Our Scholars | NCSP National Clinician Scholars Program

Our Scholars

Samia Abdelnabi, PhD, MSN, FNP-C, CNM

Michigan

Developing and implementing interventions using traditional Arabic and Islamic medicine to reduce Infertility-related stress and improve psychosocial well-being among Muslim couples experiencing infertility.

Charisse Ahmed, PhD, RN

UCLA

Exploring culturally sensitive and trauma-informed models of care to improve mental health outcomes among socially and economically disadvantaged adolescents and young adults.

April J. Ancheta, MPhil, BS, RN

Penn

Investigating the impacts of social and school-based policies on violence victimization and weight-related health disparities among sexual and gender minority adolescents.

Abigail Arons MD, MPAff

UCSF

Advancing the next generation of social determinants of health interventions through translating science to policy.

Lilian G. Bravo, PhD, RN

UCLA

Investigating how to improve adolescent mental healthcare access and delivery, especially as it relates to suicide prevention services for racial-ethnic minorities.

Arina E. Chesnokova, MD, MPH

(VA Scholar)

Penn

Investigating mechanisms to effectively un-silo OBGYN care for the poor and underserved, trialing interventions to support providers caring for the underserved, and researching patient trust to increase patient engagement.

Jeylan Close, MD

Duke

Implementing evidence-based mental health treatments in nontraditional settings, such as schools and primary care, with a focus on increasing overall access and equity in access to mental health care for youth.

Hannah Decker, MD

(VA Scholar)

UCSF

Understanding barriers in access to high-quality surgical care in vulnerable populations; exploring the ways that housing impacts surgical outcomes, including surgery for cancer.

Edna Esquer, PhD, FNP-BC

UCSF

Identifying cardio-metabolic risk factors, high-risk health behaviors, health policy and equity, health outcomes research focusing on the social determinants of health that adversely affect the well-being of vulnerable minority populations.

James S. Ford, MD

UCSF

Investigating pivotal clinical challenges for patient care and patient/staff safety, at the intersection of emergency medicine and infectious diseases.

Cody Gathers, MD

Penn

Investigating racial and socioeconomic disparities in pediatric cardiac arrest, designing and implementing interventions to mitigate disparities in pediatric critical care.

Tyra Girdwood, RN, PhD

(VA Scholar)

Duke

Investigating structural barriers to successful transitions to adult health care in young, vulnerable populations and exploring health policy innovations to enhance transitional care outcomes.

Josephine Granner, PhD, RN

(VA Scholar)

Yale

Exploring the experiences and intervention needs of new fathers who are survivors of child maltreatment to break intergenerational cycles of child maltreatment and psychiatric vulnerability.

Ceshae Harding, MD

Duke

Optimizing chronic disease management prior to pregnancy; improving postpartum follow-up care; establishing the healthcare infrastructure needed to provide comprehensive care for women of childbearing age.

Hattie Huston-Paterson, MD, MA

(VA Scholar)

UCLA

Developing interventions to reduce rural-urban disparities in surgically-treated cancers; improving access to the highest quality breast, endocrine and melanoma cancer care; and mitigating the impact of racism and structural violence on surgical outcomes.

Nadir Ijaz, MD

Yale

Investigating implementation strategies to sustainably adapt evidence-based practices and technologies in pediatric acute care to resource-diverse settings.

Alexander Janke, MD

(VA Scholar)

Michigan

Integrating diverse data sources and research methods to better understand the U.S. acute care system and advocate for the people who use it.

Jocelyn Lo, MD, MS

UCLA

Investigating health disparities in chronic disease outcomes within primary care; identifying cost-effective, community-partnered approaches to managing chronic diseases in underserved communities.

Kerry Meltzer, MD

(VA Scholar)

Penn

Improving outcomes for uninsured and underinsured populations through systems-level healthcare reform that also reduces costs and lowers barriers to care.

K. Jane Muir, PhD, RN

Penn

Investigating interventions to transform healthcare work environments to retain a diverse health workforce for the provision of equitable and cost-effective care.

Deanna Nardella, MD

Yale

Using CBPR-based methods to mitigate racial and ethnic health disparities with a focus on infant/child nutrition, maintenance of maternal lactation, and food insecurity.

Kenechukwu Ojukwu, MD, MPP

UCLA

Designing inclusive curricula and collaborating in a multi-disciplinary manner to disseminate innovative methods of medical education for healthcare providers, medical trainees, patients, and community members.

Dalia Owda, MD

Yale

Evaluating emergency services utilization by marginalized communities; developing medical education curriculum to improve health equity and exploring solutions to advance workforce diversity.

Lucero Paredes, MD

(VA Scholar)

Yale

Exploring healthcare disparities across marginalized communities, focusing on public health initiatives and policy change to address health inequity of the surgical patient.

Gabriela Plasencia, MD, MAS

Duke

Assessing the impact of community engagement in decreasing health disparities in access to COVID-19 resources and COVID-19 health outcomes.

Carri Polick, PhD, BSN, RN, CEN

(VA Scholar)

Duke

Investigating the impacts of social determinants of health, such as trauma and adversity, on biopsychosocial health outcomes and healthcare service disparities spanning the general population, veterans, and multiple sclerosis populations.

Joshua Rager, MD, MA

(VA Scholar)

Michigan

Using ethics-informed approaches to examine and enhance preventive health interventions and shared decision-making in adult primary care with patients of low socioeconomic status.

Katherine Reeves, PhD, PMHNP-BC

(VA Scholar)

UCSF

Investigating suicide risk and how the assessment of symptoms, behaviors, and environment, on the individual level using innovative technologies, may improve the efficacy and equity of psychiatric triage and treatment.

Diana Ceballos Robles, MD

UCSF

Exploring the intrinsic strengths of immigrant communities that facilitate engagement in perinatal health services and identifying interventions to improve perinatal outcomes for this patient population.

Jordan Rook, MD

(VA Scholar)

UCLA

Investigating the impact of high-deductibles on health outcomes and access to care for low-income and minority populations; exploring the impact of providers' implicit biases on patient care.

Victor Roy, PhD, MD

(VA Scholar)

Yale

Building systems of accompaniment to improve health for structurally vulnerable patients in the U.S. and globally; investigating the political economy of care infrastructure and access to health technologies.

Rishi Sekar, MD

Michigan

Investigating the impact of health policy and health care delivery model innovation in fostering high-value care in urologic oncology and leveraging patient/community centered outcomes in designing targeted interventions.

Michelle Shankar, MD

Yale

Exploring the role of education and justice systems on child health outcomes; investigating the role of school-based health centers in improving child and adolescent health.

Joshua Tiao, MD

UCLA

Working with local communities to research and develop sustainable solutions that reduce firearm injuries.

Judith Vick, MD, MPH

(VA Scholar)

Duke

Understanding and intervening upon the frictions of health care to design a more user-friendly system and coproduce goal-concordant care, particularly for older adults and their families in the inpatient setting.

Catherine Wagner, MD

Michigan

Investigating outcomes disparities in cardiac surgery and improving diversity within cardiac surgery.

Mary Jue Xu, MD

UCSF

Aiming to improve care of head and neck cancer patients in resource-constrained health systems.

Cecile Yama, MD

UCLA

Evaluating clinical and economic impacts of inadequate housing; exploring how housing policy and urban planning shapes patient outcomes; addressing housing inequities through multidisciplinary collaborations to support pediatric health and development.

Daniel Zheng, MD, MHS

Penn

Examining how poverty-related disparities develop across the pediatric cancer care continuum and developing interventions to mitigate these disparities in long-term survivors.