URMC / Center for Community Health & Prevention / Health Equity Research / Health Equity Researchers

Health Equity Researchers

Peruse, search, or filter our list of Health Equity Research Core Investigators—a group of faculty members, scientists, healthcare providers, and trainees who span many disciplines across the University of Rochester, as well as community leaders, and members of city government whose work is aligned with our mission.

If you would like to get involved in health equity research, please contact Jeanette Bohn at OHER@urmc.rochester.edu.

	Researcher	Contact
	John Horan, MD, MPH, Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Research on improving the safety and effectiveness of access to curative therapies for sickle cell disease.
	Aileen Aldalur, PhD, Senior Instructor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: I am interested in research on Deaf mental health including the identification of mental health disparities, the exploration of Deaf sociocultural influences on Deaf mental health, and the development of evidence-based interventions to prevent and treat mental health problems and suicide among deaf individuals.	Email
	Amanda McLeroy, PhD, Assistant Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: My research examines both the psychological and physiological impacts of vicarious exposure to police brutality and racial trauma on social media among Black youth.	Email
	Ben Champman, MPH, MS, PhD, Associate Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Social class and socioeconomic factors, including the psychology of social class, interpersonal discrimination, life course perspectives and aging outcomes including dementia aging
	Brooke Levandowski PhD, MPA, Associate Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: My research seeks to improve stigmatized reproductive and sexual health outcomes through understanding the influence of social determinants of health and health equity on health decision making. My domestic research has focused on HIV/STI prevention, contraception access for urban youth of color, infant mortality reduction, and increasing access to equitable healthcare for the LGBTQ+ community. My international research measured maternal morbidity and mortality due to unsafe abortion in Malawi, Kenya, Uganda and Ghana.	Email Lab
	Caren Gellin, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: I'm not a researcher so mostly interested in things that can affect education for pediatric residents.
	Carol D'Agostino, LCSW, MA, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Fellow Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: My HER interests are in the areas of older adult 50+ SUD and especially with the older adult 50+ BIPOC and LGBTQ+ populations with SUD. During my 30 year career, these populations have historically been under-represented due to issues of ageism, racism, etc.	Email
	Christie Petrenko, PhD, Research Associate Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: My research focuses on increasing access to care for people with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) across the lifespan. My work emphasizes community-engaged methods, implementation science, and mixed-method approaches.	Email Lab
	Christine Coward, MD, Associate Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Diabetes retinopathy is a known cause of vision loss. Some individuals who present with diabetic retinopathy have not seen a nutritionist to help modify their eating habits. Our department could create a comprehensive initiative aimed at addressing the healthcare disparities associated with diabetic retinopathy among underserved populations. The project would focus on providing culturally sensitive medical information, improving access to nutrition services, and identifying and addressing food insecurity to promote a healthier dietary lifestyle for affected individuals. Our South Clinton office has partnered with FoodLink to provide diabetic-friendly foods with accompanying recipes for those who identify as having food insecurity.	Email
	Christopher Seplaki, MS, PhD, Associate Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: My research interests focus on how the social and physical environment influence aging and age-related health outcomes. My interests cross several of the priority areas below. (housing, mental health, chronic diseases)	Email
	Courtney Olson-Chen, MSc, Associate Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Promoting equity in the provision of care for pregnant people and optimizing pregnancy outcomes for all.	Email
	Camille Quinn, PhD, AM, OHER Decreasing re-incarceration rates through policy Research Interest: I have a long-standing interest in health and mental health equity research that stems from my personal and professional experiences growing up in a predominantly Black community in a Midwestern urban city. Specifically, I grew up in a small immediate family that is a part of a large extended family who value education as a vehicle for upward mobility. Thus, I was expected to pursue both undergraduate and graduate degrees, which I did in psychology and social work, respectively. Further, as a social work practitioner and administrator, I worked with and oversaw services for multi-system involved (child welfare and legal system) African American children and families. Despite their challenges, many expressed desires for having hope for better lives in the future. Further, as a mixed methodologist and community engaged researcher, my goal is to reduce health and mental health disparities among adolescent girls and young women by promoting equity and healing and promote crime desistance. My direct service academic and research experiences focus on investigating the factors associated with Black/African American adolescent girls and young women's health disparities who are legal system involved.	Email
	Denzil Harris, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: My specific scholarly interest is exploring community-level barriers to hospice and palliative care among local marginalized populations and understanding how to forge community relationships to engage and empower community members to improve knowledge and utilization of palliative care services Palliative-Care	Email
	Eva Pressman, MD, Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Decreasing disparities in pregnancy outcomes Pregnancy Reproductive Health
	Fahad Saeed, MS, MD, Associate Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: In my research within the kidney-palliative care domain, my Health Equity Research (HER) interests focus on examining and remedying disparities in kidney disease education, kidney therapy decision-making, and end-of-life care. I am dedicated to comprehending and alleviating health inequities associated with kidney palliative care to improve the overall well-being and outcomes of diverse patient populations. Additionally, my work delves into the challenges associated with receiving optimal kidney care in developing countries.	Email
	Iduvina (Ida) Earner, MS, RN, NP, Nurse Practitioner Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: I currently serve as Community Liaison for the Division of Geriatrics and Aging Institute and also serve as Vice Chair for Equity in Clinical Care subcommittee, of the Dept of Medicine's DEI Council. I thoroughly enjoy participating in community events both as an educator, ie. speaking to older adults at Centro de Oro at Jackson Rec Center, my old elementary school gymnasium building. I participate in a workgroup for the Commission on Racial & Structural Equity, working to address funding disparities at senior centers. I enjoy supporting Marth Hope at Estate Planning events she organizes with the mayor of Rochester and other events like the Aging Summit.	Email
	Jahaira Capellan, PhD, Post-doc Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Looking at the intersection between Latinx parenting practices and their children's health outcomes. Spanish speakers are a special interest.
	Jamia Williams, MLS, Graduate Student Decreasing re-incarceration rates through policy Research Interest: My health equity research interests are ensuring people have the information they need to make informed health decisions and supporting marginalized people.	Email
	Jan Schriefer, MS, RN, MBA, DrPH, Associate Professor of Medicine Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: My HER has focused on Quality Improvement and Health Equity intersection. I have worked with Solutions for Patient Safety on a study just published in BMJ Quality about disparities with Central Line infections and Unplanned Extubations. I have a grant funded from Vermont Oxford Newtork on health equity for patients with feeding tubes. I am working with UPP teams on SDOH screening.	Email
	Jeffrey Kaczorowski, MD, Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: Access to care for children in the City of Rochester, including mental health care; Rural women's/birthing persons' and children's health; Newborn and parent supports	Email
	Jin Xiao, DMD, PhD, Associate Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Promoting oral health of pregnant women and their young children from the minorities and low-income families.
	Kaitlin Kyi, MD, Departmental Fellow Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: I am passionate about increasing awareness of stigmatizing language in discussion of patient care. I also am interested in challenging ageist biases.	Email
	Karina Newhall, MS, MD, Assistant Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: My research focuses on two specific populations: end stage renal disease and peripheral vascular disease, in which profound racial disparities exist. My work focuses on identifying some root causes of these disparities and working to address and improve them.	Email
	Katrina Korfmacher, MS, PhD, Professor Improving access to safe, secure, and affordable housing Research Interest: 90% of my outreach work is related to environmental justice, and my research derives from the outreach work. Probably 70% of my research is based on the City of Rochester or Rochester region.	Email Lab
	Keisha Bell, MS, PhD, Assistant Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: My scholarship interests involve advancing the study of racial disparities in patient-centered communication experienced by African-American patients, identifying interventions that may improve the quality and equity of their care, and amplifying the voices of patients of color.	Email
	Lindsay Batek, MS, RN, PhD Student Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: My current interest in HER is related to sexual and reproductive health in Mexican-American young women. I specifically looking at how health literacy and health access are related in this group and context.	Email
	Marilyn Augustine, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: As an endocrinologist, I am interested in improving management for chronic endocrine disease states such as diabetes mellitus and osteoporosis, in particular by addressing health disparities for patients who may be more vulnerable due to factors such as their race, ethnicity, access to care, or housing, food or financial insecurity.
	Megan Lytle, PhD, Associate Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: My scholarship and research focuses on removing/reducing health and suicide disparities experienced by transgender and gender diverse individuals transgender
	Melissa Lopresti, MPH, MD, Assistant Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: I am a pediatric neurosurgeon interested in researching health disparities, social determinants of health, and ways to promote health equity in pediatric epilepsy and other pediatric neurosurgical diseases/conditions.	Email
	Nicole Wilson, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor Preventing gun violence Research Interest: I'm passionate about enhancing patient health outcomes. My focus lies in investigating how social determinants of health intersect with emerging technologies. I aspire to foster community collaborations, not just highlighting disparities but actively mitigating the root causes of health inequities.	Email Lab
	Olga Astapova, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: I study polycystic ovary syndrome, which is the most common endocrinopathy in women and leads to increased cardiovascular risk, among other problems. As a basic scientist, I focus on the mechanisms of ovarian and metabolic hormone disruptions in this condition using mouse and in-vitro research models.	Email Lab
	M. Patricia Rivera, MD, Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: My work focuses on improving implementation and dissemination of lung cancer screening among underrepresented groups, such as black and Latino individuals.	Email
	Rodolfo Alpizar-Rivas, MD, Departmental Fellow Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Main focus is inequity of medical education and the impact in health. Medical education.
	Ruth Agwaze, BA, BS, Graduate student Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: I currently have two main interests in health equity. One of my interests is understanding and improving the health literacy of individuals who have been incarcerated so that we can improve our communication and interactions with them as physicians. Another is understanding the impact of food deserts and proximity to farmer's markets on basic health outcomes (ex. hypertension, hyperlipidemia and obesity, cardiovascular disease incidence, annual ED visits, etc.) in Rochester.	Email
	Saabirah Campo, MS, PhD Student Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: I am deeply passionate about advancing health equity, particularly in academic medical workplaces. My keen interest lies in implementing restorative justice practices as a transformative tool to address and rectify instances of discrimination and harassment. I believe that by harnessing the power of restorative justice, we can create a more inclusive and supportive environment in these settings, ultimately fostering better well-being and equality among healthcare professionals Restorative	Email
	Sandhya Seshadri, MS, PhD, MA, Assistant Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: My work focuses on understanding (a) the needs and what matters most to care partners of those with neurodegenerative diseases from underserved and under-resourced communities and (b) designing and adapting programs and interventions to address them.	Email
	Simone Seward, MPH, DrPH, Assistant Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: My health equity research interests are centered on Black maternal and child health using community based participatory approaches (CBPR) to elevate the voices of those most affected. My goal is to translate research findings into actions that promote social justice and health equity.	Email
	Tamala David, PhD, MPA, MS, FNP, Associate Professor Improving access to safe, secure, and affordable housing Research Interest: Older adults; community-dwelling, non-institutionalized persons; families; populations; sign language users; persons with disabilities (physical, intellectual, developmental, etc.); care at home; recreation, leisure, and socialization related health promotion for older adults, persons with disabilities, and families of older adults and persons with disabilities; barriers to community living or older adults, persons with disabilities, and sign language users.
	Timothy Dye, MS, PhD, MA, MPA, Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: The Dye Lab prioritizes creative engagement with underrepresented and marginalized communities around the world to address health priorities, often through technology and human-centered design. We view humans in their ecological context, understanding that social, biological, environmental, and other factors interact to impact health and illness, and that structural barriers often preclude ethical engagement of indigenous, marginalized, and underrepresented peoples in the scientific enterprise.	Email Lab
	Tracy Webber, RN, CNM, DNP, Assistant Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Of late, my research has been centered around Black Maternal Health Equity. Black women are 3-4 times more likely to die during pregnancy and childbirth in the United States. My graduate research focused on Black, enslaved women practicing midwifery.	Email
	Tramanh Phan, MD, Assistant Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: My aspiration is to reduce healthcare disparities and improve access to quality care, especially for underrepresented groups via effective and evidence-based community health initiatives and community-based participatory research. Health Service Research	Email
	Courtney M Jones, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor Preventing Gun Violence Research Interest: Jones' interests are related to health equity in the emergency care setting, including the ambulance and emergency department. She is also interested in how implicit bias influences the quality of care patients receive in emergency room settings and how that influences disparate outcomes.	Email
	Beau Abar, PhD, Associate Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Abar's research focuses on eliminating barriers to preventive care services by using the Emergency Department as an entry point to the health care system. Cancer prevention Cancer screening
	Danielle C Alcéna-Stiner, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor Preventing Gun Violence Research Interest: Alcena-Stiners' research addresses health disparities related to infectious disease health literacy and implementing interventions informed by adolescent populations from communities that have been made vulnerable.
	Jeffrey Alexis, MD, Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: My research focuses on outcomes in patients with left ventricular assist devices with a particular interest in outcomes in Black LVAD patients and access to care.	Email
	Andrew Aligne, MD, MPH, Associate Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: Aligne uses upstream interventions to address equity gaps in social determinants of health, e.g., early literacy, evidence-based sexual education, access to healthy food and beverages, tobacco control, healthy home environments, overcrowding, and other risk factors for epidemic disease.	Email
	Paula Amina ALIO, PhD, Associate Professor Decreasing re-incarceration rates through policy Research Interest: Maternal and Child Health, Reproductive and sexual health, Global Health, HIV/AIDS	Email
	Shubing Cai, PhD, Associate Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: Racial, ethnic and socioeconomic status related disparities in access to and quality of care
	Francisco Cartujano-Barrera, PhD, Assistant Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Cartujano works on the development and implementation of culturally accommodated interventions for cancer prevention and control (e.g., tobacco control) among underserved and underrepresented populations (e.g., Black and Latino individuals). Latinos	Email Lab
	Catherine Cerulli, JD, PhD, Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: I study violence prevention and response as people move through time accessing services.	Email Lab
	John Cullen, PhD, Professor of Clinical Preventing gun violence Research Interest: Broad interest in health equity research in relation to the systemic inequities that lead to health disparities. Currently working on vaccine hesitancy in rural areas and better documenting bruising on darker skin tones.	Email
	Joyce Duckles, PhD, Associate Professor Preventing Gun Violence Research Interest: Duckles builds research collaborations and partnerships within the Beechwood neighborhood. Her students assist her work with community members as co-researchers, co-implementers, co-authors, and co-activists. Her team's health equity research emerges from community concerns and activism and has spanned issues of food security, engaging older adults in health research, historical impacts of dislocation and urban renewal, and most recently, the creation of intergenerational safe spaces for our youth and families as they navigate violence in our community.
	Alison Elder, PhD, Associate Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: I am interested in gaining a better understanding of how inequities impact responses to ambient air pollution, particularly in the context of global climate change.	Lab
	Isabel Fernandez, MPH, MD, PhD, Associate Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: I am currently focused on a subset of the rural population, Mexican Immigrant Farmworkers. Reasons for health inequities: poor access to language and culturally competent health services, lack or incomplete health insurance, discrimination, lack of documentation, weak labor laws, etc.	Email
	Nikesha Gilmore, PhD, Assistant Professor Improving access to safe, secure, and affordable housing Research Interest: Gilmore's lab research revolves around health equity and removing barriers to increase diversity.	Email
	Shirley Green, EdD, NA Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: Green is interested in building a coalition of support and services for youth dealing with trauma and mental health, the prevention of gun violence, and a consistent approach to trauma informed care, restorative practice, and mediation.
	Jonathan Herington, PhD, Assistant Professor Improving access to safe, secure, and affordable housing Research Interest: I work mostly in the ethics of machine learning and healthcare, including work in algorithmic fairness and community preferences. I have additional minor research interests in the research ethics of healthy housing research (especially report back of research results), and end of life care for incarcerated persons.	Email Lab
	Elaine Hill, PhD, Associate Professor Improving access to safe, secure, and affordable housing Research Interest: health economics and health policy; reproductive justice; environmental justice; COVID, substance abuse, mental health; climate change; causal inference and data science	Lab
	Stefanie Hollenbach, MD, MS, Assistant Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: I strive to leverage my unique perspective as both a Biomedical Engineer and a Maternal Fetal Medicine physician towards application of novel analytic techniques to obstetric and community data. My overarching goal is to contribute an improved understanding of the interrelation between socioeconomic structures and disparate obstetric outcomes.	Email
	Suzannah Iadarola, PhD, Associate Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: Programs to support goals and preferences of people with disabilities and their families, including those with intersectional lived experience of disability and other historically excluded identities autism	Email
	Ashley Jenkins, MD, Assistant Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Jenkins focuses on improving equitable health care access and delivery for people with childhood-onset conditions. With a particular focus on intersectional population health (e.g., Black person with sickle cell disease, or Latina with a developmental disability).	Email
	Charles Kamen, MPH, PhD, Associate Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Cancer health equity, sexual and gender minority health equity sexual	Email Lab
	Natalie Leblanc, PhD, MPH, RN, BSN, Assistant Professor Decreasing re-incarceration rates through policy Research Interest: Leblanc approaches research through multiple lenses, including holistic, womanism/humanism, post-positivist/modernist, asset-based, decolonizing and Pan-Africanism. Her research focuses primarily on sexual health promotion, including HIV prevention, care, and treatment across non-heteronormative, couples, and Black populations. She also investigates health provider and system-level sexual health promotion including couple-centered and increasingly family-based approaches.
	Molly McNulty, JD, Assistant professor of public health law Decreasing re-incarceration rates through policy Research Interest: Focus on public health law and policies affecting access to health care for underrepresented women, children, and youth access	Email
	Erica Miller, MD, Assistant Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Miller's focus is health equity education research, using health analytics literacy to assess disparities and evaluate quality improvement work with an equity focus.
	Andrea Milne Wenderlich, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: Milne Wenderlich is a pediatrician focused on children and adolescents. Her previous research has focused on telemedicine, ADHD, and mental health disorders.
	Supriya Mohile, MD, MS, Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Health equity in geriatric oncology older adults with cancer	Email
	Diane Morse, MD, Associate Professor Decreasing re-incarceration rates through policy Research Interest: Morse studies health services among medically underserved populations, mostly women who are involved in criminal/legal system. Because of disproportionate arrest and incarceration of people of color and those who are impoverished, there is significant overlap with individual and structural racism. She uses community based participatory research qualitative and quantitative strategies.	Email
	Corey Nichols-Hadeed, JD, Associate Preventing Gun Violence Research Interest: Nichols-Hadeed's research explores the impact of policy, law, and research on health outcomes, with a focus on violence prevention across the lifespan. violence prevention	Email
	Deborah Ossip, MS, PhD, Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Differences in tobacco marketing, use, and outcomes by race, ethnicity, other abled; development and testing of interventions to address disparities and improve equity; overall health outcomes and interventions to address disparities; community-partnered and community-based participatory research.	Email Lab
	Clare Park, DO, Assistant Professor of Medicine Improving access to safe, secure, and affordable housing Research Interest: I am part of the core team planning the implementation of a URMC Hospital at Home (HaH). I am planning to incorporate health equity outcomes in our metrics and collaborate with HERCI members for scholarly output re: HaH.	Email
	Eleen Poleshuck, PhD, Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: Poleshuck's research focuses on efforts to improve equity among women with unmet mental health and social needs. She is particularly interested in interventions and services research to prevent and treat mental health conditions in perinatal people.
	Maria Quiñones-Cordero, PhD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: Integrating community-engaged approaches to cultural adaptation and development of behavioral interventions for Latino dementia caregivers Cultural	Email
	Rajeev Ramchandran, MD, MBA, Associate Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Ramchandran researches how best to develop and deploy interventions and strategies to create an equitable population health system for eye care that reaches people before they become eye care patients. His methodologies include dissemination and implementation science, health outcomes research, and systems-based and community-based participatory research.	Email
	Cynthia Rand, MPH, MD, Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: I am a pediatrician and health services researcher-- my research focused on immunization delivery for HPV vaccination to reduce cervical and head & neck cancers, and Flu/Tdap/COVID vaccination for pregnant people. I also have a T32 Primary Care fellowship focused on reducing health disparities-- my trainees are working on gun violence prevention, diabetes care in an underserved population, PREP training for providers, and breastfeeding for black mothers.	Lab
	Katherine Rizzone, MD, MPH, Associate Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Rizzone has two primary foci: 1) increasing physical activity in populations historically known to have lower physical activity rates and 2) improved management of non-operative osteoarthritis care, which has a number of associated health disparities.
	Gretchen Roman, DPT, PhD, PT, Assistant Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: My primary area of research investigates how the occupational health of interpreters is critical for reducing communication barriers that have resulted in inequities for deaf communities.	Email
	Lainie Ross, MD, PhD, Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Interest in vulnerable populations; interest in the intersection of race and social determinants of health; interest in gender equity equity	Email
	Mechelle Sanders PhD, Assistant Proffesor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: Sanders is a health services researcher with a focus on health equity and implementation science in primary care. Her current research examines the feasibility and acceptability of training peer-health coaches to improve shared decision making among primary care patients with low health literacy that are at risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
	Edward Schwarz, PhD, Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: My primary HER is working with RCSD students in Champion Academy and CHAMPP, and improving clinical outcomes of underrepresented minority patients with musculoskeletal disease and injuries.	Email Lab
	Arielle Sheftall, PhD, Associate Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: I am interested in understanding the disparities present in youth mental health. My primary focus is on Black youth suicidal behavior and mental health.	Lab
	Caroline Silva, PhD, Assistant Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: Silva's previous research has examined interpersonal risk factors for suicide using the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide. In particular, she has studied the role of two forms of social disconnection - thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness - in suicide risk among high-risk populations, including sexual minorities, military service members, and clinical outpatients. Her current program of research focuses on integrating the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide with cultural determinants of health to inform the development and evaluation of suicide prevention interventions for at-risk Hispanics, particularly primary Spanish-speaking adults.
	Silvia Sörensen, PhD, Associate Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: Sorensen's research focuses on older adults, individuals with visual impairments, caregivers of adults with dementia, and more recently, adults of all ages with exposure to structural inequities. Her work involves psycho-educational interventions, conducted both as clinical trials as well as less formal evaluation processes. Her current work is with the City of Rochester and its Finger Lakes Public Health AmeriCorps program, as well as Maria Quiñones on “engaging older Latino caregivers in design of a cultural adaptation clinical trial." Future work includes working as an investigator on a project to replicate Quiñones' process with a group of Latino older adults with vision loss.	Lab
	Laura Stamm, PhD, Assistant Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: I am interested in LGBTQ+ health (with a particular interest in care for transgender and gender-diverse patients) and community-based participatory research that amplifies the voices of marginalized communities. I primarily use qualitative methods.	Email
	Karen F. Stein, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Stein's research focuses on eating behaviors and weight concerns of Western New York farmworkers and their families. Her initial work, supported by an National Institute of Nursing Research R21 grant, focused on the exploration and measurement of unhealthy eating and weight control behaviors of adult women from the farmworker community. Subsequently, she has received funding from the Mother Cabrini Foundation to develop a deeper understanding of the cultural traditions, values, and environmental conditions that influence eating behaviors of farmworker families. Her team is currently working to develop a healthy eating intervention deliverable by smartphone for this population.
	Jessica Stern, MD, Assistant Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: I am interested in the use of implementation science, community engaged research and an environmental justice lens to improve outcomes for marginalized populations with allergic disease.
	Caroline P. Thirukumaran, MBBS, MHA, PhD, Assistant Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Thirukumaran focuses on the influence of orthopedic health policies on the post-operative outcomes of orthopedic surgeries and disparities in those outcomes.	Email Lab
	Loralei Thornberg, MD, Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: ongoing interest in assuring access to equitable care for pregnant people.
	Paul Tremblay, RN, BSN, BSME, Nurse Lead Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Addressing gaps in care and the correcting of disparities in well-being/health outcomes. Development and testing of interventions for pediatric asthma, with broader application to chronic illness. Intention to participate in real-world, actionable implementation of research evaluated evidence shown to improve population health. Foster engagement and inform meaningful systems change using human-centered design thinking and community-engaged participatory methods.	Email Lab
	Kim Van Orden, PhD, Associate Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: Social determinants of health in later life, including social connection and suicide prevention. My work addresses ageism. I also mentor researchers in suicide prevention in minority and marginalized populations, including Hispanic adults and the Deaf community.	Email Lab
	Jennifer Vermilion, MD, Assistant Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: I am interested in improving representation of diverse racial and ethnic groups within my research in pediatric movement disorders. There is a large overlap between movement disorders and psychiatric symptoms, so I am also interested in improving representation of these communities in mental health research.	Email
	Tanya N Wallace-Farquharson, PhD, RN, Departmental Fellow Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Wallace-Farquharson's work focuses on: 1) advancing equity in pulmonary care and management among urban-dwelling children and adolescents with sickle cell and concomitant asthma, and 2) design and testing of multiprong interventions that work at the individual, system, and structural level to reduce inequities in asthma risk and access to health care services, such as asthma screening.
	Jennifer West, PhD, Associate Professor Preventing Gun Violence Research Interest: West describes herself as an emerging health researcher, interested in reducing injury and death due to firearms, which disproportionately impact members of historically marginalized groups (Black, Latino, Native American, LGBTQI+, individuals with mental illness). Recently, her work has focused on educating providers to ask about firearm ownership and address safe storage.	Email
	Marsha Wittink, MD, MBE, Associate Professor Improving chronic disease prevention and management Research Interest: Wittink's clinical work and research focuses on people with severe mental illnesses, including schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. She is also interested in populations with housing insecurity and cognitive disabilities.	Lab
	Jamie Wooldridge, MD, Professor Improving access to safe, secure, and affordable housing Research Interest: I'm working to population health initiatives to insure all children with asthma in Monroe county receive appropriate care to prevent exacerbations. Pediatrics Asthma Population Health	Email
	Jeffrey Yaeger, MPH, MD, Associate Professor Improving access to safe, secure, and affordable housing Research Interest: I use population data, community-based participatory research principles, and mixed methods approaches to identify and understand child health disparities. By doing so, my team and I seek to develop, test, refine, and implement targeted interventions to reduce these disparities.	Email
	Reza Yousefi Nooraie, MSc, PhD, Assistant Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: I study the social aspects of health, including the effect of social support on wellbeing, communication and mistrusts between patients and health systems, and social network interventions to connect and support minoritized communities. I also study equitable implementation of health innovations in clinics and communities.	Email
	Chen Zhang, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: Zhang works on reducing health inequity in the HIV care continuum and improving sexual wellness among underrepresented groups.	Email
	Christine Zizzi, MPA, Associate Promoting well-being to prevent mental health and substance use disorders Research Interest: Community engagement in neurologic disorders (e.g. brain health workshops); bringing community-based participatory research into neurology; health policy (improving access and quality)	Lab