Sijia Wei Joins Rutgers Institute for Health and Rutgers School of Nursing

Sijia Wei has joined the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research as a core member in its Center for Health Services Research and as an assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Nursing.

Wei is a nurse scientist and health services research whose work focuses on improving healthcare quality and equity by advancing care coordination for older adults with complex chronic conditions and disabilities. Her research examines how clinicians work together across healthcare settings and over time, using approaches that integrate nursing science, social network analysis, complex systems science, organizational science and large-scale, real-world data, including electronic health records and claims data.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Sijia to Rutgers,” said Stephen Crystal, director of the Center for Health Services Research and a distinguished professor and Board of Governors Professor at Rutgers School of Social Work. “Her innovative research brings together nursing science, health services research and advanced analytical methods to address some of the most pressing challenges facing older adults with complex health needs.”

Wei is interested in understanding the social, relational and organizational factors that contribute to fragmented care, health disparities and healthcare costs among adults with multiple chronic conditions, including those living with heart failure, cirrhosis and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

“Sijia Wei is an exceptional addition to the Rutgers School of Nursing faculty,” said Charlotte Thomas-Hawkins, associate dean of the Division of Nursing Science and associate professor. “Her work on care quality and equity is vital to improving health outcomes among vulnerable populations.”

Wei’s research is supported by a National Institute on Aging K99/R00 grant for her project, “Identifying Hidden Relational Processes that Fragmented Care for Older Adults with ADRD and Multimorbidity: A Social Network Analysis Approach.” Through this work, she seeks to uncover the underlying structures and relationships within healthcare teams and systems that influence coordination of care. She says her long-term goal is to translate insights into multilevel interventions that strengthen care coordination and improve outcomes for people with complex healthcare needs.

Wei has published 19 manuscripts in journals including The Journal of Cardiac Failure, Clinical Nursing Research, Health Affairs and The Gerontologist.

“I am excited to join Rutgers School of Nursing and the Institute for Health because of Rutgers’ highly interdisciplinary environment and its extraordinary strengths in nursing, health services research, aging and health policy,” Wei said. “I look forward to building collaborations across disciplines and clinical systems and developing a transdisciplinary research program to understand how clinicians and organizations work together and ultimately improve care coordination, quality and health outcomes.”

Before joining Rutgers, Wei completed postdoctoral training in health services and outcomes at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the Kellogg School of Management. She earned her doctorate in nursing science from the Duke University School of Nursing.