Search for Members
Total members: 78
Student/Trainee/Staff Member
Priscilla Amanquah
Hunter College
Priscilla.Amanquah92@myhunter.cuny.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
The Center for Health Equity provides a platform for innovation and change that is long needed in the health care system. Research in Social disparities and health equity have been overlooked and neglected; this neglect has led to a series of detrimental strong holds within the healthcare system that makes it difficult for individuals more specifically minorities to receive quality health care. →
Expertise/Goals
Being a human biology major at Hunter College I have the opportunity to study a broad range of disciplines that contribute to the health and wellness of human beings. This includes studying the psychology and biology of humans as well as studying the health system in which we depend on. With my studies I will have extensive knowledge and resources at my disposal to contribute to the progression of →
Health Equity/Research Interest
My primary area of research is in patient use of health information technologies such as patient portals; although I’ve done work in health numeracy/literacy and patient decision making I have also found that some of the most effective ways to increase patient engagement are actually system-level changes rather than individual-level interventions. My secondary area of interest is in clinical →
Expertise/Goals
I’d like to network with others interested in health equity and potentially develop new collaborations. I’d also like to contribute to educational and policy efforts to promote health equity in medical education.
Health Equity/Research Interest
I have been working with and researching the healthcare of the homeless immigrants and refugees since the mid 90’s. I have developed related training curricula for public health students medical students and residents and participated in related advocacy and policy making at the national and international level. My current research focus is in health disparities curriculum development and cancer →
Expertise/Goals
I have extensive leadership experience in national and international organizations and professional associations that relates to global health and population-based medicine. My wide range of experience in developing service programs educational curricula and research in these fields will bring added value to the current faculty and resources at the center. I am looking forward to collaborating and →
Health Equity/Research Interest
I am interested in lung inflammatory diseases such as allergic asthma that preferentially affect underrepresented minorities and other under-served communities. I am also interested in work that contributes to increasing the diversity of the next generation of research working on health equity.
Expertise/Goals
Networking with others interested in this area. Finding a networking of basic sciences researchers in health equity.
Health Equity/Research Interest
My current research interests are in using multivariate statistical theory to solves the major statistical challenges in analyzing big data (electronic health records health insurance claims) and small data (smartphone data) in the context assessing need of mental health interventions among disadvantaged community members and its delivery to the community. I am also interested in the risk →
Expertise/Goals
I am the Director of the Methods Core of Weill Cornell ALACRITY Center for Late- and Mid-Life Mood Disorders (P50 MH113838) which focuses on behavioral interventions improve the care of older and middle-aged adults with mood disorders treated in the community. I can facilitate connections between CCHEq and ALACRITY. I can also provide statistical guidance to CCHEq investigators in their grant →
Health Equity/Research Interest
Economic and policy strategies to support evidence-based care for mental health and substance use conditions including strategies to promote equity in behavioral health care.
Expertise/Goals
I bring to the Center deep understanding of the interplay among policy organizational and clinical factors that contributed to lack of equity in health care access use and outcomes. I also bring expertise with multiple types of population data to address equity issues. I hope to expand my collaborative network and be inspired and encouraged in general.
Student/Trainee/Staff Member
Elizabeth Baquero, EdD
Cornell University
Weill Cornell Medicine
epb2002@med.cornell.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
Depression; eating disorders; health education; health communication; prevention; health disparities; alternative therapies for health; and spiritual health.
Expertise/Goals
Received my doctorate in health education from Teachers College Columbia University. Currently working at the Division of General Internal Medicine at WCM and teaching part-time undergraduate communication and health courses.
Academic Member
Czarina Behrends, PhD MPH
Cornell University
Weill Cornell Medicine
czb2002@med.cornell.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
Dr. Behrends’ current research focuses on HIV HCV and opioid overdose prevention among people who use drugs. More broadly her work examines health services access and care for people who use drugs with the goal of generating relevant and timely health policy programmatic and economic research that addresses social justice and health equity concerns of people who use drugs. Ensuring culturally →
Expertise/Goals
I have been working in the area of substance use research for 11 years with a focus on health services that sensitively meet the needs of people who use drugs using a combination of epidemiological methods economic analysis and mixed methods approaches. My expertise in this subject area will help ensure that substance use research is represented in this center to promote health equity research for →
Health Equity/Research Interest
My interest lies in the development of innovative graduate medical education models that place an emphasis on community engagement and the social determinants of health that will result in new physicians with a primary care and population health focus.
Expertise/Goals
As a physician and clinician educator in Tompkins county I bring detailed knowledge and experience regarding the local healthcare delivery systems and its patient population. Through greater collaboration with the CCHEq I hope to partner physicians in training with local researchers network with community leaders and receive as well as provide education that will increase the health of the local →
Academic Member
Julie Carmalt, PhD
Cornell University
Human Ecology/Sloan Program in Health Administration
jhc48@cornell.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
I am the Associate Director of the Sloan Program in Health Administration (confers the Master of Health Administration degree) at Cornell University (Ithaca campus) and teach both graduate and undergraduate courses in population health and population health management. I enjoy working with community partners to use data to solve real-world problems while providing applied learning experiences form →
Expertise/Goals
I would like to collaborate with other interested members around creating holistic recruitment and retention policies programs and practices of graduate students. Additionally I am interested in trading and creating ideas for building inclusive classroom practices and applied learning opportunities as they related to teaching population health.
Health Equity/Research Interest
My research focuses on the economics of risky health behaviors. I am particularly interested in obesity and the diet and physical activity patterns that contribute to it. Specifically, I study the factors that explain differences in obesity, the economic consequences of obesity, and I evaluate policies and programs to reduce disparities in obesity, diet, and physical activity. I teach courses in →
Expertise/Goals
I study disparities in risky health behaviors, such as poor diet and physical inactivity, and disparities in health conditions such as obesity. My goals are to shed light on the causes of risky health behaviors, the consequences of risky health behaviors, and the effects of policies and programs to modify risky health behaviors. I also enjoy teaching and mentoring the next generation of scholars.
Affiliate Member
John Chin, Ph.D.
Hunter College City University of New York
School of Arts and Sciences
john.chin@hunter.cuny.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
My research has focused on the role of community institutions in the delivery of social and health services particularly to under-served communities such as immigrant communities and communities of color. I am also interested in how key community-based institutions in immigrant and minority communities shape community values and norms particularly in relation to controversial or sensitive topics →
Expertise/Goals
I have been working in and conducting research about immigrant communities and communities of color for more than 25 years. My combined experience as an academic public health researcher urban policy and planning professor and previously as the deputy executive director of an immigrant health organization provides a unique perspective on questions of health care access and health promotion in →
Student/Trainee/Staff Member
Alessandra Cruz
College of Human Ecology at Cornell University
alc284@cornell.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
I was referred by Dr. Madeline Sterling to join the Cornell Center for Health Equity to explore my research interest in understanding the HCW and patient- physician relationship. What interventions can we utilize to improve numeracy and health literacy among HCW’s and cognitively impaired HF patients? Through chart reviews and community-based research I hope to continue the research studies led →
Expertise/Goals
My experiences as a volunteer in the triage of the Emergency Room in Philippine General Hospital in the Philippines inspired my interest in the Cornell Center for Health Equity. I became more aware of the health inequities within the healthcare and medical system when I found that patients could not read medicine labels in English nor could they afford and access basic medical needs such as pain →
Health Equity/Research Interest
My research interests are in human-computer interaction (HCI) information and communication technologies for development (ICTD). My main focus is on designing building deploying and evaluating novel computing systems that improve the lives of underserved populations in low-income regions. I am broadly interested in understanding the social technical and infrastructural challenges faced by diverse →
Expertise/Goals
I am an expert in the design implementation and evaluation of computing technologies that aim to solve problems in health equity. I am looking for community partners and collaborators with medical and health expertise that have in need for or are excited about new technology-based interventions that will positively impact health equity.
Health Equity/Research Interest
As a clinician in Internal Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine I care for a wide range of patients and have experience with how disparities in health care access and health literacy negatively impact health outcomes. I mentor medical students and residents on how to care for patients of different backgrounds and role model one-tier medical care for a diverse NYC patient population.
Expertise/Goals
I hope to foster collaborations in both education and research across the NYC and Ithaca campuses particularly through medical education for medical students and residents who rotate through electives and courses on both campuses. I am actively involved in recruitment and curriculum development for the newly ACGME – accredited Internal Medicine Residency Training Program based at Cayuga Medical →
Affiliate Member
Lisa Diamond, MD MPH MHS
Cornell University
WCM Affiliate Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
diamondl@mskcc.org
Health Equity/Research Interest
My research focuses on understanding how clinicians’ non-English language proficiency affects the quality of care derived to patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). Ultimately I plan to use the results of my research to establish standards for the appropriate use of non-fluent non-English language skills by clinicians and to identify process and outcomes measures that capture the quality →
Expertise/Goals
My experience in language barriers research has the potential in combination with networking and collaboration with other professionals in the Center from Health Equity to expand the reach of my work into changes in policy to improve care for patients.
Student/Trainee/Staff Member
Joan Esmie, Human Biology Health and Society (BS)
health equity minor
Human Ecology
jge38@cornell.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
Minoring in Inequality Studies with a concentration in Health Equity.
Expertise/Goals
As an undergraduate student minoring in health equity I hope to potentially collaborate with other members and hear about the current research being conducted.
Student/Trainee/Staff Member
Cisco Espinosa, Bachelors of Science
Cornell University
Arts and Sciences
cge25@cornell.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
My research interests focus on cardiothoracic surgical technique/technology innovation and biopharmaceutical synthesis and clinical application. Additionally I seek to translate research into affordable and thus practical solutions to health issues that can be used by patients of all disparities regardless of socio-economic background/standing.
Expertise/Goals
I hope to share my passion for healthcare and medical sciences with the Cornell Center for Health Equity in bridging the divide that currently exists within many of the research labs and the medical school/ health center rooted in Cornell.
Health Equity/Research Interest
Deborah Estrin is a Professor of Computer Science at Cornell Tech in New York City. She is founder of the Health Tech Hub in the Jacobs Institute and directs the Small Data Lab at Cornell Tech. Her students in the Master of Science program are interested in projects that could address health equity challenges. She holds The Robert V. Tishman Founder’s Chair and has recently taken on a leadership →
Expertise/Goals
I am interested in collaborating with domain and community expertise.
Health Equity/Research Interest
Health policy Single payer national health insurance Community engagement: Brooklyn Queens and South Bronx and Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx.
Expertise/Goals
Networking faculty involvement with the perspectives on the Changing Health Care System Course for all first year medical residents and more faculty involvement in the Rogers Colloquium.
Academic Member
Kathryn Fiorella, PhD MPH
Cornell University
College of Veterinary Medicine
kf326@cornell.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
My research aims to understand the interactions among environmental change and livelihood food and nutrition global fisheries and the households that are reliant on the environment to access food and income. The challenges inequalities and unprecedented global environmental change drive my work in two central areas: 1) Effects livelihood and nutrition security and 2) Interactions of resource →
Expertise/Goals
My research examines the interactions between environmental change inequality and health in global settings. Lake Victoria in Kenya and in Cambodia provides rich case studies for better understanding these phenomena. Cornell Center for Health Equity I look forward to opportunities to collaborate and engage with a broad network health equity and to engage new tools and opportunities to support the →
Student/Trainee/Staff Member
Annie Geiger
Cornell University
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
amg473@cornell.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
In the past I have conducted microbiological global health research in the Nathan Laboratory of Weill Cornell Medicine studying a putative drug target in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. I am currently working on a tick surveillance data analytics project for the Northeast Regional Center for Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases to highlight disparities between the tick surveillance efforts of different →
Expertise/Goals
Through the Center I hope to dedicate my time research training and knowledge in inequality studies to benefit the work of the Center. I would like to contribute to a research project where assistance is needed and exchange my time and efforts for the development of skills in conducting health equity research and deepening my understanding of disparities in health access. I hope to work directly →
Health Equity/Research Interest
My interests are in the areas of disparities with regard to hypertension as well as other chronic conditions.
Expertise/Goals
I have a long-standing interest in epidemiological research and hope to get involved in more collaborations research and educational opportunities.
Health Equity/Research Interest
Racial disparities in arthroplasty utilization and outcomes have persisted for decades but the contributions of race poverty or other social factors have been difficult to sort out. My research has focused on the interactions of race education poverty and other social factors and arthroplasty outcomes.
Expertise/Goals
My experience at HSS in arthroplasty research can bring this area of research interest to the Center to foster collaborations.
Health Equity/Research Interest
My academic interests are focused on metrics of success with a special interest in physician-scientists including their motivation training mentoring personality and learning styles. Additional research projects delve into the areas of mentoring how adults learn adult and program development blended learning social media in learning and organizational culture. I also delve into barriers of success →
Expertise/Goals
I have a doctorate in Adult Learning and Leadership and have done extensive mixed-method research in the areas of adult learning and success especially as they pertain to physician-scientists. My research studies are based on the work of leading adult learning theorists including Kolb Brookfield Freire Deci & Ryan and Mezirow. For nearly 22 years I served as administrative director of the →
Health Equity/Research Interest
As an Assistant Professor of Medicine I am currently growing my research program which focuses on the intersection between geriatric conditions and heart failure. To this end I am currently funded by the National Institute on Aging (R03) to examine the impact of medication prescribing patterns on post-hospitalization outcomes among older adults with heart failure. I ultimately hope to leverage →
Expertise/Goals
I am a board-certified Cardiologist with training in advanced heart failure; and a health services researcher with a Master’s of Science in Clinical Epidemiology & Health Services Research and a special interest in geriatric medicine. I bring a unique blend of skills and interests to the Center as an emerging leader in the growing field of Geriatric Cardiology. I believe that my growing →
Health Equity/Research Interest
I’m an applied social and behavioral scientist with expertise in public health and communication. My work focuses on upstream/social determinants of health on topics including tobacco HIV mental health zoning flooding and environmental toxins. I often focus on vulnerable populations elucidate differential impacts of plans or policies or consider interventions that are appropriate based on →
Expertise/Goals
I’m excited to bring my public health mixed methods social science and risk communication experience to this group. I’ve worked in urban and rural settings with youth and adults clinicians and academics across an array of disciplines policy makers powerful research participants and extremely vulnerable ones. I like thinking about how to explore and talk about these issues so they register. Part of →
Student/Trainee/Staff Member
Lindsay Grossman
Cornell University
Arts and Sciences
Lgg38@cornell.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
While I am still a Cornell student I would really like to get involved in health equity research. As a pre-health student I have been waiting for a program like this to bridge the gap between the two campuses and would like to participate in any way that I can. I am specifically interested in rural medicine and health of rural firefighters as I am a volunteer firefighter in Varna NY and have →
Expertise/Goals
Health Equity/Research Interest
My area of interest is in passing legislation that will provide every resident of New York State with equitable healthcare. My specific focus is in working with poor rural residents who suffer from a limited access to preventative medicine and treatment in the existing system. My research and personal experience shows that some of the challenges facing these underserved groups are that they have →
Expertise/Goals
I hold a master’s degree in Community Change and Civic Leadership focused on environmental justice. I have been working with Physicians for National Health Program (PNHP) and Single Payer New York (SPNY) for passage of single payer health legislation on both the federal and state level. Lobbying legislators in Washington DC and Albany NY with coalition members for federal and state legislation in →
Health Equity/Research Interest
My research interest focuses on reducing attrition of URM pipeline students. Mentorship is an essential component of perseverance confidence and success. Through collaboration with Mentoring in Medicine in the Bronx we are therefore creating a longitudinal mentorship program that targets modifiable components of preparedness to increase application and matriculation of under-represented →
Expertise/Goals
I serve as the Diversity Champion for our department and have established a collaboration with Dr. Lynne Holden Founder of Mentoring in Medicine to sponsor labs in our Neurosurgical Innovations space for students interested in the health sciences. This collaboration and experience provides a connection to students who could benefit from the initiatives of the Center. I have also pursued Healthcare →
Health Equity/Research Interest
Said Ibrahim MD MPH MBA is inaugural chief of the newly established Division of Healthcare Delivery Science and Innovation and Vice Chair for Development and Strategy in the Department of Healthcare Policy & Research at Weill Cornell Medicine. Previously he was Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania and the Director of the Philadelphia VA National →
Expertise/Goals
Health equity research; mentoring young faculty in health equity research careers; developing cross-institutional collaborations to promote health equity research and health services research; work with young scholars interested in developing research in the space where technology/innovation meets social determinants of health and health equity; advocate and promote diversity and inclusion at the →
Health Equity/Research Interest
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) and PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis).
Expertise/Goals
I have worked all over New York City for the past 6 years and I have extensive experience in human services having worked with both adolescents and adults with a particular focus on under-served populations. Prior to my current position as a Prevention Navigator I worked with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene as an Outreach Specialist conducting outreach and health education focused →
Health Equity/Research Interest
I currently work with a number of faculty students and community members to facilitate community engagement enable appropriate research modalities and implement programs intended to enhance community well-being. I am interested in applying different lenses—psychodynamic trauma-informed socio-ecological and general social work practices—to address community health challenges in a just and →
Expertise/Goals
Having recently completed a PhD at Cornell on community race and the construction of identity I am currently completing NYS licensure as a social worker. For two years I have worked on a number of health-related projects in Tompkins County and am excited to have the opportunity to foster synergies at the intersections of Cornell and the wider community. Through membership of the Center I hope to →
Health Equity/Research Interest
My current research is focused on the equitable delivery of Hepatitis C treatment to people who use drugs. I am studying the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of accessible care delivery models for this population by integrating HCV treatment into substance use care. I am developing skills in mixed-methods health services research related to this issue: my recent work investigates the impact of →
Expertise/Goals
As a junior investigator in Infectious Diseases and in Healthcare Policy and Research I am eager to create research synergies with Center investigators. With the help of my mentors I am developing skills in mixed-methods health services research economic evaluations of healthcare interventions and in research related to infectious diseases and substance use disorder. These skills can be used to →
Student/Trainee/Staff Member
Chenab Khakh
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Cornell University
ckk47@cornell.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
I am fascinated with the impact of nutrition education and access on youth development particularly in urban environments. I am interested in facilitating and implementing youth nutrition education programs. I believe community health engagement is a part of preventative health care.
Expertise/Goals
This past summer I worked at the Cornell Cooperative Extension in New York City teaching nutrition to young children in Queens and Brooklyn and have continued to be involved with CCE on campus in Ithaca. I am passionate about public health nutrition and youth development. I would love to combine these passions with my interests in medicine and research with work going on at Weill and the new →
Health Equity/Research Interest
I am interested in how social and economic factors contribute to health disparities for vulnerable populations as well as the policy levers that can help promote health equity.
Expertise/Goals
My interests and experiences span clinical medicine healthy policy and media. I am particularly interested in communicating about important and timely health issues to patients practitioners and the public. I hope to engage with other members of the Center to research and advocate for evidence based practices that promote health equity.
Community Member
Rhonda Kost
Rockefeller University Center or Clinical Translational Science
kostr@rockefeller.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
I am an invited speaker to the Symposium. We will share our work developing the Community Engaged Research Navigation model to help basic investigators engage with community stakeholders to inform early translational research. By engaging communities including those affected by health disparities investigators often find they need to alter their science n order to incorporate community priorities →
Expertise/Goals
We anticipate that closer relationships with the Center will lead to important collaborations research on effective practices and more successful engagement of communities.
Health Equity/Research Interest
As a health disparities researcher I conduct interventions that address socioeconomic and environmental influences on food choices while drawing upon my expertise in mixed methods and community-based research. More specifically I design innovative and culturally relevant interventions that aim to improve dietary behaviors among impoverished minority youth that reside in urban communities. Thus my →
Expertise/Goals
I am a registered dietitian formally trained as a nutritional scientist and I have extensive training in the area of diet assessment. My area of expertise can be used to assist others who are interested in 1) collecting diet data (e.g. 24 hour recalls) and 2) designing dietary interventions. From the membership I am interested in identifying potential academic and community partners who are →
Health Equity/Research Interest
My research interests lie in finding gaps in palliative care utilization and addressing racial disparity in access to and quality of end-of-life care. I currently work with the Patient Activated Learning System (PALS) to write patient education materials with the goal of ensuring equal access to quality health information for patients and caregivers of all backgrounds.
Expertise/Goals
I graduated from Cornell University (’18) with a B.S. in Human Biology Health and Society and a minor in Gerontology. I hope my current role as a Medical Content Developer for PALS and my connections with the Cornell-Ithaca and the NYC community will help facilitate intercampus collaborations to help serve underserved communities and promote health equity.
Health Equity/Research Interest
Interested in testing novel techniques to prevent age-related weight gain in minority populations.
Expertise/Goals
Eating Behavior Weight Control Nutrition use of self-weighing to control body weight.
Academic Member
Neil Lewis Jr, PhD
Cornell University
Agriculture and Life Sciences
nlewisjr@cornell.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
I am social psychologist whose research generally asks two questions (1) what motivates people to pursue our goals and (2) how does the interplay between our identities and social contexts support or undermine our goal pursuit efforts? I am particularly interested in using the answers to these questions to address social disparities particularly disparities in education and health outcomes.
Expertise/Goals
I hope this center will help to facilitate research collaborations with health equity researchers at Weill Cornell. As I study racial and economic disparities in health outcomes. I am increasingly interested in studying medical education practices and how they influence discordant doctor-patient interactions that sometimes contribute to disparities. I’m particularly interested in conducting →
Academic Member
Elizabeth Luth, PhD
Cornell University
Weill Cornell Medicine
eal2003@med.cornell.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
Elizabeth Luth is a T32 Postdoctoral Fellow in Behavioral Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. She is a medical and life course sociologist who researches social determinants of health disparities in older adults. Her research focus on racial ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in outcomes at end of life for patients with advanced dementia and their family caregivers.
Expertise/Goals
I have expertise in social determinants of health theory research design and advanced quantitative methods.I hope to expand my network of folks with similar interests in health equity and find opportunities for mentorship and to collaborate on projects with clinicians and researchers.
Health Equity/Research Interest
My research focuses on surgical and device outcomes primarily on population level. My areas of interest include device and surgical safety evaluation women’s health and understanding the impact of provider characteristics. I have expertise in advanced methods for surgical epidemiological research. My research interest in disparities is related to those in the field of surgery and medical device. →
Expertise/Goals
My past research experience is in surgical and device outcomes research including topics of device safety provider effect and policy impact. I have expertise in advanced methods for surgical epidemiological research. My current research is extending to look at disparity questions involved in device and surgical fields. My experience and expertise will contribute to the generation of evidences that →
Health Equity/Research Interest
I am a clinician scientist with a research focus on improving health systems for HIV and chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease in resource-limited settings. I lead projects on differentiated models of care for HIV as well as clinical epidemiology studies on hypertension and cardiovascular disease in Haiti.
Expertise/Goals
My work is focused on alleviating health disparities in resource-limited settings. I look forward to collaborations within the Center towards this goal.
Academic Member
Parag Mehta, MD FACP
NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital
pmh9018@nyp.org
Health Equity/Research Interest
Health Care Disparity and Social determinant.
Expertise/Goals
During Dr. Mehta’s years of service at various organizations, he displays the strength of character to speak the truth when it is unpopular to do so while treating the powerful and the marginalized with equal kindness and respect.
Academic Member
Fabrizio Michelassi, MD
Weill Cornell Medicine
University of Pisa School of Medicine (Italy)
fam2006@med.cornell.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
Dr. Michelassi has an abiding interest in educating and training the next cadre of academic surgeons by responding directly to community priorities thus relating to his interest in the Cornell Center for Health Equities mission and goals. A world-renowned gastrointestinal surgeon with a strong expertise in the surgical treatment of gastrointestinal and pancreatic cancers as well as inflammatory →
Expertise/Goals
Dr. Michelassi’s professional expertise and experience can help the Center achieve health equity by helping to engage members of the public through various leadership platforms. Dr. Michelassi is a Regent of the American College of Surgeons Board. Within the American College of Surgeons he has served as Vice Chair of the Advisory Council for General Surgery and as Chair of the Executive Committee →
Health Equity/Research Interest
Jamila Michener studies poverty racial inequality and public policy with an emphasis on the politics of Medicaid. She is author of a book entitled: Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid Federalism and Unequal Politics (Cambridge University Press). Much of her work explores the role of public policy in developing (or undermining) the collective political capacity necessary to achieve health equity.
Expertise/Goals
My expertise connects the center to social scientists who focuses on public policy. My presence can help build the bridge between the hard/medical sciences and the social sciences. I anticipate benefitting from the network of scholars involved with the center. I am also open to collaborations and other activities.
Health Equity/Research Interest
My primary role is to work with patients to resolve individual gaps in health literacy and improve self-efficacy. I am actively involved in program development at the Ithaca Health Alliance including work with Cornell student groups. My primary interests are in community interventions that alleviate upstream barriers to care.
Expertise/Goals
I am an RN diabetes Educator with extensive experience in the local health equity community. Over the next few years I plan to become a nurse practitioner and continue these efforts at a different licensing level. I hope that a relationship with the CCHE will be mutually beneficial.
Health Equity/Research Interest
I am a practicing Rheumatologist and health service researcher. My research focus is on factors that influence outcomes particularly cardiovascular (CV) disease among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). My goals include developing testing and implementing behavioral patient-centered interventions to reduce cardiovascular risk in RA patients and address issues of health equity.
Expertise/Goals
My expertise and goals will contribute to the CCHeq in terms of networking and collaborations that I have with other institutions such as the Hospital for Special Surgery and the team of collaborators there who have an extraordinary interest in addressing issues of health equity in musculoskeletal diseases. I have also a commitment in mentoring and contribute to training of fellows interested in →
Health Equity/Research Interest
Jeff Niederdeppe is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at Cornell University. His research examines the strategic use of media health messages and news coverage in shaping health behavior health disparities and social policy. He has published over 120 peer-reviewed articles in communication public health health policy and medicine journals and his work has been funded by the →
Expertise/Goals
Dr. Niederdeppe has over 15 years of experience in health communication research and evaluation and a major focus of his work has been on the role of communication in reducing or (inadvertently) widening disparities in health behavior and health outcomes. He has worked on the design of strategic messages to reduce health disparities in a variety of contexts including obesity tobacco alcohol and →
Academic Member
Olorunseun O. Ogunwobi, MD, PhD, MS-CTS
CUNY – Hunter College and Weill Cornell Medicine
oo158@hunter.cuny.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
Biological mechanisms underlying cancer health disparities in solid organ cancers with particular interest in prostate cancer health disparities in males of African ancestry.
Expertise/Goals
I have expertise in studying biological mechanisms of cancer health disparities and experience in collaborating with community-based organizations for community engagement. I am interested in continuing to expand my network and collaborations.
Health Equity/Research Interest
My research group studies the design and use of information and communication technologies for sustainable development. We develop, deploy, and evaluate the impact of new community information platforms supporting applications in agriculture, health education, finance, governance and other areas, both locally and around the world.
Expertise/Goals
I am looking forward to collaborate with other center members on topics of mutual interest and related to my expertise in HCI, IS, and Learning.
Health Equity/Research Interest
My research interests focus on leveraging electronic health records (EHRs) for studying chronic diseases and implementing practice improvement interventions. In particular my research is directed to use EHR data from resources such as NYC-CDRN (http://nycdrn.org) of which I am a Co-PI to understand risk and protective factors for major depression. My team is developing and applying novel data →
Expertise/Goals
As a computer scientist by training I can provide methodological expertise in mining large datasets including EHRs. I am the PI of multiple NIH R01 and R25 research and training grants respectively. These opportunities have provided me with significant experience in training junior investigators and students in doing research in applying machine learning methods for healthcare. I also hold →
Health Equity/Research Interest
I’ve been a practicing internist for over 20 years and a clinician educator working in a large academic medical center’s faculty practice. I’ve been involved in the medical education of Internal Medicine residents quality improvement projects and curriculum development and efforts to innovate and transform the healthcare system. We serve an incredibly diverse population from across New York City →
Expertise/Goals
As the medical director of Weill Cornell Medicine and a practicing internist in our practice I am ideally positioned to help develop research and implementation of research studies to help address inequities in healthcare.
Health Equity/Research Interest
My research focuses on developing and testing novel behavioral medicine approaches to promote self-management and healthy behavior change in individuals with chronic disease. I am particularly interested in approaches that address health disparities and enhance reach to medically under served populations.
Expertise/Goals
Networking and collaborating with other clinicians and researchers.
Health Equity/Research Interest
Dr. Phillips’ research efforts have focused on translating basic social and behavioral science theories into effective community-based interventions to address health inequities in high-risk populations.
Expertise/Goals
My experience as the former co-director of WCM’s NIH funded disparities center will be instrumental in forging new community partners.
Health Equity/Research Interest
I am interested in food systems related issues as they relate to health and equity within communities and across the value chain from producer to consumer. I recently completed a year long fellowship focused on that topic and the role that Land Grant institutions Cooperative Extension and libraries like mine (Mann Library @Cornell) can play in promoting those outcomes. That includes those aligned →
Expertise/Goals
I have over 20 years of agrifood systems experience including close partnerships with community and regional organizations specifically promoting health and equity. Through work at Cornell’s Mann Library I have also initiated and led a variety of outreach and engagement activities bringing on and off campus communities together exploring a variety of issues related to health and equity. My library →
Health Equity/Research Interest
I am a health services researcher with long-term interests that build upon my previous and current work and address three primary areas: minority health disparities quality of life and cancer outcomes. With my appointment in the Division of General Internal Medicine my long-term goal is to build a robust research program at the intersection of primary care and oncology with a focus on minority →
Expertise/Goals
Through rigorous methodological training in epidemiology biostatistics econometrics and measurement of patient-reported outcomes I have developed a broad quantitative skill set. This enables me to lead and design research studies collaborate with investigators across multiple disciplines and implement sophisticated statistical approaches. Through my Center membership I hope to build collaborations →
Health Equity/Research Interest
JP conducts research on user engagement and behavior in health technology applications across multiple health and wellness contexts. His primary research focus is on improving data collection methods particularly the usability sustainability and reliability of patient-reported outcomes. This often includes working with patients and clinicians to develop streamlined visual reporting tools to →
Expertise/Goals
JP Pollak is a Senior Researcher in Residence and Cornell Tech and Weill Cornell Medicine. He is also the co-founder of Curiosity Health whose mission is to enable any researcher or clinician to incorporate mobile apps into their work. Recently he has led the development of several visual self-report tools for health and health related behavior including PAM the Photographic Affect Meter. JP has →
Health Equity/Research Interest
One of my areas of interest is the intersection of health and disability. This could involve specific health conditions such as Diabetes Rheumatoid Arthritis or Autism that could be reasons for disability or health related disability more generally. The policy implications of health-related disability on equity in health services is where this work aligns with the goals of the Cornell Center For →
Expertise/Goals
I have over 20 years of work experience managing and analyzing data in areas from survey research marketing/advertising research to health services research and public health. My expertise is analysis of large databases like Medicare Medicaid and VHA data to understand health outcomes related to Diabetes Autism or Rheumatoid Arthritis. Weill Cornell Medicine has tremendous expertise in →
Health Equity/Research Interest
My area of interest on the need for clinicians to incorporate knowledge of social determinants of health into their bedside practice. Additionally needed is a systematic way to teach medical school students about the importance of factors such as housing access to food transportation during their clinical years. I am currently directing a medical student course allowing medical students to focus →
Expertise/Goals
I am conducting a medical student elective to allow both medical students and practicing hospitalists to learn more about the factors that most impact health outcomes and contribute to the health disparities to which we bear witness in the inpatient setting. From bedside teaching and interviews to interventions during the inpatient setting we hope to expand our knowledge and efforts to the →
Student/Trainee/Staff Member
Meghan Reading Turchioe, PhD MPH RN
Weill Cornell Medical College Health Policy and Research
mjr2011@med.cornell.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
Currently mobile health (mHealth) is poised to dramatically improve chronic disease management but may also exacerbate existing health disparities due to lack of tailored interventions for underserved populations. My research focuses on developing and implementing mHealth solutions that support self-management for a diverse range of patients living with chronic conditions. I am particularly →
Expertise/Goals
I have received public health and informatics training and practiced for several years as a registered nurse in New York City. My goal is to engage in rich discussions surrounding health equity at the Center and collaborate across disciplines. This will advance a major career aim of mine to better understand health equity and develop and implement mobile health solutions that seek to reduce →
Health Equity/Research Interest
Kristy Richards’ research interests include finding better treatments for lymphoma by using comparative genomics and canine clinical trials to test new therapeutic combinations.
Expertise/Goals
As a physician I have lobbied at both the state and federal level for oral chemotherapy parity laws which is a significant health equity issue facing my patients. I remain interested in issues related to health equity and trying to break down barriers to health care that some of my patients’ experience. I also am interested in engaging the public in issues related to science and medicine so that →
Health Equity/Research Interest
I am working to identify mechanisms leading to health disparities and testing strategies to eliminate them. I have focused my work on the cardio-metabolic diseases and conduct pragmatic trials in real-world settings to test feasibility practical strategies that are effective and well received. I am also focused on patient-centered communication and information to optimize shared decision-making.
Expertise/Goals
I have expertise in cardiovascular epidemiology large database analysis pragmatic trials peer coaching interventions and patient activation through a novel patient education platform the Patient Activated Learning System. I hope to use my research and mentoring experience to build a substantial community engaged research program aimed at achieving health equity at Weill Cornell and Cornell →
Health Equity/Research Interest
I have two main threads of research. First I work with local partners in the development of a community health worker program for Palestinian refugees which includes broadly understanding the structural determinants of health in the Arab world as well as investigating whether improving continuity of care can improve health outcomes for non-communicable diseases. Second I am interested in →
Expertise/Goals
I have experience working with immigrants and refugees within and from the Middle East but particularly with Syrian and Palestinian refugees. I’m interested in collaborating on research focused on understanding and improving health for underserved populations in the US and abroad particularly focused on immigrants and refugees. I’m also interested in education in structural competency so health →
Health Equity/Research Interest
Dr. Schackman is the Saul P. Steinberg Distinguished Professor of Healthcare Policy & Research at Weill Cornell Medicine. He conducts research relating to economic evaluations of the comparative effectiveness of health interventions alongside clinical trials and cohort studies cost-effectiveness and comparative effectiveness simulation modeling and implementation science studies- particularly →
Expertise/Goals
My experience conducting health economic and outcomes evaluations for stigmatized conditions including substance use disorders HIV and HCV in vulnerable populations will add to the Center’s breadth of research methods expertise. As a member I look forward to providing my expertise and mentorship to Center investigators and to increase networking opportunities between Center members and the →
Health Equity/Research Interest
My research focuses broadly on nutrition and physical activity as they relate to chronic disease prevention and public health. A key goal is to elucidate factors associated with successful implementation dissemination and maintenance of evidence-based community programs. I use a combination of theory-grounded qualitative and quantitative methods to understand how individual social organizational →
Expertise/Goals
I am a community health researcher focused on improving health outcomes for underserved populations. I have facilitated the training of nearly 5 000 rural community health educators over the past 15 years as well as related research with those leaders and participants using a social ecological framework to explore individual- and community-level factors related to program implementation as well as →
Health Equity/Research Interest
Studying access to care and health disparities including diffusion of treatments to groups in need.
Expertise/Goals
I have committed substantial research in the area and have mentored many faculty and trainees in these areas.
Health Equity/Research Interest
My research focuses on developing social psychological and communication-based interventions to improve engagement in advance care planning (ACP) and end-of-life care and care among minority cancer patients including African American and Latino cancer patients. As a recent recipient of a K07 award I plan to build my research in intervention development to improve engagement in ACP and end-of-life →
Expertise/Goals
I am Assistant Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine and a formally trained social/experimental psychologist. I have expertise in patient-provider communication and health disparities research study design and qualitative and quantitative methodologies and analytic approaches. My work has been recognized through funding and career awards from the NIH NCI American Academy of Hospice and Palliative →
Health Equity/Research Interest
Dr. Joseph Shin is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Co-Medical Director of the Weill Cornell Center for Human Rights. He oversees clinical operations for medical forensic evaluations for asylees and survivors of torture and complex trauma. He also conducts research studying the healthcare experiences of sex trafficking victims examining barriers to victim identification and effective linkage →
Expertise/Goals
I hope to connect to other researchers and advocates interested in health disparities in vulnerable populations and victims of human rights abuses. I believe multi-disciplinary collaborations bridging public health medicine human rights law criminal justice policy and social sciences can produce innovative research and insights into complex problems.
Health Equity/Research Interest
I’m a general internist and a health services researcher. My overall research goal is to improve outcomes for adults with chronic health conditions. In particular I have been focused on congestive heart failure (CHF). As a fellow at WCM I studied social cognitive and sensory deficits among adults with CHF and the effect of these factors on patients’ health behaviors and outcomes. This work →
Expertise/Goals
Over the next few years I will be involved in a series of community-engaged research projects which focus on home care workers a vulnerable group of paraprofessionals. My goal is to design novel interventions which improve the quality of care delivered by home care workers to adults with heart failure and to integrate the home care workers into the overall healthcare team. Ultimately I hope that →
Student/Trainee/Staff Member
Daisy Torres-Baez, BA MS
Diversity Center of Excellence
Weill Cornell Medicine
dat4004@med.cornell.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
My area of interest is community engagement educational equity and inclusion of URM and undocumented students addressing immigrant status as a social determinant of health.
Expertise/Goals
I have worked in the field of equity and inclusion for over eight years mainly in programming and mentoring. I hope to network and collaborate with others.
Health Equity/Research Interest
My laboratory has several areas of research ranging from advancing point-of-care medical diagnostics that can operate in rural/remote areas to designing and testing environmentally and economically sustainable approaches to improve food security and alleviate poverty.
Expertise/Goals
I am the Director of Cornell’s new Master of Public Health Program which is founded on core principles of sustainability equity and engagement. Our program is a natural partner for the Center both in terms of integrating students into research and service projects and in engaging a wide variety of community partners in efforts that will directly equitably and sustainably promote health and →
Student/Trainee/Staff Member
Martin Viola, MA
Center for Research on End-of-Life Care
Weill Cornell Medicine
mav4001@med.cornell.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
My research interests lie in developing and evaluating programs that utilize culturally sensitive evidence-based psychological practices (such as cognitive behavioral therapy or motivational interviewing) to reduce health disparities in acute care settings.
Expertise/Goals
I have experience and education as both a research assistant and clinician applying cognitive behavioral therapy to at-risk or underserved populations. At Weill Cornell my work focuses on investigating health disparities at the end of life as well as serving on a pilot trial of a novel psychological intervention for caregivers in the ICU setting. My long term goals are admission to medical school →
Student/Trainee/Staff Member
Darryl Ware II, MPH
Kaiser Permanente
Cornell University
drw269@cornell.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
Healthcare Administration and Entrepreneurship are my key vehicles for improving health equity across race and class by increasing access to affordable quality products services and information that empower undeserved families with the ability to overcome barriers and improve their quality of life.
Expertise/Goals
My professional expertise in business healthcare and public health can provide benefits to the Center through my national network of healthcare professionals and clinicians from top organizations students from universities and other individuals passionate about health equity. My goal is to meet other professionals and gain more valuable education in order to improve health equity through social →
Health Equity/Research Interest
I am interested in addressing social determinants of health as they relate to nutrition. I am interested in this and have worked in this area within the context of both an urban and rural setting. I am most interested in the issue of time constraints and role overload experienced by low resource populations.
Expertise/Goals
My expertise is in the influence of social factors on nutrition and health and the relationship between nutrition and health. In my current position I work with many community organizations and have established connections in the rural communities upstate. My goal in joining the center is to network and to establish collaborations and contribute to achieving health equity.
Community Member
Faith Wiggins
1199SEIU Home Care Industry Education Fund
faith.wiggins@1199funds.org
Health Equity/Research Interest
Interested in all aspects of the healthcare workforce especially home care workers. This workforce is under valued and their experiences mirror those of the patients they care for. Very interested in socio-economic issues health care access and measures to improve health care outcomes.
Expertise/Goals
Membership in the Center will spark collaboration to improve education programs and collaborate on program design and funding opportunities.
Student/Trainee/Staff Member
Alex Zarska, Bachelor of Science
School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University
az247@cornell.edu
Health Equity/Research Interest
I am a pre-med student studying in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations hoping to get involved in research that focuses on health equity. I am working towards an inequality studies minor as well and looking for a way to bridge the gap between my ILR background in policy and social justice and medicine. I was referred by Dr. Madeline Sterling whose research on cardiovascular disease and →
Expertise/Goals
The combination of my ILR education and my previous clinical experiences (e.g. shadowing at NYU Perelman Emergency Department last summer) have shaped my view of healthcare and medicine while considering the inequality in the healthcare system. I hope that I can gain more insight into the issues of health equity by joining the Center and that I can benefit from mentorship opportunities as well as →
