AcademyHealth, a national organization serving the fields of health services, policy research and professionals, has named Elizabeth McGlynn, Ph.D., as the 2012 recipient of its Distinguished Investigator Award.

A high honor in the field of health services research and health policy, the Distinguished Investigator Award recognizes individuals who have made significant and lasting contributions to the field of health services research through scholarship and teaching, advancement of science and methods and leadership.

McGlynn is the director of the Kaiser Permanente Center for Effectiveness & Safety Research, an internationally-known expert in the evaluation of health care quality and a leader in the field of health services research.

"Dr. McGlynn has dedicated her career to helping us understand, measure and evaluate health care quality," said Dr. Lisa Simpson, president and CEO of AcademyHealth. "Her research, leadership and counsel have been critically important to our ability to identify evidence-based strategies to improve care quality and outcomes. She is truly deserving of this high honor from our field."

Among McGlynn’s many contributions to the understanding of the level and appropriateness of U.S. health care is the landmark 2003 study "The Quality of Health Care Delivered to Adults in the United States," which found that, on average, American adults receive about half of recommended care. The study used a new method for evaluating quality that was developed under McGlynn's leadership and garnered significant media attention that contributed to a much broader understanding of the size and nature of the quality problem in the U.S. The research was recognized as the 2004 AcademyHealth Article-of-the-Year.

McGlynn is currently leading efforts to further leverage Kaiser Permanente's research infrastructure and integrated health care system to study the effectiveness and safety of new drugs, devices and therapeutic practices.