Janet Prvu Bettger
Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery

Dr. Bettger’s research is dedicated to establishing real world evidence aimed to improve health care quality and policies that reduce the burden of disease and disability. She is funded by NIH and the VA as an implementation scientist on studies to prevent functional decline. She is also funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and the Medical Research Council/Wellcome Trust for pragmatic clinical trials in the U.S. and China on transitional care to improve functional independence and prevent post-hospital adverse events (COMPASS and SINEMA trials). Dr. Bettger is the PI for a pragmatic clinical and cost effectiveness trial on physical therapist-supported virtual rehabilitation following knee replacement (VERITAS trial). In 2016 with support from Duke's Bass Connections, Dr. Bettger launched the Global Alliance on Disability and Health Innovation (GANDHI) to facilitate student-faculty-external partner collaborative research to strengthen health systems globally (https://sites.duke.edu/bassgandhi/). She further advances this work on post-hospital rehabilitative care and outcomes with research using large integrated datasets, funded by PCORI and the NIH. 

Dr. Bettger received her BA from the University of Western Ontario, Canada and her MS from the University of Wisconsin–LaCrosse where she studied community reintegration for stroke and brain-injured patients transitioning from hospital to home. Her doctoral training in Rehabilitation Sciences, completed at Boston University, concluded with an investigation of patterns of functional recovery and factors affecting outcomes in patients transitioning home following acute rehabilitation. While working on her doctorate, she also worked in state government as the director of the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Registry. Dr. Bettger completed post-doctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania with a NIH NRSA research fellowship in neurorehabilitation, a research fellowship at the NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health, and a Switzer Fellowship funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research to study the role of the environment on functional outcomes. She completed additional research training at Duke as a mentored scholar in comparative effectiveness research funded by AHRQ. She is currently an Associate Professor and the Director of Health Policy and Implementation Science for Duke's Department of Orthopaedics. She has a secondary appointment in the Duke University School of Nursing, is affiliate faculty with the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) and Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI), a Senior Fellow of the Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, and is a Fellow of the American Heart Association.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Contact Information

  • DUMC 2919, 40 Duke Medicine Circle, Dept Of Orthopaedic Surgery, Room 5339, Durham, NC 27710

Some information on this profile has been compiled automatically from Duke databases and external sources. (Our About page explains how this works.) If you see a problem with the information, please write to Scholars@Duke and let us know. We will reply promptly.