Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine Scholars

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
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.

Maria Elena Bottazzi, PhD
Associate Dean, National School of Tropical Medicine Professor, Pediatric Tropical Medicine & Molecular Virology & Microbiology Baylor College of Medicine
Bio

Brandon Brown, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor of Medicine, Department of Social Medicine, Population, and Public Health, University of California, Riverside
Bio

Alejandra Casillas, MD, MSHS
Assistant Professor of Medicine in Residence, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles
Bio
Alejandra Casillas MD, MSHS is an assistant professor of medicine in residence, in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research at the David Geffen School of
Medicine at UCLA. She practices primary care at UCLA, and also teaches medical students and internal medicine residents while caring for patients at the Venice Family Free Clinic. As the daughter of Mexican immigrants, Dr. Casillas witnessed the health disparities lived by her family, and the struggle for a better life in her diverse Los Angeles community. Today, as a primary care physician for the underserved, a mentor to trainees from disadvantaged backgrounds, and a health disparities researcher, she addresses these inequities.
The first in her family to attend college, Dr. Casillas completed her undergraduate studies at Harvard College and medical training at Harvard Medical School, where she received the Dean’s Community Service Award and was a Paul and Daisy Soros Scholar for New Americans. She finished her internal medicine and primary care residency at the University of California San Francisco, also serving as Chief Medical Resident at UCSF Medical Center. Dr. Casillas returned to Los Angeles as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at UCLA– where she completed a health services research and leadership fellowship, and received a masters’ degree at the Fielding School of Public Health. After completing her training, Dr. Casillas worked at the academic medical centers in Geneva and Lausanne, with funding from the Swiss Office of Public Health, to address immigrant health disparities in the French-speaking region of Switzerland.
Dr. Casillas’ health services research focuses on the low-income communities served by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, the second largest municipal safety net in the US, developing digital health interventions tailored to socially complex, Limited English Proficient patients. Her published scholarship also includes research and programming initiatives addressing equity and diversity inclusion in academia and health, connecting to her UCLA roles as director of the CTSI Health Disparities Student Research Program, and founder of the First Generation Program at the School of Medicine.

Christopher R. Cogle, MD
Professor of Hematology and Oncology, University of Florida
Bio

Paul Cohen, MD, PhD
Albert Resnick, M.D. Associate Professor, The Rockefeller University
Bio

Carrie H. Colla, PhD
Associate Professor, The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Bio

Justin Basile Echouffo Tcheugui, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Bio
Justin is a physician-scientist. He trained in clinical endocrinology and metabolism at Harvard University, USA. He underwent research training in epidemiology at the University of Cambridge, UK. and in clinical \investigation at Boston University, USA. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
His clinical practice focuses on diabetes and obesity. His research is at the intersection of metabolism and cardiovascular diseases, exploring the pathways leading to type 2 diabetes, as well as the related-cardiovascular complications. He uses epidemiological methods and other investigational approaches (biomarkers, imaging, etc.) to understand the natural history and pathogenesis of diabetes and the resultant cardiovascular complications.

Oluwadamilola “Lola” Fayanju, MD, MA, MPHS
Helen O. Dickens Presidential Associate Professor of Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Bio

Anna Greka, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Bio
With a focus on laying the foundation for molecularly targeted therapies, Anna Greka’s scientific work is centered on understanding membrane proteins and fundamental mechanisms of disrupted cellular homeostasis.
Anna’s early scientific work focused on the role of TRP ion channels in essential cellular functions. Combining her expertise in ion channel biology with the study of kidney podocytes, she uncovered a pathway linking TRPC5 ion channel activity to cytoskeletal dysregulation and cell death. Based on these discoveries, TRPC5 inhibitors are now being tested in the clinic for difficult-to-treat kidney diseases.
Recently, Anna and her team made a key discovery of a general mechanism that monitors the quality of membrane protein cargoes destined for the cell surface by studying a proteinopathy in the kidney, caused by a mutation in MUC1. Specifically, they identified a mechanism for membrane protein quality control that is operative in diverse cell types and tissues, such as kidney epithelial cells and retina photoreceptors. The study of cargo quality control and its implications for several toxic proteinopathies is now a major focus of the laboratory.
Anna is also interested in dissecting the fundamental mechanisms of disrupted cellular homeostasis at the intersection of proteotoxicity and lipotoxicity across the lifespan, with implications for many metabolic and degenerative human diseases.
Anna is the recipient of several honors, including the 2020 Donald W. Seldin Young Investigator Award by the American Society of Nephrology and the American Heart Association, the 2018 Seldin-Smith Award for Pioneering Research from the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI), a 2017 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, a 2014 Top 10 Exceptional Research Award from the Clinical Research Council, and a 2014 Young Physician-Scientist Award from the ASCI. She was also elected to the ASCI Council, and serves on the Harvard-MIT M.D.-Ph.D. Program Leadership Council.

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

Sidney H. Hankerson, MD, MBA
Vice Chair for Community Engagement in Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Bio
Sidney Hankerson, MD, MBA is Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Community Engagement in the Department of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is also Director of Mental Health Equity Research in the Institute for Health Equity Research at Mount Sinai. His research focuses on reducing racial/ethnic disparities in mental health treatment. He is a nationally recognized expert at faith-based mental health services research.
New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio recently appointed Dr. Hankerson as Chair of the Community Services Board of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Dr. Hankerson has presented his study results at the White House, United Nations, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Gracie Mansion (NYC Mayor’s Office), and numerous national academic conferences. He was an inaugural member of the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Council of Faith and Community Partnerships and served on the APA Council of Minority Mental Health and Health Disparities.
Dr. Hankerson completed a dual MD/MBA program from Emory University, where he was Medical School Class President for two years. He completed his psychiatry residency at Emory and was named Chief Resident of Psychiatry at Grady Memorial Hospital. He then completed a NIMH T32 post-doctoral research fellowship at Columbia University and was on faculty at Columbia for 12 years before transitioning to his current leadership roles at Mount Sinai.

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

Leora Horwitz, MD
Associate Professor, New York University School of Medicine
Bio

Mark Huffman, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine and Co-director, Global Health Center, Washington University in St. Louis
Bio

Ning (Jenny) Jiang, PhD
Peter & Geri Skirkanich Associate Professor of Innovation, University of Pennsylvania
Bio

Caprice Knapp, PhD
Medicaid Director, State of North Dakota
Bio
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.

Joseph A. Lewnard, PhD
Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, University of California, Berkeley
Bio

Miguel Marino, PhD
Associate Professor of Biostatistics, Oregon Health & Science University
Bio
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.

Mark Neuman, MD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania
Bio

Ziad Obermeyer, MD
Acting Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley
Bio

Brea Perry, PhD
Professor of Sociology, Indiana University
Bio

Nathan Price, PhD
CEO, Onegevity
Bio
Dr. Nathan Price is Chief Scientific Officer of Thorne HealthTech (NASDAQ:THRN). Previously he was CEO of Onegevity when it merged with Thorne to form Thorne HealthTech prior to its IPO in 2021. He is also an (on leave) Professor at the Institute for Systems Biology, where he co-directs with Lee Hood the Hood-Price Lab for Systems Biomedicine. Additionally, Dr. Price is an affiliate faculty at the University of Washington in the Departments of Bioengineering, Computer Science & Engineering, and Molecular & Cellular Biology. He also serves on the Board on Life Sciences for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM).
Price has received numerous awards for his research work, including an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship, a Howard Temin Pathway to Independence Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award, a young investigator award from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, and being named as one of the inaugural “Tomorrow’s PIs” by Genome Technology. He was also named as a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, and received the 2016 Grace A. Goldsmith Award for his work pioneering scientific wellness.
Price co-founded Arivale, a scientific wellness company that was named as Geekwire’s 2016 startup of the year. He served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI) and on the Board of Advisors for the American Cancer Society (WA). He was also Chair of the NIH study section on Modeling and Analysis of Biological Systems (MABS).
Price also has served on numerous scientific advisory boards including for Providence St. Joseph Health, Roche (personalized healthcare division), Sera Prognostics, Navican, Basepaws, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability. He is a fellow of the European Society of Preventive Medicine, and has published over 180 scientific papers and given over 200 invited talks.

Christina Ann Roberto, PhD
Mitchell J. Blutt and Margo Krody Blutt Presidential Associate Professor of Health Policy, University of Pennsylvania
Bio
Christina A. Roberto, Ph.D. is the Mitchell J. Blutt and Margo Krody Blutt Presidential Associate Professor of Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the Director of the Psychology of Eating and Consumer Health lab (PEACH lab) and Associate Director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics at Penn. The mission of the PEACH lab is to identify and evaluate policies and interventions that promote healthy eating habits and prevent nutrition-related chronic diseases. The lab strives to help create a just and equitable food system where those with the fewest resources and opportunities have the same chance to live a long, healthy life as those with the most. The PEACH lab’s work has informed local and national government food policy. Dr. Roberto works closely with policymakers, community-based organizations, companies, and institutions to generate timely research that can provide those partners with science-based guidance.
Dr. Roberto has an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Princeton University where she graduated magna cum laude. She earned a joint-PhD at Yale University in clinical psychology and chronic disease epidemiology. Dr. Roberto completed her clinical internship at the Yale School of Medicine and was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Hassan A. Tetteh, MD, MBA, MPA, MS
Chief Medical Informatics Officer, United States Navy Associate Professor of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Bio
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Tetteh received his BS from State University of New York (SUNY) at Plattsburgh, his MD from SUNY Downstate Medical Center, his MPA from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, MBA from Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School, and MS in National Security Strategy with a concentration in Artificial Intelligence from the National War College. He completed his thoracic surgery fellowship at the University of Minnesota and advanced cardiac surgery fellowship at Harvard Medical School’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Tetteh is a bestselling author of the novel Gifts of the Heart, has finished twenty marathons, and recently delivered the popular TEDx talk entitled, From Death to Life, based on his work in transplant surgery. Tetteh is board certified in thoracic surgery, general surgery, clinical informatics, and healthcare management, and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Brownsyne Tucker Edmonds, MD, MPH, MS
Vice President and Chief Health Equity Officer, Indiana University Health; Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Clinical Pediatrics, and Associate Dean for Health Equity Research, Indiana University
Bio
Brownsyne Tucker Edmonds is the inaugural Vice President and Chief Health Equity Officer for Indiana University Health and the Associate Dean for Health Equity Research for Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM), where she holds an endowed chair for Health Equity Research. She is an Associate Professor of Obstetrics Gynecology (OB/GYN) and Clinical Pediatrics with training in general OB/GYN, health services research, public health, and clinical ethics. Her research interests are in patient-provider communication and shared decision-making in reproductive health care. She is interested in understanding the impact of race, class, and culture on patient preferences and risk perceptions; physician decision-making and counseling; and ultimately, variations in treatment provision and service delivery. Dr. Tucker Edmonds’ work currently focuses on communication and decision-making in the management of periviable deliveries. She utilizes qualitative and quantitative methodologies to develop decision support interventions for parents facing this, and other, preference sensitive decisions in high-risk obstetrical settings. Dr. Tucker Edmonds previously served as her department’s Vice Chair for Faculty Development and Diversity, and also served as an Assistant Dean for Diversity Affairs for the IU School of Medicine. Dr Tucker Edmonds previously served on the Ethics Committee for the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and was the Legislative Affairs Chair for Indiana ACOG. She now serves on ACOG’s Committee on Government Affairs and is the Chair of the Indiana Section. Dr. Tucker Edmonds was an Anniversary Fellow for the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) from 2015-2017, during which time she served on the committee that authored, “The health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids: The current state of the evidence and recommendations for research.” Most recently, she served on the committee that authored the consensus report, “Birth Settings in America: Outcomes, Quality, Access, and Choice.”

Jing Wang PhD, MPH, MSN, RN, FAAN
Dean and Professor, Florida State University
Bio

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

Jeffrey K. Wickliffe, PhD, MS
Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Bio
His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health including the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Fogarty International Center, the National Science Foundation, the Health Effects Institute and non-governmental foundations.
Jeff received his PhD from Texas Tech University and completed a 2-year, NIEHS-sponsored postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Jeff was a faculty member (Assistant and Associate Professor) in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences in the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University from 2009 until 2020.
Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine Scholars Alumni
- Paul Christopher, PhD
- Deidra C. Crews, MD, ScM
- Adaeze Enekwechi, PhD
- Lori Freedman, PhD
- Christopher Friese, PhD, RN, AOCN, FAAN
- Jordan Green, PhD
- Marcia Haigis, PhD
- Sandeep Kishore, MD, PhD, MSc
- Raina Merchant, MD, MSHP
- Mark Neuman, MD
- Minal Patel, PhD, MPH
- Suchi Saria, MSc, PhD
- Margaret (Gretchen) L. Schwarze, MD, MPP
- Julie Segre, PhD
- Jacob Sherkow, JD
- Hanni Stoklosa, MD, MPH
- Sohail Tavazoie, MD, PhD
- Y. Claire Wang, MD, ScD, MS
- Jonathan Watanabe, PharmD, MS, PhD, BCGP
- Joseph C. Wu, MD, PhD
- Ramnik Xavier, MD, ChB