The Science Factory 2024

Who Are We?

We are the Comprehensive Care research team at the Department of Surgery and Perioperative Care at Dell Medical School. Our growing team largely depends on volunteer scholars from both the USA and abroad.  

We are among a handful of research units worldwide that addresses the mental and social aspects of illness along with the technical and anatomical aspects.  We study the best ways to diagnose and treat diseases and injuries while we also study the things that help people navigate recovery trajectories and enjoy life in spite of impairment.    

Our Vision

• Improve how people get and stay healthy by identifying the most impactful pathophysiological, mental, and social health priorities. 
• Help the next generation of surgeon-scientists get familiar with mental and social aspects of orthopedics conditions, build their research and clinical skills, and achieve their ambitions. 

Our Work Includes

• Clinical research, quality improvement, and program development.
  • We work with orthopedic, trauma, plastic, sport medicine and spine surgeons in the Austin metropolitan area on projects aiming to improve the quality, safety, and effectiveness of treatment.  
  • Specific aspects include improving measurement of what matters most to patients, their experiences in care, and the experience of the care team attending to their needs in order to identify priorities for improvement. 
  • Optimization of cost-effectiveness
• Community Health Initiatives: 
  • Patient self-care and information websites
  • Decision aid library
  • Interactive informed consents
  • Communication training and strategizing
• The Science of Variation Group: learning how and why care varies from surgeon-to-surgeon to ensure that treatment strategies match patient values. 

How will your contribution help?

Our team is based on altruism.  Our researchers are largely volunteers.   Austin is an expensive place to live and work.  Many of you have participated in research with us and you know that the sustainability of these efforts relies on the ability of students to dedicate themselves to research.  And this requires financial security.   Others of you are members and participants in the Science of Variation Group—the students are the ones who make those studies happen. Perhaps you are just an admirer of our groundbreaking research topics and findings. From whatever perspective, we hope that you believe in our work enough to support it with a donation!

With your generosity, we hope to support one or more long-term researchers’ expenses to continue doing research with us at the Dell Medical School – University of Texas at Austin. Your gift will directly support a student’s cost of living expenses. You can choose one of the suggested donation levels or write in a custom amount. Every gift counts!

Thank you so much for believing in our team and making our research possible!