked with leading a more than $20-million research portfolio. She has also served as the Associate Director of the IU Center for Aging Research at Regenstrief Institute since 2019 and is a scientist in the Center for Health Innovation and Implementation Science at IU.
In these various roles, Fowler has learned a lot about what it takes to be an effective researcher. Her interests include improving the organization and delivery of health services for older adults living with complex health and social care needs, in particular, people living with dementia and their family caregivers. She has designed and conducted multiple trials in the areas of nonpharmacologic approaches in dementia care, family caregiving, and medical decision making for older adults with cognitive impairment; and her work has earned funding from multiple foundations along with the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense.
But even with more than a decade of meaningful work under her belt, she still understands how difficult it can be to get started, and she’s passionate about finding ways to ease those first steps. In her role as Vice Chair for Research, she will oversee the department’s research strategy, and foster collaborations among divisions and individual faculty members.
She’ll also work to create opportunities for the department’s junior faculty and trainees to launch successful research careers, and ensure younger researchers have the tools they need to succeed.
“They’ve been trained on how to do the experiment, and they understand the science, but sometimes it’s the logistics that holds people up,” she said. “We have a lot of ways to support junior faculty and trainees; but teaching them and putting in systems to help them implement and manage their research it is really important.”
Fowler said she’s looking forward to building upon the foundation of transparency and good communication that was established by Wools-Kaloustian. She’s planning on continuing the department’s Celebration of Science Day, which Fowler said is a great opportunity for residents, fellows, and post docs to present their research work.
In her last year as the vice chair, Wools-Kaloustian worked with a committee to develop a strategic plan for the department’s research efforts. Highlights included increasing scientific productivity and increasing patient access to potentially high impact clinical trials, among other points.
Fowler said she’ll uphold the goals and work with the Department faculty to toward setting further targets and objectives. This, she said, will help the department better achieve and measure its successes.
