From her office in the Las Vegas Medical District, Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV biostatistician Kavita Batra routinely fires off information-packed emails to places like Turkey, Poland, and Italy.
Collaborating with researchers all over the world and working on multiple projects at a time, the sheer volume of information that flows back through Batra’s inbox would make your head spin. There are data sets, spreadsheets, formulas, graphs, and research-related queries. Not only must she stay organized, but she also must compartmentalize and prioritize her workday to meet multiple deadlines imposed upon her by similarly overachieving colleagues, students and collaborators eager to see their work go to publication.
On top of that, as her reputation grows, there are new requests to collaborate and invitations to sit on editorial boards of science and medical journals, where she’ll be tasked with even more responsibility to make unbiased decisions on the manuscripts submitted by the scientific community.
The latest editorial board invitation came from Scientific Reports, the fifth most cited journal in the world. Batra also sits on editorial boards or consults for publications including Annals of Epidemiology and the Journal of Medicine, Surgery and Public Health, among others.
Growing up in India, she attended one of the country’s most prestigious dental schools and practiced dental surgery for five years before becoming a public health officer, where she fell in love with statistics that revealed disease trends. Moving to the U.S. at the age of 30, she received her master’s and PhD from UNLV School of Public Health.
In less than four years since joining the school of medicine, Batra has collaborated with dozens of medical students, residents, fellows, and faculty, publishing more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, including full-length journal articles, book chapters, monographs, and books. Her collaborations extend beyond the school of medicine as she also works with the UNLV Schools of Public Health and Dental Medicine.
But that’s not all. She has nearly 100 additional scholarly outcomes, including editorials, published abstracts, posters, and oral presentations at various levels, ranging from local to international, resulting from her independent research and mentoring efforts.
Busier than ever, Batra still manages to look up from her computer screen and greet visitors with a smile. “Have time to answer a few questions for a magazine article?” I ask.
“I would be honored to participate,” she replies, unfailingly polite.
What drives you to work in research?
The primary motivation behind my research stems from my desire to solve problems and the sense of accomplishment that comes with it when you are doing meaningful work. I take pride in being a part of multidisciplinary research teams that are dedicated to improving patients’ well-being. Additionally, it is fulfilling to know that the work I do has practical applications.
What project/accomplishment are you most proud of?
To me, nothing is bigger than contributing to the pool of knowledge by offering my expertise to help our clinicians and medical trainees achieve their scholarly goals. My clinical training in dental medicine and doctorate in public health allow me to share both the perspectives of the individual patient and the population’s health. With these two lenses, I am positioned well to make significant contributions to interdisciplinary research.
In addition, I, along with my co-investigators, received a $650,000 grant from the Department of Health and Human Services-Division of Healthcare Financing and Policy to perform a robust linkage of the large datasets for analyzing maternal and neonatal drivers of the high Medicaid burden in Nevada.
Any interesting projects in the pipeline you’d like to talk about?
Yes, my long-term goal — shared with our associate dean for research, Dr. Deborah Kuhls — is to develop a structured, research-focused mentoring program for our school community. Research is a long journey to the end result, and it is important that we create an environment conducive to learn and conduct research. In this initiative, we have a long road ahead, and the office of research is well committed to travel this long distance.
How does research help raise the image and reputation of the school of medicine?
I think research is an integral part of the foundational skills and offers a competitive advantage that medical professionals need to acquire in the continuum of their learning process. Publications and high-quality scholarly outcomes can position our learners and medical trainees well in this professional world. Needless to mention, more research and scholarly productivity of our learners, trainees, and faculty will work better with our university’s goal to maintain its R1 designation overall.
Simply put, more research leads to more scholarly outcomes, which in turn leads to more funding, more visibility nationally and internationally, all of these lead to a strong reputation, brand name, and a good standing in academic health. In addition, I am thankful to our leadership, [Dr. Marc J. Kahn, dean of the medical school and vice president for health affairs; Dr. Kuhls; and Dr. Robert Hernandez] who are constantly supportive of expanding our medical research enterprise.
Do you feel like the school is developing in this area?
Yes, I can totally see that we are heading in the right direction — no doubt! Quantitatively, I have witnessed a significant increase in research output since the time I was hired almost four years ago. This is definitely a good sign.
I also noticed that the completion rates of the research projects have also increased with more emphasis on manuscripts. It is evident that we are transitioning to the “Getting Things Done” model, in which we are taking a more structured and action-oriented approach to stimulate the research and scholarly activity. A huge thanks to Dr. Aditi Singh and Dr. Buddhadeb Dawn for supporting the first structured research elective for our residents in the internal medicine department.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
Yes, I would like to share my belief and what I have learned in my research journey. And that is: “If the right opportunity does not knock, build a door.” Always remember that the starting point of great success begins when you discipline yourself.
