From Inquiry To Action
Mount Sinai-Royalty Pharma Alliance for Health Equity Research
2024 Research Forum
Join us for a day to learn more about exciting research being conducted at the Institute for Health Equity Research alongside our partners and collaborators.
From Inquiry To Action
Mount Sinai-Royalty Pharma
Alliance for Health Equity Research
2024 Research Forum
Join us for a day to learn more about exciting research being conducted at the Insitute for Health Equity Research alongside our partners and collaborators.
Agenda2024 Research Forum
This event will bring together community, academic, clinical, policy and funder stakeholders who will showcase different approaches to advance health equity.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Featured Speakers
Associate Director for Gender Equity in the Office of Gender Equity at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Bio
Devin Madden, PhD
Associate Director for Gender Equity in the Office of Gender Equity at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiDevin Madden (she/they) is the Associate Director for Gender Equity in the Office of Gender Equity at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City where they also collaborate on community-engaged research efforts within the Institute for Health Equity Research. Devin has worked in public health for over a decade on community-centered initiatives from improving active design in schools and facilitating healthier local food retail environments to building safe, supportive school spaces for LGBTQ youth and fostering access to youth-friendly clinic providers. Devin recently received their PhD in education and leadership at Pacific University where she applied a diversity, equity, inclusion and systems thinking lens to participatory narrative inquiry research on bisexual+ mental wellbeing disparities and belonging. Collaboration, participatory methods of engagement and research, and storytelling are pillars of Devin’s work towards equity.
Executive Director of the HOPE Center
Bio
Lena Green, DSW, LCSW
Executive Director of the HOPE CenterDr. Green currently serves as the executive director of the HOPE Center, a community based mental health clinic connected to the historic First Corinthian Baptist Church. Prior to her role at the HOPE Center, Dr. Green held several positions in NYC government including the Deputy Director of the Office of Substance Use, Policy, Planning and Monitoring at NYC’s Human Resources Administration (HRA). In her more than 20 years of direct practice and management experience as a clinical social worker, psychotherapist, fatherhood practitioner, professor and administrator, Dr. Green has had a tremendous impact on countless New Yorkers. She is skilled in various areas of mental health, program planning, development, clinical supervision and building strategic partnerships.
A licensed clinical social worker, Dr. Green’s research interests include mental health, trauma informed clinical practices, fatherhood, maternal health, pregnant and parenting families, child-parent attachment and perinatal mood disorders. Dr. Green has a deep commitment to community, working with underserved and marginalized populations. Her work explores the experiences of young fathers and the impact on paternal involvement on family dynamics. She is devoted to promoting open dialogue around the de-stigmitazation of father absence, men’s mental health, and ensuring that all children have access to both parents in a safe co-parenting environment.
Dr. Green, a native of Harlem, NYC, holds both a doctorate and master’s degree in social work from New York University (NYU) and received her undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Dr. Green completed post-master’s certificates in Advance Clinical Practice from Hunter College, and the Treatment of Alcohol and Drug Addicted Clients from NYU. Dr. Green serves on several boards throughout the northeast and is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Program Director, Institute for Health Equity Research
Bio
Michelle Ramos, MPH
Program Director, Institute for Health Equity ResearchMichelle Ramos, MPH, was born and raised in the Mission District of San Francisco, California by a single mother and grandmother, who immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador. She completed her undergraduate education at The University of California at Berkeley, then worked at Stanford University in chronic disease management research. Ms. Ramos went on to receive her MPH from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2008, she began working at Mount Sinai and since then has managed numerous clinical trials and other research projects focused on the inclusion of highly diverse populations spanning the life cycle. Ms. Ramos is married and has three children, ages 12, 10, and 7. You can usually find her and her family on a soccer or baseball field, enjoying a little of the upstate New York life or traveling and exploring new places worldwide. Ms. Ramos is currently a Program Director in IHER overseeing a portfolio of genomics research projects.
Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Institute for Health Equity Research
Bio
Kimberly Souffront, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, FAAN
Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Institute for Health Equity ResearchDr. Kimberly Souffront, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, FAAN (She/Her), is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Faculty of the Institute for Health Equity Research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She also serves as the Director of the Center for Nursing Research & Innovation for the Mount Sinai Health System.
As an emergency-trained Nurse Practitioner, Dr. Souffront is nationally recognized for her expertise in emergency-based clinical research, focusing on asymptomatic hypertension and healthcare disparities. Dr. Souffront has been supported as Principal Investigator by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and numerous private foundations. Notably, she is an alumna of a Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators, awarded to only 10 exemplary Nurse Scientists across the country in 2021. Her innovative research advances health equity for emergency department patients who have asymptomatic hypertension, using blood biomarkers, bioinformatics, and telehealth. Dr. Souffront established a first-of-its-kind NIH-funded program that offers translational research opportunities for underrepresented minority nursing students.
In 2021, she founded and serves as the Editor-in-Chief of an international peer-reviewed journal, Practical Implementation of Nursing Science, highlighting diverse perspectives in clinical nursing and advancing the nursing profession. She has been recognized as Nurse Researcher of the Year by the Black Nurses Association (2019) and Junior Faculty of the Year by the ISMMS (2023). A Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Nursing, Dr. Souffront earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Northeastern University (’01), her Master of Science in Nursing and Family Nurse Practitioner degree from Pace University (’05), and her PhD (’13) and Post Doctoral Fellowship (’14) from NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing.
Kimberly T. Souffront PhD, RN, FNP-BC, FAAN
Director, Center for Nursing Research and Innovation
Mount Sinai Health System
Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine
Faculty, Institute for Health Equity Research
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Founder and Editor in Chief, Practical Implementation of Nursing Science
Coordinator of Behavioral Health at African Services Committee, Inc.
Bio
Nathalie J. Weeks, LMSW/MBA
Coordinator of Behavioral Health at African Services Committee, Inc.Nathalie obtained two Masters’ degrees from Columbia University’s Schools of Social Work and Business. Her professional career has consisted of increasingly substantive administrative responsibility in government and not-for-profit sectors, spanning areas of social services, HIV/AIDS, early education and mental health programs all dedicated to diverse populations.
Training health care professionals in HIV/AIDS prevention brought her back to Africa in the late 80’s, after having served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Nigeria in the 60’s. Most recently she was a Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Zambia until the pandemic forced the evacuation of all U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers from overseas. As an administrator and a program developer, she has always carved out time for volunteer pursuits, both at home and abroad.
Most recently, she was a Lecturer/Asst. Professor at CUNY while counseling Africans and Afro Caribbeans at African Services Committee, Inc. in New York City. She continues to provide professional counseling services there and is their Coordinator of Behavioral Health. Nathalie is the proud mother of three children and nine remarkable grandchildren.
Program Manager, Institute for Health Equity Research
Bio
Catherine Squirewell, MPH
Program Manager, Institute for Health Equity ResearchSupportive Housing Director at Osborne Association
Bio
Christina Green
Supportive Housing Director at Osborne AssociationChristina Green is the Supportive Housing Director at Osborne Association. She began her career working as a Community Health Worker (CHW) at the Osborne Association for Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s NYC Health Justice Network (HJN) Program, was promoted to CHW Supervisor and later promoted to Director of the HJN Program.
Formerly incarcerated herself, she is an avid speaker and advocate for persons who are justice impacted, specifically those in elder reentry, substance use recovery, and survivors of trauma and trafficking. Christina is a member of several advisory boards including the Justice Peer Initiative and the NYU Research to Engage and Affirm the Community about Health Equity (REACH) Community Advisory Board.
Christina has frequently appeared on podcasts to advance her advocacy including “Sisteration Room with Lonett Williams” in May of 2023, “I Should Have Listened to My Mother with Jackie Tantillo” in June of 2023 and “Not Born Yesterday” in July of 2023. Additionally, she contributed as a panelist at the John Jay College Reentry Simulation in May of 2023, the United States Attorney’s Office Eastern District of NY Reentry Simulation in July of 2023 and the Corporation for Supportive Housing 2023 Conference. Most recently, she was interviewed by the New York Times in April of 2023 for “The Era of Mass Incarceration”, by Fox 5 in July of 2023 for the “Good Day Street Talk”, and by “Public Health Talk” Fund for Public Health NYC in October of 2022. Christina attended Hobe College and is a graduate of The Navigator Program for Human Services and Community Justice at John Jay College.
Associate Pastor of Bethel Gospel Assembly
Bio
Rev. Dr. Mimsie Robinson
Associate Pastor of Bethel Gospel AssemblyAs an associate pastor of Bethel Gospel Assembly in New York City, Dr. Robinson has been giving leadership to the local and global outreach efforts at Bethel Gospel Assembly since 1999. In 2009, Dr. Robinson helped plant a church known as, Living Water Christian Center, a bilingual French and English congregation, affiliated with Bethel Gospel Assembly which serves the spiritual needs of the growing number of French-speaking West African immigrants in New York City. He continues to serve as the executive pastor for this ministry. Dr. Robinson has a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Brown University, a Master of Arts in Science Education from New York University along with two other Masters degrees from Alliance Theological Seminary. In December 2019, he completed his Doctor of Missiology (Applied Intercultural Studies) with the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. Dr. Robinson is also the chairman of the board of Beth-Hark Christian Counseling Center, a non-profit organization which serves as the social service arm of Bethel Gospel Assembly; providing a soup kitchen, food pantry, mental health counseling along with a variety of health workshops.
Dr. Robinson has extensive involvement with community health through the Mount Sinai Health System which began in 2003 with participation on the Community Advisory Board. He has collaborated on community health publications related to community based participatory research, health disparities and medical topics such as diabetes and genomics. As someone who completed his premedical studies, was accepted to medical school, but turned away from this path to pursue careers in ministry and education, he sees his present involvement with community health as a God-given opportunity to fulfill a long-term goal of improving health conditions in economically challenged communities. Dr. Robinson and his wife, Beverly Lynn, have been married for thirty-six years and reside in the Harlem community. Together, they give leadership to the Married Couples Ministry of Bethel. They have two married adult children, Michelle and David, who are both followers of Christ, two grandsons and many spiritual sons and daughters.
Program Director, RiseBoro Community Partnership
Bio
Christopher Leto
Program Director, RiseBoro Community PartnershipChristopher Leto is currently the Program Director for RiseBoro Community Partnership. Chris has been with RiseBoro for nine years as the head of their health and wellness programs. Prior to coming to RiseBoro, Chris spent 15 years in Austin Texas as the Operations Manager for AGE of Austin, a program designed to help both senior citizens and provide below market rental spaces for start up nonprofits. Chris then became the CEO of a small affordable housing program called Blackland CDC before moving back to NYC in 2015.
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Institute for Health Equity Research
Bio
Marcee Wilder, MD, MS, MPH
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Institute for Health Equity ResearchMarcee Wilder, MD, MS, MPH, is a board-certified emergency medicine physician, health services researcher, and is an Assistant Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in the Department of Emergency Medicine. She received a B.S. in Biology from Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia in 2003. After college, she completed a master’s degree in public health at Brooklyn College. She then worked for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for 4 years as a research associate and served as an adjunct professor at the Brooklyn College School of Public Health. She completed an M.D. at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington D.C, and returned to New York to attend residency at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. While at Mount Sinai, she participated in and developed several clinical studies examining racial disparities in emergency department care. After residency she completed a 2-year clinical research fellowship at George Washington University (GWU), focusing on disparities and health outcomes. During her fellowship she was awarded funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to examine social determinants of health and their effect on health outcomes. She also completed a master’s degree in clinical and translational research during this time. After serving as faculty at GWU for 5 years, Marcee returned to Mount Sinai to continue as research faculty at the Institute of Health Equity Research in 2023.
As a full-time researcher, she now focuses on how social determinants of health impact healthcare utilization and health outcomes in uncontrolled hypertensive patients. She hopes to identify effective interventions that link emergency patients to ongoing care while addressing social adversities such as food insecurity, housing instability, etc., which will significantly improve health outcomes through increased self-efficacy. Marcee believes this research has the potential to mitigate the number of patients who will develop hypertensive heart failure or hypertension related renal failure in the future, which may change the landscape of the racial and ethnic disparities in patients diagnosed with this chronic disease.
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Population Health and Policy
Bio
Utsha Khatri, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Population Health and PolicyUtsha G. Khatri is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Population Health and Policy, and a research faculty member at the Institute for Health Equity Research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is an emergency physician and health services researcher with a focus on enhancing access, outcomes, and equity in health care for structurally marginalized populations. Dr. Khatri’s research primarily addresses the healthcare needs of individuals and communities impacted by mass incarceration and substance use disorders.
Her current work is supported by a career development award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Dr. Khatri practices as an attending emergency physician at both Mount Sinai Hospital, an academic medical center, and Elmhurst Hospital Center, a public hospital, in New York City, where she also teaches and mentors students and residents. She currently serves on the Board of Directors and as co-chair of the Research Committee of the Academic Consortium on Criminal Justice Health.
Mount Sinai Endowed Professor of Emergency Medicine and Health Equity Science, Co- Director, Institute for Health Equity Research
Bio
Lynne D. Richardson, MD, FACEP
Mount Sinai Endowed Professor of Emergency Medicine and Health Equity Science, Co- Director, Institute for Health Equity ResearchLynne D. Richardson, MD, FACEP, is the Mount Sinai Endowed Professor of Emergency Medicine and Health Equity Science and founding Co-Director of the Institute for Health Equity Research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. A practicing emergency physician, she is a nationally recognized expert in health services research who has made highly influential contributions to eliminating healthcare disparities in both the research and policy arenas. Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Centers for Disease Control, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. She is skilled in the use of clinical and administrative data to investigate issues of access, quality and equity; in developing and assessing the effectiveness of strategies to eliminate healthcare disparities; and in designing innovative models of care. A native of Harlem, New York, Dr. Richardson graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Bachelor’s degrees in Life Sciences and Management and received her MD degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Richardson is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, and serves on the Board on Health Sciences Policy of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Associate, Data Science at Royalty Pharma
Bio
Sarah Dudgeon
Associate, Data Science at Royalty PharmaSarah Dudgeon is an Associate, Data Science at Royalty Pharma (RP). Dudgeon contributes to the Strategy and Analytics team under Dr. Sandy Balkin. She develops generative tools and analytics to support RP diligence and build investment theses.
Before RP, Dudgeon was a founding member of the FDA’s Digital Health program regulating software as a medical device. At the Agency, she specialized in image analysis for digital pathology, V&V methods, and data format standardization. Dudgeon received her PhD in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics at Yale University, where she investigated real world data applications in quantum machine learning and graph analysis in the Schulz lab. She received her MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health specializing in Epidemiology and Biostatistics and BS from University of Michigan in Kinesiology with minor in Engineering.
Associate Professor, Director of the Geospatial Health Research Lab at the Institute for Health Equity Research
Bio
Andrew Maroko, PhD
Associate Professor, Director of the Geospatial Health Research Lab at the Institute for Health Equity ResearchAndrew is the Director of the Geospatial Health Research Lab at the Institute for Health Equity Research, and Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health and Health Policy at Icahn School of Medicine at Mt Sinai. Andrew’s background is in Public and Environmental Health as well as Environmental Science and Geography. His research is centered around social determinants of health, exposure, access, environmental (in)justice, and methodological improvement in the spatial sciences. This has resulted in a wide variety of studies and topics, ranging from analyses of extreme weather events on HIV care, to spatio-statistical exploration of neighborhood social determinants of health and COVID, to equity issues around public restrooms and menstrual health and hygiene.
Assistant Professor, Departments of Population Health Science and Policy, Environmental Science and Medicine, Institute for Health Equity Research
Bio
Diddier Prada, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Departments of Population Health Science and Policy, Environmental Science and Medicine, Institute for Health Equity ResearchDr. Diddier Prada is an environmental and molecular epidemiologist focusing on environmental toxicants’ role in age-related conditions. Dr. Prada attended his Medical School in Colombia (South America), was trained in Internal Medicine and did his PhD in Biomedical Sciences at the National University of Mexico (UNAM). After this, he did his postdoctorate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, MA. For some years, Dr. Prada was a Researcher in Biomedical Science at the National Cancer Institute in Mexico City and then an Associate Research Scientist at the Mailman School of Public Health in NYC. Since 2023, Dr. Prada has been an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Health Equity Research, affiliated with the Department of Population Health Science and Policy and the Department of Environmental Medicine and Climate Science at the Icahn School of Public Health in Mount Sinai. Dr. Prada’s research was selected as NIEHS/NIH’s Paper of the Month in 2017 and again in 2023, as well as the 2023 NIEHS Paper of the Year. Since 2024, Dr. Prada has also been a Mount Sinai Biomedical Laureate at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Some other Dr. Prada honors include two National Awards in Clinical Research in Mexico in 2017 and the Health Disparities Program Enrichment Award at Harvard University in 2015. Dr. Prada’s current research interests aim to discover how environmental injustices, including those related to climate change, ‘get under the skin’ of those more vulnerable and increase disease risk.
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Institute for Health Equity Research
Bio
Donald "DJ" Apakama Jr., M.D., M.S.
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Institute for Health Equity ResearchDr. Donald “DJ” Apakama Jr., M.D., M.S., is a pioneering figure in Emergency Medicine and Artificial Intelligence. As an Assistant Professor at Mount Sinai Beth Israel and Mount Sinai Hospital, he applies data science to enhance healthcare outcomes.
Dr. Apakama’s diverse academic background includes an M.S. in Clinical Nutrition from Columbia University, an M.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and an ongoing M.S. in Biomedical Informatics at Oregon Health and Science University. He completed his Emergency Medicine residency at Mount Sinai Hospital, where he also served as Chief Resident and undertook a T-32 Clinical Research Fellowship.
His current research focuses on using data science for identifying Social Determinants of Health in Emergency Department heart failure patients, investigating EMR documentation bias, and developing automated ED triage systems. These initiatives aim to improve patient care, health equity, and emergency service efficiency.
Dr. Apakama co-hosts the Stat AI Podcast, exploring the intersection of AI and Emergency Medicine. Available on major platforms, it offers insights into healthcare’s future. Through his work, Dr. Apakama is not just practicing medicine—he’s reshaping its future at the crossroads of technology and patient care.
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Insititute for Health Equity Research
Bio
Louisa Holaday, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Insititute for Health Equity ResearchDr. Holaday is a primary care physician and health services researcher whose work focuses on the effects of neighborhood and community on health, particularly the spillover effects of mass incarceration. She completed medical school at the University of Michigan, where she did her undergraduate work with a focus in Metropolitan Studies. She was born and raised in New York City, and returned home for residency in Primary Care/Social Internal Medicine at Montefiore, where she was Chief Resident. Following residency, she did a research fellowship at the National Clinician Scholars Program at Yale University.
Leon and Norma Hess Center for Science and Medicine
Location
1470 Madison Avenue, New York, NY
Date: October 25, 2024
Time: 9:00am-4:30pm