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Victor J. Dzau Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine Scholars

Each year, NAM selects up to 10 early- and mid-career professionals with demonstrated leadership and exceptional professional achievement in biomedical science, population health, health care and related fields to serve 3-year terms as Victor J. Dzau Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine (ELHM) Scholars. 

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While continuing to work at their primary institution, the Victor J. Dzau ELHM Scholars will participate in certain NAM activities, exchange ideas with each other and field leaders across sectors and disciplines, receive mentoring from NAM members, and help shape the ELHM Program. Participants also provide valuable input and feedback to help shape the priorities of the NAM and sustain the NAM’s impact and reputation as a national leader in advancing knowledge and accelerating progress in science, medicine, policy, and health equity. Victor J. Dzau ELHM Scholars may publish Perspectives, participate in convening activities throughout the larger National Academies, and participate in interest groups.

Selection Criteria

Selection of Victor J. Dzau ELHM Scholars is based on a variety of factors, including personal and professional achievement, demonstrated creativity and field leadership, and the need for diverse perspectives and geographical and institutional representation. Qualified candidates will:

Have completed a terminal degree (or have equivalent experience and knowledge) in a relevant profession or field of study

Be early- to mid-career (defined generally as 5-15 years following attainment of the primary professional degree)

Demonstrate significant professional accomplishment and exceptional leadership potential

Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident at the time of the application

Nomination Process

Visit our online nomination portal and click the NAM and NASEM Login button to log in using your NAM single sign-on credentials. Complete the form by providing the candidate’s contact information, your own statement of support, and the name of another individual who will write a letter supporting the candidate. The candidate and reference writer will receive an automated email inviting them to complete their portion of the nomination. Each member may nominate up to three candidates.

 

Nominate a Scholar

Call for Nominations

NAM Members may nominate outstanding candidates from September 15-October 30, 2026.

Submit a Nomination

Current Scholars

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Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine; Director, Center for Collective Healing, Howard University

AZA Allsop, MD, PhD, serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine and Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Howard University Hospital. With an academic foundation in Biology, Philosophy, and Jazz Studies from North Carolina Central University, AZA deepened his exploration into social neuroscience in the Tye lab at MIT as part of the Harvard Medical School-MIT MD-PhD program. At the core of AZA’s research is the quest to understand how the brain processes social information, and its consequential effects on cognition and behavior. He believes that uncovering these mechanisms has the potential to redefine mental health treatments and provide deeper insights into societal behaviors. AZA also delves into the roles of music, mindfulness, and psychedelics in influencing social bonds and stress resilience. Leading his independent research lab, AZA champions studies on the social brain and alternative healing avenues, with a specific emphasis on supporting underserved communities. He also plays a pivotal role as the Director of the Center for Collective Healing at Howard University. Throughout his career, AZA has seamlessly merged academic rigor with initiatives that have tangible societal benefits, consistently pushing the frontiers of neuroscience and deepening our grasp of human interconnectivity.

Nick Arpaia
Associate Professor of Microbiology; Director, Immunobiology and Microbial Sciences Graduate Program
Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Nicholas Arpaia, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Microbiology & Immunology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Director of the Immunobiology and Microbial Sciences Graduate Program. His research integrates molecular immunology, microbial engineering, and translational medicine to uncover how immune cells regulate tissue repair and to develop microbial therapeutics that modulate immunity in cancer and chronic inflammatory disease. Dr. Arpaia’s laboratory has defined novel mechanisms by which regulatory T cells orchestrate organ-specific regeneration and fibrosis through immune–stromal communication, revealing new pathways that govern repair in the lung, liver, and other tissues. In parallel, his team has pioneered programmable “living medicines” – engineered probiotic bacteria that deliver checkpoint inhibitors, cytokines, and tumor-specific antigens directly within tumors to elicit durable antitumor immunity. Complementing these efforts, his group studies how microbial metabolites shape mucosal immunity and metabolic homeostasis, advancing strategies to prevent inflammation-associated cancers. 

A Searle Scholar and recipient of Columbia University’s Harold and Golden Lamport Award for Excellence in Basic Science Research, Dr. Arpaia’s work has appeared in leading journals including Nature, Science, and Immunity. Trained in public institutions from SUNY Geneseo to the University of California, Berkeley, his career reflects a commitment to accessible excellence and mentorship. As a Director of Graduate Studies for Columbia’s Vagelos Institute for Biomedical Research Education, he leads interdisciplinary training initiatives that prepare the next generation of scientists to bridge fundamental discovery and therapeutic innovation.

Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; CPRIT Rising Star Scholar of Cancer Research; Senior Member, National Academy of Inventors

Dr. Kareem Azab is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, a CPRIT Rising Star Scholar of Cancer Research, and a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors. Trained as a pharmacist and medicinal chemist, he earned his B.Pharm., M.Sc., and Ph.D. from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, followed by postdoctoral training in cancer biology at Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Before joining UTSW, he spent a decade on the faculty of Washington University in St. Louis.  Dr. Azab’s laboratory conducts multidisciplinary translational cancer research integrating tumor-microenvironment biology, nanomedicine, and immuno-oncology. His group pioneers targeted nanoparticles, biodegradable drug-delivery implants, and 3D tissue-engineered bone-marrow models for personalized therapy testing. Their innovations bridge molecular discoveries with clinical translation, aiming to improve precision treatment across multiple cancers.  A prolific inventor, Dr. Azab holds over 14 patents and has founded or co-founded four biotechnology startups—Cellatrix LLC, Targeted Therapeutics LLC, CovACE Nanotechnology LLC, and OncInsights LLC—that commercialize technologies from his lab in cancer diagnostics, localized therapy, and imaging. His entrepreneurial work has been recognized through multiple Inventor Awards and translational grants from NIH, CPRIT, and industry partners.  In addition to his scientific achievements, Dr. Azab is an engaged educator and mentor, leading UTSW’s graduate course on Drug Delivery Systems and Pharmaceutical Formulations. Beyond academia, he is also a musician, poet, and human-rights advocate, reflecting a creative and socially conscious approach that mirrors his scientific vision—to heal through both innovation and humanity. 

Associate Professor
University of Connecticut

Bahal is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UConn. He earned his PhD from Carnegie Mellon (2012) and completed postdoctoral training at Yale University (2017), where he worked on a gene-targeting project to treat genetic disorders and cancer. His lab is developing new therapeutic modalities for targeting DNA and RNA at the intersection of nucleic acid chemistry and drug delivery technologies. Raman has published papers in prestigious journals, including Nature, Nature Communications, Cell Reports Medicine, Science Advances, and Molecular Therapy.  He has received various grants, such as the St. Baldrick Foundation Research Scholar Grant, the Charles H. Hood Foundation Grant, the Cooley’s Anemia Foundation Research Scholar Award, and NIH grants. Bahal has received numerous emerging leader awards from esteemed societies like the RNA Society, NIPTE, OTS, AAPS, and AAUP. He was elected as a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors. He has delivered keynote talks at national and international conferences as well as for pharmaceutical companies. Bahal teaches professional and graduate courses and has received accolades for his teaching. His students have achieved various national and international honors and awards. Two of his graduate students won the UConn 3-minute thesis competition and represented UConn on the international stage. Bahal is also a co-founder of Zeal Therapeutics and actively participates in various outreach activities promoting STEM education. 

Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein
Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences
Duke University

Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at Duke University and a nationally recognized scholar whose research examines the health effects of the criminal legal system on individuals, families, and communities. She is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor conferred by the U.S. government on early-career scientists and engineers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she co-founded the COVID Prison Project, one of the only national surveillance systems monitoring COVID-19 testing, cases, and deaths in U.S. prisons. Building on this infrastructure, she launched the Third City Project, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation–funded initiative that aggregates and analyzes publicly available health and health policy data from carceral systems nationwide. She serves as Principal Investigator on multiple NIH- and foundation-funded studies focused on substance use, HIV prevention, mortality, and non-armed first responder programs. In 2022, she was invited to participate in the National Academy of Medicine’s Annual Emerging Leaders Forum and in 2024 she participated in a National Academy of Medicine panel on the importance of implementation science in carceral studies. Her scholarship has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, ProPublica, CNN, Science, and other major outlets, and she has provided expert consultation to the U.S. Congress on prison standards and data transparency. Dr. Brinkley-Rubinstein’s research program is characterized by a sustained commitment to producing rigorous, policy-relevant evidence aimed at improving health in the context of the criminal legal system. 

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
University of Colorado

Emily Bucholz, MD, PhD, MPH is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado and a pediatric and fetal cardiologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Prior to joining faculty in Colorado, Dr. Bucholz graduated from Yale College with a BS in Biology and earned her MD, MPH, and PhD in Epidemiology at Yale School of Medicine and Yale School of Public Health. She completed her pediatrics residency and advanced training in pediatric cardiology and cardiac imaging at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.  Dr. Bucholz’s research investigates how social determinants of health and access to care impact healthcare utilization and outcomes in pediatric populations. Leveraging her extensive background in epidemiology and advanced biostatistics, she has developed and applied novel methods to measure and map health inequities in children with chronic conditions, particularly those with congenital heart disease. Dr. Bucholz’s work has been funded by federal and foundation grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the Pediatric Heart Network, and the American Heart Association. Widely published in high impact medical journals, she has received several early-career and distinguished scientific contribution awards from the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and Clinical Research Forum. Dr. Bucholz also serves as Principal Investigator on a UM1 grant through the Pediatric Heart Network, chairing committees in data science and social determinants of health, and as Associate Editor for the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 

Medical Director of Clinical Innovations and Strategy
San Francisco Department of Public Health

Enrico Castillo is a community psychiatrist, health services researcher, and medical educator. He is the Medical Director for Clinical Innovations and Strategy in the San Francisco County Department of Public Health Behavioral Health Services. In this role he creates and implements new clinical programs, advises health system leaders, collaborates with frontline providers to improve existing services, and enhances data systems to support evaluation and continuous quality improvement. His leadership, research, and teaching centers on public service, community-government-academic partnerships, and improving the systems and programs that serve individuals with serious mental illness, especially in the areas of homelessness and incarceration. He serves in several national and state leadership roles in research and medical education, including the Mental Health Advisory Board of the Association of American Medical College, multiple roles within the American Psychiatric Association, Career Development Institute for Psychiatry, National Alliance to End Homelessness, and the California State Council on Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health. Dr. Castillo was previously an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at UCLA and is the co-editor of the forthcoming book, “Homelessness: A Clinical Guide for Providing Mental Health Care for People Experiencing Homelessness,” by American Psychiatric Association Publishing. He was a member of the second cohort (2021-2023) of the New Voices Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Jane Chung
Associate Professor
Emory University School of Nursing

Dr. Jane Chung is a nurse scientist whose work lies at the intersections of technology, aging, and health equity. She is an Associate Professor (with tenure) at Emory University School of Nursing. Dr. Chung leads the development and testing of AI and technology tools to help older adults live safely and independently at home. Her research centers on the experiences of people who are often excluded from both technology and healthcare. The solutions she develops are low-cost, unobtrusive, and flexible, serving multiple health needs and passively gathering various types of data at once. For instance, her current projects leverage AI voice assistants to ease loneliness and promote self-care management in older adults. Her GPS and motion sensors gather “digital biomarkers” of functional and cognitive decline as well, allowing for early detection of dementia. Dr. Chung’s work has been continuously supported by the National Institutes of Health/ National Institute on Aging. She has earned multiple prestigious fellowships from organizations including the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Gerontological Society of America. In addition, she has authored 50+ peer-reviewed publications and some of them have been cited in more than 18 policy reports in several countries. She serves on two editorial boards, including Informatics for Health and Social Care. She is a standing member of the NIH study section called Clinical Informatics and Digital Health, and she has mentored 30 emerging scholars across nursing, engineering, and public health. Dr. Chung holds two Master’s degrees (Nursing Administration and Leadership and Health Informatics) as well as a PhD in Nursing. 

Distinguished Scientist and Executive Director, AI - Oncology, Cancer Biology
Genentech

Anwesha Dey is a Senior Director and Distinguished Scientist in the Discovery Oncology Department at Genentech. Prior to this position, she held postdoctoral research fellowships in the laboratory of Vishva Dixit at Genentech and at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), A*STAR, Singapore in the laboratory of Sir David Lane. She obtained her PhD in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Summers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at UMBC, Maryland. Her scientific research at Genentech is focused on understanding the biology of Hippo and PI3K signaling pathways and how they can be targeted for cancer therapy. She has led drug discovery programs at Genentech and research from her lab has provided the foundation for developing first and best in class targets for therapeutic intervention. Dr. Dey has served as the co-chair of the AACR and FASEB meetings on the Hippo pathway — leading scientific meetings in the field. She serves on the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of the Keystone Symposia and is a recipient of the 2022 Genentech Women’s professional Emerging Leader Award, 2023 Changemaker of the year award at Genentech and 2023 Distinguished Alumni award recipient from University of Maryland. She is passionate about mentorship, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion and a significant contributor to Genentech’s efforts in this area.

Associate Professor, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington

Joseph Dieleman, PhD, is Associate Professor of Health Metric Sciences at the University of Washington, Seattle. He also leads the Resource Tracking research team at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). This team has completed research focused on estimating healthcare spending by disease, tracking of development assistance for health and government health spending, projecting healthcare spending, and using novel methods to estimate healthcare value, cost of illness, and poverty rates at the subnational level. His projects are split between global research, seeking to understand financial flows for health in a wide variety of contexts, and US research, seeking to describe how healthcare is purchased. In both cases the goal is to provide information that is useful to policymakers and can contribute to improving health equity and outcomes, while maintaining or reducing inefficient spending. Dr. Dieleman received his PhD in Economics at the University of Washington.

Assistant Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System

Utibe R. Essien, MD, MPH is Assistant Professor of Medicine at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and Associate Vice Chair of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the Department of Medicine. He is a general internist at the Greater Los Angeles VA where he teaches medical students and residents and provides medical care to hospitalized patients. Dr. Essien is a proud New Yorker, earning his BA from New York University and MD from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx. He trained in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School. After residency he remained at MGH to complete an NIH-funded T32 general internal medicine research fellowship and received a Master of Public Health degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Dr. Essien’s research focuses on detecting, understanding, and eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in the use of novel, evidence-based medications and technologies, particularly in the management of chronic cardiometabolic diseases such as atrial fibrillation. In 2021, he introduced the concept “pharmacoequity,” providing a new research and policy framework for achieving equitable access to life-saving therapies. He is an emerging leader in the field, as recognized by over 100 peer-reviewed publications and research grants from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the American Heart Association.

Dr. Essien’s leadership has earned him numerous awards including the 2023 Young Physician Scientist Award from the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), the 2024 Society of General Internal Medicine Outstanding Junior Investigator of the Year Award, and election as a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. His research and writing has been featured in several national news outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times and NPR. He also serves as an Associate Editor for JAMA Network Open.

Associate Professor, University of Pennsylvania

David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, is the Founding Director of the Center for Cytokine Storm Treatment & Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the youngest faculty members to receive tenure in the history of the School of Medicine. Dr. Fajgenbaum is also the co-Founder & President of the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network, co-Founder & President of Every Cure, and national bestselling author of ‘Chasing My Cure: A Doctor’s Race to Turn Hope Into Action.‘ Dr. Fajgenbaum is also a patient battling a deadly disease which he discovered a repurposed treatment for that is saving his life and others. He has also advanced 18 other repurposed treatments for diseases they weren’t initially intended for. He recently co-founded Every Cure to unlock additional indications for FDA-approved medicines and is pioneering novel AI-driven approaches to enable this. In February 2024, ARPA-H awarded a $48.3M contract to advance Every Cure’s AI platform. Dr. Fajgenbaum also serves on the Board of Directors for the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA.

Ruogu Fang
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Flowers Family Dean’s Faculty Fellow in Engineering
Vanderbilt University

Dr. Ruogu Fang is a tenured Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Flowers Family Dean’s Faculty Fellow in Engineering at Vanderbilt University. Before joining Vanderbilt, she was an Associate Professor and Pruitt Family Endowed Faculty Fellow at the University of Florida until August 2026. She leads the Smart Medical Informatics Learning and Evaluation (SMILE) Lab, integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI), neuroscience, and biomedical engineering to advance early diagnosis and personalized interventions for neurological and neurodegenerative diseases.  Dr. Fang has developed modular, biologically inspired AI systems that integrate multimodal data—including neuroimaging, retinal imaging, and clinical measures—to detect early disease signatures, model brain network dynamics, and guide individualized brain stimulation. She has demonstrated the health equity impact of her work through studies published in npj Digital Medicine and npj Women’s Health, highlighting sex-specific biomarkers. Her research has been continuously supported by NSF, NIH, AFRL, and industry, with 38 projects totaling $55 million, including $10 million as PI.  Dr. Fang has authored over 170 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals, including The Lancet Digital Health, JAMA Neurology, and Nature Computational Science. She demonstrates exceptional leadership as the President of Women in MICCAI, Associate Editor of Medical Image Analysis, and Topic Editor for Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. She also leads initiatives in the global medical AI community, including mentoring emerging investigators and convening collaborative research networks. A recognized leader in Medical AI, Dr. Fang’s work advances scientific innovation, promotes health equity, and cultivates the next generation of biomedical leaders, positioning her to make substantial contributions as an NAM Emerging Leader.

Lindsey George
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania; Director of Clinical In Vivo Gene Therapy, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Dr. George is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at University of Pennsylvania and Director of Clinical In Vivo Gene Therapy at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her laboratory focuses on the development of gene-based therapies for coagulation disorders and on elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying blood coagulation, with a particular emphasis on factor VIII biology and hemophilia A. Her studies on the regulation of factor VIII have led to the development of a next-generation gene therapy approach for hemophilia A that is currently being evaluated in a phase 2b clinical trial. Her laboratory also investigates the immunologic and molecular basis of unexplained clinical observations that have emerged from adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy trials, with the goal of improving their safety and efficacy. In parallel with her laboratory research, Dr. George founded and directs the Clinical In Vivo Gene Therapy group at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which provides regulatory support for investigator-initiated studies, operational efforts for a large portfolio of interventional in vivo gene addition and editing trials and clinical infrastructure to safely and efficiently implement commercial in vivo gene therapies into clinical practice. She is a recent past member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy and is active in national and international professional societies for gene therapy and hemostasis. 

Assistant Professor of Medicine
Weill Cornell Medical College

Arnab K. Ghosh, MD, MSc, MA is Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University, where his research program focuses on climate change and health, and developing interventions to protect vulnerable populations against climate-amplified threats. His research emphasizes building equity-focused local and regional responses to climate-amplified threats, using quantitative and qualitative methods. His program is funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund, and several foundations. Dr. Ghosh served as a Climate and Health Scholar at the National Institutes of Health from 2023-2024, hosted by the National Institute on Aging.  He is a fellow of the Atkinson Center for Sustainability and Center of Health Equity at Cornell University, a fellow at the CUNY Institute for Demographic Research, and serves as Emergency Management Fellow at Health + Hospitals, the largest county hospital system in the US. He also serves in several federal roles including as a Climate and Health Technical Advisor for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ ASPR TRACIE program, and a Medical Officer as part of the Disaster Medical Assistant Teams within the National Disaster Medical System. He also chairs the national subcommittee of health policy and research at the Society of General Internal Medicine. Dr. Ghosh received his undergraduate medical degree and graduate degree in development studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and graduate degrees in health policy and economics, and clinical/translational sciences at Cornell University. He undertook his training in emergency medicine at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and in Internal Medicine/Primary Care at New York University/Bellevue Hospital. Prior to his career in academia, Dr. Ghosh worked as a management consultant and an HIV/AIDS policy analyst at the United Nations Secretariat, and has practiced medicine in remote, resource-limited settings as an emergency physician. 

Forum Kamdar headshot
Associate Professor, University of Minnesota

Forum Kamdar is an advanced heart failure physician-scientist focused on advancing the care of patients with neuromuscular cardiomyopathies through clinical and translational research. She is a tenure-track Associate Professor in the Cardiovascular Division and Lillehei Heart Institute at the University of Minnesota. She has spearheaded a multi-faceted approach to address major gaps in care and knowledge of the increasingly prevalent cardiomyopathy associated with neuromuscular disorders. She helped to develop a novel interdisciplinary program in Neuromuscular Cardiomyopathy, including a multi-specialty clinic to screen and treat cardiovascular involvement in adult muscular dystrophy patients. This has reduced the barriers to care for neuromuscular patients and addressed a gap in the clinical cardiovascular care for patients that have been highly underrepresented in cardiovascular care. She leads a multi-center network funded by the Muscular Dystrophy Association to understand outcomes advanced heart failure therapies in neuromuscular cardiomyopathy. Additionally, she developed and validated a Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) human stem cell cardiomyocyte model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy cardiomyopathy and identified major clinical gaps in care for patients with dystrophic cardiomyopathy. Her laboratory is elucidating fundamental mechanisms of DMD cardiomyopathy disease progression to identify novel therapies to ultimately treat DMD patients. Dr. Kamdar has received funding from national and international foundations as well as the federal government. For her outstanding contributions, Dr. Kamdar has received multiple awards including the American Society of Clinical Investigation Young Physician-Scientist Award, University of Minnesota Medical School Emerging Alumni Award, and American Heart Association Young Investigator Award.

Dhruv Khullar
Associate Professor of Medicine and Population Health Sciences and Director of The Physicians Foundation Center for the Study of Physician Practice and Leadership, Weill Cornell Medical College; Associate Director, Cornell Health Policy Center

Dhruv Khullar, MD, MPP is a board-certified internist and an Associate Professor of Medicine and Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell Medical College, where he serves as Director of The Physicians Foundation Center for the Study of Physician Practice and Leadership. He is also an Associate Director of the Cornell Health Policy Center, where he co-leads the Health Policy Insight Panel, a national survey of distinguished health care policy scholars. Dr. Khullar’s research has used qualitative, survey-based, and quantitative methods to examine range of pressing health care issues, such as value-based payment reforms, clinician burnout, health care consolidation, and emerging medical technologies. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and led large foundation and federal research grants, including an R01 from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to study the effects of vertical integration on quality and spending for Medicare patients. In addition to his clinical and academic work, Dr. Khullar is a writer at The New Yorker magazine, where he covers the technological, political, and economic forces shaping the future of medicine. His writing was recognized in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2025. 

Associate Professor
Baylor College of Medicine

Cristian Lasagna-Reeves, is an associate professor at the Department of Neurology at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Lasagna-Reeves’s scientific career has revolved around the study of protein aggregation in neurodegenerative diseases. After completing his bachelor’s degree in engineering in Biotechnology and master’s degree in biological sciences, both from the University of Chile in Santiago Chile, he joined the Cell Biology PhD program at the University of Texas Medical Branch under the mentorship of Dr. Rakez Kayed. His main project focused on the relevance of tau oligomers in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). His studies yielded evidence that this pre-filamentous form of tau is a possible biomarker and target for AD. He then joined Dr. Huda Zoghbi’s lab at Baylor College of Medicine for his postdoctoral studies. In her laboratory, he led a novel forward genetic screen to identify modulators of tau stability in human cells, and in a fly and mouse model of tauopathy. The main focus of the Lasagna-Reeves lab is to comprehensively elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the transition that the microtubule associated protein tau undergoes from its physiological function to aggregated toxic function in neurodegenerative tauopathies. Based on his academic portfolio, in 2023 he was awarded the Inge Grundke-Iqbal Award for Alzheimer’s Research by the Alzheimer’s Association and in 2024 the Rainwater Prize for Innovative Early-Career Scientist by the Rainwater Charitable Foundation. 

Assistant Professor of Infectious Diseases
Stanford University

Nathan Lo, MD PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine at Stanford University. He is an infectious diseases physician-scientist and epidemiologist. His research group studies the transmission of infectious diseases and the impact of public health interventions to inform policy aimed at controlling and eliminating these diseases. His research blends diverse computational methodologies, including tools from infectious disease epidemiology and mathematical modeling. Nathan’s interest spans across multiple infectious diseases, both domestically and internationally, with a focus on vaccine-preventable infections and neglected global infectious diseases. Nathan frequently collaborates with public health agencies, such as the California Department of Public Health and the World Health Organization. His research in infectious diseases has translated to public health policy changes in the fields of neglected parasitic diseases and COVID-19. He served as the lead writer for the WHO guidelines on control of schistosomiasis (2022) and strongyloidiasis (2024). He received a BS in Bioengineering from Rice University, and MD and PhD in Epidemiology from Stanford University. He completed a clinical residency in internal medicine at UCSF, with subspecialty training in infectious diseases. In 2022, he received a NIH New Innovator award. 

Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine and Center for Global Health, Weill Cornell Medicine

Dr. Molly McNairy is an internationally recognized physician scientist with over 15 years’ experience as a front-line doctor and public health researcher in global epidemics and health systems research. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell in the Center for Global Health and Division of General Internal Medicine and Chief of Hospital Medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. She directs the Weill Cornell Global Health Research Fellowship. She graduated from the University of North Carolina as a Morehead Scholar and received her medical doctorate from Harvard Medical School, with training at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. During her medical training, she received a Fulbright Scholarship to study health economics and policy at the London School of Economics and the London School of Tropical Medicine. Her research focuses on understanding modifiable poverty-related drivers of HIV and cardiovascular disease and applying this data to design targeted interventions for prevention and treatment. Her work includes epidemiologic cohort studies, clinical trials, and implementation science. She has been funded by the NIH (NIAID, NHLBI, Fogarty), CDC, and numerous other foundations. She has served as a technical advisor to Ministries of Health, WHO and CDC. She has received awards for her leadership and mentorship track-record, with a focus on women physician scientists. She lives in New York City with her husband and three children ages 6, 9 and 12.

Assistant Professor
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Diana Montoya-Williams, M.D., M.S.H.P. is an attending neonatologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, a principal investigator in CHOP’s PolicyLab and Penn’s Population Science Center, and a senior fellow at the Penn Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. Dr. Montoya-Williams identifies as a first-generation bicultural bilingual Latina mother from Colombia, identities which deeply inform her clinical practice and academic contributions. She is currently supported by a K23 award from the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development. Montoya-Williams leads multiple multidisciplinary inter-institutional research teams that use a variety of methodologies–from epidemiologic to qualitative–to answer research questions about why maternal and infant health disparities exist in the US and what healthcare systems and academic institutions can do to close gaps. Her work documents how structural racial and socioeconomic discrimination contribute to population health disparities, but also seeks to document structural forms of resilience to such discrimination. For instance, studies on paid family leave and sanctuary immigration policies show how state-level policies can mitigate the risk of poor birth outcomes and decreased healthcare utilization disproportionately experienced by marginalized pregnant people. Montoya-Williams also serves on and/or leads various diversity, equity, and inclusion committees for national multi-site clinical trials and cohort studies to promote equitable neonatal research practices. Finally, she is dedicated to evidence-based advocacy that advances child health. Her editorials have been featured in numerous scientific and news publications, including JAMA Pediatrics, Philadelphia Inquirer, Health Affairs Forefront, and The Conversation. 

Assistant Professor
University of Maryland

Dr. Erika Moore is an Assistant Professor in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 2013 and her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University in 2018. As Principal Investigator of the Moore Lab, Dr. Moore develops biomaterial models that leverage the regenerative potential of macrophages to support tissue repair and regeneration. Her research addresses health inequities and focuses on topics such as age-related macrophage dysfunction, macrophage-driven inflammation in lupus, integrin-mediated interactions with the extracellular matrix, and the role of macrophages in uterine fibroids. Dr. Moore also advocates for professional development and financial literacy for students in STEM. In 2019, she founded Moore Wealth Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to teaching students key financial skills. Recognized as a 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree in Healthcare and a 2024 TED Fellow, Dr. Moore has received several prestigious honors, including the NIH R35 MIRA, the Lupus Research Alliance Career Development Award, the BMES Rita Schaffer Award, the 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award, and the NSF CAREER Award. 

Associate Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dr. Parr is an associate professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a practicing physician scientist whose research focuses on the molecular epidemiology of infectious diseases. He is broadly interested in applying cutting-edge molecular and genomic tools to solve problems faced by marginalized populations across the globe.   Dr. Parr received his B.S. in chemistry from Stanford University, M.D. at the University of Virginia, and M.P.H. at Harvard. He completed residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he was selected for the Doris and Howard Hiatt Residency in Internal Medicine and Global Health Equity, and infectious disease fellowship at UNC. He is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Dr. Parr has collaborated with WHO on efforts to improve malaria diagnosis and treatment and previously served as an Associate Editor for Healthcare: The Journal of Delivery Science and Innovation. During the pandemic, he served as co-director of UNC infectious diseases’ inpatient COVID-19 services. As part of a highly collaborative research program, Dr. Parr leads translational projects focused on malaria in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia, where he works closely with national programs to address emerging drug- and diagnostic-resistant parasite strains. He applies cross-cutting approaches to other infectious diseases, with applications including investigation of hepatitis B transmission patterns in Africa, design of new diagnostic tests, and use of genomic epidemiology to inform syphilis vaccine development. 

Aaron Schwartz
Assistant Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine; Core Investigator, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center’s Center for Healthcare Evaluation Research and Promotion

Aaron L. Schwartz, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and a Core Investigator at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center’s Center for Healthcare Evaluation Research and Promotion. A general internist and health economist, Dr. Schwartz studies how payment systems and administrative processes shape health-care delivery, equity, and value—particularly within Medicare and the Veterans Health Administration.  Dr. Schwartz earned his BA in Economics and Biology with Highest Honors from Swarthmore College, his PhD in Health Policy (Economics track) from Harvard University, and his MD from Harvard Medical School, where he was elected commencement speaker. He completed internal medicine residency (primary care track) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. His research has been published in leading journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Health Affairs, and BMJ, addressing topics such as low-value care, prior authorization, and risk adjustment.   A recipient of numerous honors, Dr. Schwartz was named to Forbes “30 Under 30 in Healthcare,” received the Society of General Internal Medicine’s Lipkin and Hamolsky awards for research. In 2025, he was recognized with AcademyHealth’s Alice S. Hersh Emerging Leader Award, the premier award for junior investigators in health services research. Dr. Schwartz’ is an award-winning course director in Penn’s Masters of Science in Health Policy program. He serves on multiple national committees and lectures widely on health policy and equity. Through his research, Dr. Schwartz advances evidence-based reforms to promote high-value, patient-centered care across the U.S. health system. 

Professor and W. Ray Wallace Distinguished Chair in Molecular Oncology Research, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Daniel J. Siegwart is a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Biochemistry, and the Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center (SCCC) at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He holds the W. Ray Wallace Distinguished Chair in Molecular Oncology Research and serves as the Director of the Program in Genetic Drug Engineering, Director of the Drug Delivery Program in Biomedical Engineering, and Co-leader of the Chemistry and Cancer Program in the NCI-designated SCCC. He received a BS in Biochemistry from Lehigh University (2003), and a PhD in Chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University (2008), studying with Professor Krzysztof Matyjaszewski. He also studied as an NSF EAPSI Research Fellow at the University of Tokyo with Professor Kazunori Kataoka (2006). He then completed an NIH NSRA Postdoctoral Fellowship at MIT with Professor Daniel Anderson and Professor Robert Langer (2008-2012). Among various honors and awards, he has been elected to Controlled Release Society (CRS) College of Fellows and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows. His research laboratory utilizes materials chemistry to enable targeted nanoparticle delivery of genomic medicines. Their efforts led to an understanding of the essential physical and chemical properties of synthetic carriers required for therapeutic delivery of siRNA, miRNA, tRNA, pDNA, mRNA, and gene editors. His lab has been at the forefront in the design of synthetic carriers for gene editing, reporting the first example of non-viral in vivo CRISPR/Cas gene editing, and has applied these technologies for correction of genetic diseases and treatment of cancer. He also developed Selective ORgan Targeting (SORT) lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) for predictable tissue specific mRNA delivery and gene editing. Dr. Siegwart and his lab ultimately aspire to utilize chemistry and engineering to make a beneficial impact on human health.

Katrin Svensson
Associate Professor, Department of Pathology at Stanford University; Metabolic Core Director and Affinity Group Leader, Stanford Diabetes Research Center (SDRC); Arc Institute Innovation Investigator; Weill Cancer Hub West Investigator

Dr. Svensson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology at Stanford University, the Metabolic Core Director and Affinity Group Leader at the Stanford Diabetes Research Center (SDRC), an Arc Institute Innovation Investigator, and a Weill Cancer Hub West Investigator. She received her Ph.D. from Lund University and completed her postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School. Her laboratory has pioneered studies of circulating factors and peptide hormones by using a combination of computational, proteomics, cellular, and physiological approaches. Her laboratory has made several biological discoveries, including the discovery of BRP as an anorexigenic peptide. Her laboratory has been supported by numerous grants from the NIH, American Heart Association, and industry. Dr. Svensson is a standing member of the NIDDK POMD study section, serves as an Associate Editor for Endocrine Reviews and is on the Editorial Board at Diabetes. She is also a co-founder of a start-up company focused on translating biological endocrinology findings into therapeutic targets for obesity and diabetes. 

Assistant Investigator, Gladstone Institutes; Assistant Professor, University of California, San Francisco

Catherine Tcheandjieu, DVM, PhD, is Assistant Investigator at Gladstone Institutes and Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UC San Francisco since March, 2022. Born in Cameroon, her academic journey began with a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from the National School of Veterinary Medicine of Algiers, Algeria, followed by a master’s degree in Public Health and PhD in Genetic Epidemiology from the University of Paris-Saclay, France. She continued her training in genetic epidemiology through postdoctoral fellowships at Stanford University and Palo Alto Veterans Administration, focusing on the genetics of cardiovascular disease utilizing the VA Million Veterans Program (MVP) and the UK Biobank cohorts. With expertise in epidemiology, genomics, and statistics, her research aims to unravel the complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors, with a focus on population diversity, genetic and environmental variability. Her research is now supported by an American Heart Association (AHA) Second Century Early faculty Independence Award. Her impactful contributions to science include co-authoring of over 35 publications, many in leading journals, and mentoring graduate, undergraduate, and postdoctoral trainees, including those underrepresented in science, fostering an inclusive academic environment. Beyond her scientific pursuits, Dr. Tcheandjieu is an advocate for equity, inclusivity, and representation, championing diversity, inclusivity and representation in both the academic workforce and her research. She has received various awards, including the French Higher School of Public health’s graduate student Award, the Stanford Postdoc Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Champion Award, the Stanford Jump Start Award, the MVP Early Career Investigator.

Professor, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

Hansel Tookes is a tenured Professor of Medicine at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He is founder of the IDEA Lab whose mission is to implement, disseminate, educate, and advocate for the health of people who use drugs. His lab also houses the IDEA syringe services program – the first legal program in Florida. Dr. Tookes spent five years advocating in the Florida Legislature for the creation of the program as an evidence-based HIV prevention intervention. In 2016, he succeeded and the pilot was signed into law. Today, Dr. Tookes serves as medical director of IDEA and successfully passed Infectious Disease Elimination Act of 2019 authorizing statewide expansion of syringe services programs. As a physician at Jackson Memorial, one of the largest public hospitals in the nation, Dr. Tookes attends on the HIV service as well as the Ryan White clinic. He is an advocate for health equity and has extensive experience working with both patients of low socioeconomic status and individuals who use drugs. His research interests include structural/systemic interventions and innovative approaches to HIV prevention and treatment. He is a 2021 recipient of a NIDA Avenir Award which is testing his innovative tele-harm reduction model for HIV treatment in a randomized controlled trial and, more recently, 3 NIDA R01s. The R01s include a trial of tele-harm reduction for the prevention of HIV, a team science cohort study, and an implementation science trial on opt-out HIV and hepatitis C testing for people who inject drugs. He has received numerous honors, including Miami Chamber of Commerce Healthcare Hero, Starbucks Upstander, and SAVE Champion of Equality. In 2023, he was appointed to the board of the HIV Medicine Association, the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS and the CDC/HRSA Advisory Committee on HIV, Viral Hepatitis, and STD Prevention and Treatment.

Venkatesh Kartik
Obstetrician and Gynecologist; Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialist; Associate Professor with Tenure in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Epidemiology; Director of the Diabetes in Pregnancy Program
The Ohio State University (OSU)

Kartik K Venkatesh, MD, PHD, is an obstetrician and gynecologist, maternal-fetal medicine specialist, and PhD epidemiologist physician-scientist. At The Ohio State University (OSU), he is an Associate Professor with Tenure in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Epidemiology. He is a Castle Connolly Top Doctor, an Emerging Leader by the National Academy of Medicine, and a Dean’s Excellence Award by OSU. 

Kartik is the Director of the Diabetes in Pregnancy Program, one of the nation’s oldest and largest integrated diabetes and prenatal care programs. Kartik leads the Perinatal Epidemiology Program, and his research has generated over $35 million in direct funding. He is currently the PI of 5 R01s: 1) NIH Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) and Pregnancy in Ohio cohort focused on cardiometabolic risk (UG3/UH3); 2) AHRQ’s ACHIEVE RCT focused on using technology and addressing unmet social needs to improve pregnancy outcomes with type 2 diabetes (R01); 3) NIHR’s NOURISH RCT focused on improving nutritional insecurity to improve pregnancy outcomes with diabetes (R01); 4) NHLBI’s MomHeart cohort to understand social determinants and maternal cardiovascular health (R01); and 5) PCORI’s DECIDE, a 20-site comparative effectiveness, patient-centered RCT, comparing metformin and insulin for the treatment of gestational diabetes (large grant). 

Kartik has published >220 peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts focused on diabetes in pregnancy, adverse pregnancy outcomes, cardiometabolic health, and perinatal infectious diseases. He has methodological expertise in clinical trials, prospective cohorts, and clinical prediction models. His research has been consistently recognized as a “Top Paper” by the American Diabetes Association. He chairs the World Health Organization Committee that released the first ever guidelines for diabetes in pregnancy. He serves in leadership roles for the Editorial Board of the Obstetrics & Gynecology, American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Executive Council of the Infectious Diseases Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the Pregnancy Subsection of the American Diabetes Association, and recently served on the Executive Committee of the Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Group of North America and led the Diabetes in Pregnancy Forum of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.  

Kartik’s overarching goal is to improve pregnancy outcomes with diabetes and maternal cardiometabolic health using innovative approaches that integrate clinical trials, epidemiology, and patient and community engagement. 

Associate Professor of Medicine
Oregon Health & Science University

Dr. Zhu is a practicing primary care physician and associate professor of medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University and core faculty at the Center for Health Systems Effectiveness. Dr. Zhu’s research focuses on health care access and quality, particularly for mental/behavioral health services, and on the effects of provider incentives and organization on health care delivery. In particular, she is interested in understanding how managed care plan features can be leveraged to improve behavioral health service delivery in Medicaid. A recipient of a K08 career development award from the National Institute of Mental Health, she is now principal investigator of multiple R01 grants as well as foundation grants. Her work has been published in high-impact journals, including JAMA, the New England Journal of Medicine, and Health Affairs; covered in media including The New York Times, Reuters, and The Wall Street Journal; and cited in government and legislative reports. Dr. Zhu obtained a BSc degree in global health and international development from Duke University, where she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship. She received dual degrees in medicine and public policy from Harvard. After internal medicine residency training at the University of California, San Francisco, she was selected as a National Clinician Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania where she completed a two-year fellowship. She is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP) and serves on regional and national committees for the Society of General Internal Medicine, the American College of Physicians, and the National Academy of Medicine. 

Alumni

Adewole S. Adamson, MD, MPP
Rima A. Arnaout, MD
Swathi Arur, PhD
Ami S. Bhatt, MD, PhD
Maria Elena Bottazzi, PhD (elected to NAM 2024)
Brandon Brown, PhD, MPH
Alejandra Casillas, MD, MSHS
Paul Christopher, PhD
Christopher R. Cogle, MD
Paul Cohen, MD, PhD
Carrie H. Colla, PhD (elected to NAM in 2025)
Deidra C. Crews, MD, ScM (elected to NAM 2023)
Peter Croughan, MD
Dustin T. Duncan, ScD
Ellen F. Eaton, MD, MSPH
Justin Basile Echouffo Tcheugui, MD, PhD
Adaeze Enekwechi, PhD, MPP
Oluwadamilola “Lola” Fayanju, MD, MA, MPHS
Elizabeth M. Cespedes Feliciano, ScD, ScM
Holly Fernandez Lynch, JD, MBe
Lori Freedman, PhD
Christopher Friese, PhD, RN, AOCN, FAAN (elected to NAM 2020)
Cesar de la Fuente, PhD
Celine Gounder, MD (elected to NAM 2023)
Jordan Green, PhD
Anna Greka, MD, PhD
Marcia Haigis, PhD (elected to NAM 2024)
Kelli Stidham Hall, PhD, MS
Sidney H. Hankerson, MD, MBA
Ronald L. Hickman Jr., PhD, RN
Ehsan Hoque, PhD
Leora Horwitz, MD
Mark Huffman, MD, MPH
Jerreed D. Ivanich, PhD
Ning (Jenny) Jiang, PhD
Gunisha Kaur, MD, MA
Sandeep Kishore, MD, PhD, MSc
Caprice Knapp, PhD
Lucinda B. Leung, MD, PhD, MPH
Joseph A. Lewnard, PhD
Miguel Marino, PhD (elected to NAM 2022)
Raina Merchant, MD, MSHP (elected to NAM 2020)
Mark Neuman, MD
Meredith T. Niles, PhD
Ziad Obermeyer, MD
Akinyemi Oni-Orisan, PharmD, PhD
Minal Patel, PhD, MPH
Brea Perry, PhD
Nathan Price, PhD
Christina Ann Roberto, PhD
Cynthia E. Rogers, MD
Benjamin N. Rome, MD, MPH
Suchi Saria, MSc, PhD
Margaret (Gretchen) L. Schwarze, MD, MPP (elected to NAM in 2025)
Julie Segre, PhD (elected to NAM 2019)
Jacob Sherkow, JD, MA
Anita Shukla, PhD
Hanni Stoklosa, MD, MPH
Sohail Tavazoie, MD, PhD (elected to NAM 2022)
Hassan A. Tetteh, MD, MBA, MPA, MS
Carlo Giovanni Traverso, MB, BChir, PhD
Brownsyne Tucker Edmonds, MD, MPH, MS
Jing Wang PhD, MPH, MSN, RN, FAAN
Y. Claire Wang, MD, ScD, MS
Keegan Warren-Clem, JD, LLM
Jonathan Watanabe, PharmD, MS, PhD, BCGP
Judy Wawira Gichoya, MBChB, MS
Jeffrey Wickliffe, PhD, MS
Joseph C. Wu, MD, PhD (elected to NAM 2019)
Ramnik Xavier, MD, ChB

An asterisk (*) denotes election to membership of the NAM in the year listed.

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