2020-2021 Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine Scholars

Ami S. Bhatt, MD, PhD

Ami S. Bhatt, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Medicine (Hematology, BMT) and Genetics; Director of Global Oncology, Center for Innovation in Global Health, Stanford University

Bio

Ami Bhatt is a physician-scientist with a strong interest in microbial genomics and metagenomics. She received her MD and PhD from the University of California, San Francisco. She then carried out her residency and fellowship training at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and served as Chief Medical Resident from 2010-2011. She joined the faculty of the Departments of Medicine (Divisions of Hematology and Blood & Marrow Transplantation) and Genetics at Stanford University in 2014 after completing a post-doctoral fellowship focused on genomics at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. Prof. Bhatt has received multiple awards for her academic scholarship including the Chen Award of Excellence from the Human Genome Organisation (HUGO).

Her team’s research program seeks to illuminate the interplay between the microbial environment and host/clinical factors in human diseases. Her translational laboratory develops and applies novel molecular and computational tools to study strain level dynamics of the microbiome, to understand how microbial genomes change over time and predict the functional output of microbiomes. These innovations facilitate much improved (1) measurement of the types and functions of microbes in patients with non-communicable diseases, (2) understanding how microbes communicate with one another and with human cells using small proteins, and (3) testing of the impact of microbially targeted interventions in clinical trials.

In addition to carrying out research at Stanford University, Prof. Bhatt has active collaborations worldwide including in Nigeria and South Africa. She is committed to ensuring that advances in research touch the lives of individuals in all income settings–and thus, in her spare time, enjoys volunteering for the nonprofit she co-founded, Global Oncology and serves as the Director for Global Oncology for Stanford’sCenter for Innovation in Global Health.

Christopher R. Cogle, MD

Christopher R. Cogle, MD

Professor of Hematology and Oncology, University of Florida

Bio

Christopher R. Cogle, M.D. is a physician, scientist, and professor of hematology and oncology at the University of Florida. Through mentored career awards from the National Institutes of Health(NIH K08) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology, he discovered that adult blood stem cells make blood vessels. He used that discovery to invent and patent new therapeutics for patients with blood cancers and cardiovascular diseases. He has been named a Top 10 Young Stem Cell Scientist by the British Council, a Scholar in Clinical Research by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and his clinic has been designated a Center of Excellence by The Myelodysplastic Syndromes Foundation. He founded two startup companies, CancerPOP and addon, based on his inventions. Civic engagement is a priority for Dr. Cogle beginning in his early days in Scouting. He is currently a Den Leader in his children’s Cub Scout Pack. He has produced two documentaries–“The Gap” and “A Narrow Catch”–that shed light on systemic injustices in the American health system. Dr. Cogle led the State of Florida’s effort in crafting and implementing the Florida Cancer Plan, as elected Chairperson of the Florida Cancer Control and Research Advisory Council. As a National Academy of Medicine Emerging Leader in Health and Medicine Scholar, Dr. Cogle will expand his health policy efforts by focusing on national and international challenges in health promotion, disease prevention, and disease control.

Carrie H. Colla, PhD

Carrie H. Colla, PhD

Associate Professor, The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

Bio

Dr. Carrie Colla is an Associate Professor of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine. A health economist, Dr. Colla focuses on provider payment, health insurance markets, and insurance benefit design. Her work is aimed at improving the quality, accessibility, and cost of health care. Colla’s investigator-initiated research is dedicated to examining health system performance and the effectiveness of payment and delivery system reforms, including accountable care organizations. Her empirical studies include the effects of changes in Medicare reimbursement for physicians and institutional providers on vulnerable patient populations; the prevalence and drivers of low-value health care services; and labor market effects of health insurance expansions, among others. In 2017-2018 Dr. Colla participated in the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship, with placements in the House of Representatives and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. Colla received her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, and her MA in economics and PhD in health policy from the University of California, Berkeley.

Kelli Stidham Hall, PhD, MS

Kelli Stidham Hall, PhD, MS

Associate Professor, Heilbrunn Department of Population & Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University; Associate Professor, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University

Bio

Dr. Kelli Stidham Hall is an Associate Professor in the Heilbrunn Department of Population & Family Health at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and adjunct Associate Professor with tenure at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. She completed her PhD from Columbia University, a postdoctoral fellowship at Princeton University, and a NIH “BIRCWH” K12 Faculty Career Development Award at the University of Michigan. She is the Founding Director and Principal Investigator of the Center for Reproductive Health Research in the SouthEast (RISE) at Emory. Dr. Hall’s NIH-and foundation-funded program uses biosocial and multi-level frameworks and interdisciplinary methods to study the social determinants of reproductive health and health disparities in the U.S. and Africa. One major research theme entails evaluating the effects of policies and other macrosocial factors on family planning service delivery, access to care and outcomes. Her >15 years of clinical experience as a primary care advanced practice nurse informed her other theme focused on understanding and addressing interrelationships between reproductive, mental and behavioral health and social wellbeing during adolescence and young adulthood. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Society for Family Planning; Editorial Board of Contraception journal; Executive Committee of the National Medical Committee of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and formerly as Section Counselor for APHA’s Population, Sexual and Reproductive Health (PSRH) Section. Dr. Hall was awarded APHA PSRH’s Outstanding Young Professional and the Society of Adolescent Health and Medicine’s Robert DuRant Statistical Rigor and Scientific Innovation in Adolescent Health Research Award.

Ronald L. Hickman, Jr., PhD, RN, ACNP-BC, FNAP, FAAN

Ronald L. Hickman, Jr., PhD, RN, ACNP-BC, FNAP, FAAN

The Ruth M. Anderson Endowed Chair and Associate Dean for Research, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University

Bio

Ronald Hickman is the inaugural Ruth M. Anderson Endowed Chair and Associate Dean for Research at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). He is a registered nurse and a board-certified acute care nurse practitioner who has provided postoperative care for critically ill patients and their families. As a nurse scientist, Dr. Hickman is nationally known for his pioneering work focused on technology-based solutions to improve chronic disease self-management and end-of-life care. His innovative work integrates knowledge from several disciplinary domains to develop technologies and understand biobehavioral mechanisms that influence how patients and their families make decisions and manage their health or an acute illness. He is currently the principal investigator for an NIH-funded clinical trial evaluating the effects of a decision support technology for family members of critically ill patients posed with end-of-life care decisions.

Dr. Hickman received his PhD in nursing science from CWRU and completed a 4-year career development award (KL2) in multidisciplinary clinical and translational research at CWRU’s School of Medicine. Dr. Hickman’s scholarship has garnered numerous regional and national awards from research and professional societies, such as distinguished scientist awards and recognition for his efforts to enhance diversity and inclusion in nursing. He is committed to mentoring others and has received his university’s highest honors for excellence in mentoring undergraduates and graduate students. Dr.Hickman is an elected fellow of the National Academies of Practice and the American Academy of Nursing.

Ehsan Hoque, PhD

Ehsan Hoque, PhD

Assistant Professor of Computer Science; Affiliate faculty, Goergen Institute for Data Science, University of Rochester

Bio

Ehsan Hoque is an Asaro-Biggar (’92) Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Rochester, where he co-leads the Rochester Human-Computer Interaction (ROC HCI) Group. From 2018-2019, he was the Interim Director of the Georgen Institute for Data Science.

Dr. Hoque uses Artificial Intelligence and Human-centered computing to amplify human ability. He models and captures the dynamics of human behavior using machine learning and network sciences; and design interactive systems to promote equality and access in health care. He has identified opportunities in developing technologies that can improve the lives of disadvantaged, ill, disabled, and other individuals who struggle with socio-emotional communication, such as those with autism, severe anxiety, neurodegenerative disease, and terminal illness.

His ideas and impact have been recognized by NSF CRII, NSF CAREER, and Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (ECASE). MIT Technology Review named him as one of the Top Innovators Under 35 (TR35) Award in 2016, and Science News recognized him as one of ten early-to mid-career scientists to watch in 2017. He is an inaugural member of the Association of Computing Machinery’s Future of Computing Academy (ACM FCA).

He earned his PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2013, working with Prof. Rosalind Picard. His dissertation work of developing an intelligent agent to improve the socio-emotional ability of humans was highlighted by MIT Museum as one of MIT’s most unconventional inventions. He is blessed to be the primary caregiver of his brother, 20, diagnosed with autism and Down Syndrome.

Caprice Knapp, PhD

Caprice Knapp, PhD

Medicaid Director, State of North Dakota

Bio

In August 2019, Caprice Knapp became the North Dakota Medicaid Director. She brings to the position more than 17 years’ experience working on Medicaid and CHIP in the private sector, state and federal policymaking, and academics. In the private sector, she was the federal policy director for Molina Healthcare, Inc. In academics, she was an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Outcomes and Policy at the University of Florida (UF) conducting external quality review activities for Texas and Florida Medicaid and CHIP programs and maternal and child health research. In the policymaking arena, she worked in the Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting in Colorado as well as the U.S.House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee as a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow.

Knapp’s career has been focused on vulnerable populations, delivery system reform, and global health.Examples of her funded research topics include an assessment of Florida’s Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Grant; an evaluation of fertility-preservation decision making for adolescent girls with cancer; outcomes of concurrent models of pediatric palliative care; and an assessment of the quality, patient experiences, and costs of health and dental plans for children in Florida. Her global health projects also focus on maternal and child health and have been conducted in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America. At the University of Florida, Knapp earned a PhD in economics and completed postdoctoral training in health services research. She has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications, 60 government reports, and two books.

Miguel Marino, PhD

Miguel Marino, PhD

Associate Professor of Biostatistics, Oregon Health & Science University

Bio

Miguel Marino, PhD is an Associate Professor of Biostatistics in the Department of Family Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University, with a secondary appointment in the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health. He received his undergraduate degree in Mathematics from UCLA and his PhD from Harvard University. Before joining OHSU, he was a Yerby Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University.

Dr. Marino maintains a broad statistical research program that focuses on the intersection of primary care and public health studies. His research utilizes novel statistical methodology to address complexities associated with the use of electronic health records (EHRs) for critical community and primary care research questions in health policy, health disparities, preventive service utilization, health insurance monitoring, among others. Dr. Marino currently studies how to validate EHRs as a reliable source for pragmatic trials and observational cohort studies. He is currently funded by several agencies including the NIH, AHRQ, CDC and has over 125 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals such as JAMA, JGIM, Health Affairs, and AJPH.

Since 2013, Dr. Marino has been the Statistical Editor for the Annals of Family Medicine. He also has served on NIH, PCORI and AHA study sections. He has formerly served as the President of the American Statistical Association’s Oregon Chapter. Currently, he serves as the Publications Officer for the Health Policy Statistics section of the American Statistical Association. His contributions to this field were recognized in 2017 when he received the New Investigator Research Award by the North American Primary Care Research Group.

Ziad Obermeyer, MD

Ziad Obermeyer, MD

Acting Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley

Bio

Ziad Obermeyer is an Associate Professor (Acting) at UC Berkeley, where he does research at the intersection of machine learning, medicine, and health policy. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School. He has received numerous awards including the Early Independence Award, the National Institutes of Health’s most prestigious award for exceptional junior scientists, and the Young Investigator Award from the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. His work has been published in Science, The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, The BMJ, and Health Affairs. He is a graduate of Harvard College (magna cum laude) and Harvard Medical School (magna cum laude) and earned an M.Phil. from Cambridge in the history and philosophy of science. Prior to his career in medicine, he worked as a consultant to pharmaceutical and global health clients at McKinsey & Co. in New Jersey, Geneva, and Tokyo. He continues to practice emergency medicine in underserved communities.

Keegan Warren-Clem, JD, LLM

Keegan Warren-Clem, JD, LLM

Director and Managing Attorney, Medical-Legal Partnerships at Texas Legal Services Center; Adjunct Professor, The University of Texas School of Law and McCombs School of Business

Bio

Keegan Warren-Clem, JD, LLM, is the director and managing attorney of Medical-Legal Partnerships (MLP) at Texas Legal Services Center. Through MLPs at multiple health care sites, she works collaboratively with health care providers to improve health outcomes by bringing patient-centered legal and structural expertise into the delivery of health care. An adjunct professor dually appointed at The University of Texas School of Law and McCombs School of Business, Keegan also challenges students and residents to explore connections between health and unmet legal needs. Currently, Keegan is engaged in research that takes an epidemiological approach to legal interventions as a concrete means for addressing social determinants of health, and she recently finished service on a National Academy of Medicine committee on integrated health care delivery. Keegan is admitted to practice in Texas and is a member of the State Bar College, an honorary society of the most highly trained lawyers in the state. She is a veteran of the Army National Guard and is also a member of the Order of St. Joan of Arc, the highest civilian award given by the Army Armor and Cavalry Associations. Keegan earned her LLM in Health Law and Policy as the inaugural Southern Illinois Healthcare/Southern Illinois University MLP LLM Fellow, her JD from The University of Texas, and her BA in Spanish, international relations, and Latin American studies from the University of Arkansas as a Sturgis Fellow. In her spare time, she rows crew.


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