UP-CARE Team
Ramin Asgary, MD, MPH, MSc, FASTMH
raminasgary1
email [dot] gwu [dot] edu (raminasgary1[at]gwu[dot]edu)
Dr. Asgary is Professor of Global Health and Medicine at George Washington University and Clinical Professor of Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is the PI and Director of UP-CARE lab. He is a health services researcher and global public health educator and practitioner. Primarily trained as an internal medicine physician with further specialization in both preventive medicine and implementation research, he has complementary training in public health, tropical medicine, community medicine, clinical and translational research, and comparative effectiveness research. He has substantial experience and expertise in research, education, program development and implementation, and academic and service leadership, nationally and internationally. His research focus is on some overarching areas of public health, preventive medicine, healthcare education, and community service, nationally and internationally. His groundbreaking original research has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Lancet Oncology, British Medical Journal, Am J of Public Health, PLoS Medicine, Academic Medicine, Preventive Medicine and Am J of Bioethics, among others.
Professor Asgary has a strong track record of health disparities research and on the models of improving the healthcare of immigrants and homeless persons, qualitative studies on perceptions and attitude towards healthcare among low-income populations and evaluating cancer screening strategies in homeless persons. He has performed the first studies on the rates and barriers of colon, cervical and breast cancer screening among homeless persons, and tested shelter level interventions to improve breast and cervical cancer screening. He has studied perceptions and experience on cancer screening and mobile health technologies in homeless persons. He wrote two related review articles in Lancet Oncology and conducted mHealth studies to improve access to healthcare. He was the PI of two RCTs assessing the impact of SMS texting in controlling HTN and diabetes in homeless persons and is the PI of an RCT evaluating the impact of SMS texting on colorectal cancer screening among homeless persons.
For the past 15 years, Dr. Asgary has provided direct medical care to homeless persons in NYC shelters, and worked with community organizations and NYC agencies in devising and implementing sound policies to improve their access to care.
Pramita Bagchi, PhD
Dr. Bagchi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, in the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. She works in developing computationally efficient statistical methodology for analysis with a high focus on high dimensional and functional observations. Dr. Bagchi is the biostatistician of two RCTs on using SMS texting to improve hypertension and diabetes control among homeless persons that are under Professor Asgary’s lab. She is the biostatistician on a recent R01 grant to study colorectal cancer screening among the homeless persons using SMS texting, in NYC.
Leah Bauder, MPH
Leah a graduate of MPH in Global Health from George Washington University. She serves as part-time Study Coordinator in Dr. Asgary’s lab for multiple mHealth studies with homeless persons.
Mesh Naderi, MD, MSc
Dr. Naderi is Scientific Director at Clinical Research Associates. She is a clinical and health services researcher and brings considerable experience to our projects in the design and implementation of practice-based research that utilize interventions addressing vulnerable populations. She has extensive experience in qualitative research methods and use of technologies as an assessment and intervention tool. Drs. Naderi and Asgary have previously worked together and published multiple studies on NCDs and their predictors among homeless persons and immigrants. She helps on the design of the mobile health intervention, adaption of study processes and intervention content in relation to care provision to this vulnerable population, the development of components of the screening strategies, and the analysis of the SMS data and qualitative components.
TBD
Scientific Advisor
Miranda Von Dornum, MD, PhD
Dr. von Dornum is Chief Medical Officer of Project Renewal, a non-for-profit organizations supporting homeless persons in several shelters across New York City. She is a collaborator in Dr. Asgary’s lab in research studies among homeless persons in New York City.
Joya Bhattacharyya, MPH
Joya is an upcoming Graduate Research Assistant and a part-time Study Coordinator in Dr. Asgary’s lab. She is a PhD candidate in Epidemiology at George Washington School of Public Health.
Abby Strait
Abby is an undergraduate student at GWU. She serves as research assistant on a few projects in Dr. Asgary’s lab.
Sylvia Shirima, DrPH
Dr. Shirima is a DrPH graduate from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. She will function as a postdoc and Senior Research Associate in Dr. Asgary’s lab.