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COLLABORATION

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Our collaborative includes Columbia Irving Medical Center, Hunter College-City University of New York (Hunter-CUNY), New York Presbyterian (NYP) Hospital System, Northwell Health, Physician Affiliate Group of New York (PAGNY), Weill Cornell Medical Center (WCMC) and a network of community partners who are committed to fostering community wellness.

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The COMMUNITY Center vision is rooted in public health which recognizes that medical advances alone can only partially reduce the burden of disease and that reducing health disparities in chronic diseases requires improving the health and wellness of individuals, families, communities and societies throughout life.

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COMMUNITY is funded by the National Institute on Minority Health And Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health under

Award Number P50MD017250

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COMMUNITY Center
Multiple Principle Investigators 

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Dr. Elizabeth Cohn 
RN, PhD

Dr. Cohn is a Professor of Nursing, an Obama White House Champion of Change in Health Equity, and the current Vice Provost for Hunter College in the City University of New York. She is a 15-year Board member of the Communities of Harlem Health Revival, a group of faith-based and community-based organizations in Harlem, New York that fosters health in mind, body and spirit for residents of Central Harlem. 

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Dr. Erica Phillips 
MD, MS

Dr. Phillips is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, Director of the Office of Community Outreach and Engagement for the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center and Co-Director of the community engagement core of the Cornell Center for Health Equity. Over the past 20 years at WCM her research efforts have focused on translating basic social and behavioral science theories into effective community-based interventions to address health inequities in high-risk populations.

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Dr. Mary Beth Terry  
PhD

Dr. Terry is a Professor of Epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Director for the Office of Community Outreach and Engagement at CUIMC Cancer Center and head of the Chronic Disease Unit for the Department of Epidemiology. She is co-leading a four institution Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C) initiative to address diversity and inclusion in clinical trials.

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Dr. Jonathan C. Cho
PharmD, MBA

Jonathan C. Cho is a proven operations executive with years of experience in providing leadership, enhancing efficiencies, and expanding service lines. He started his career as a pharmacist and held previous roles as a Professor, Director of Pharmacy and Infectious Diseases Residency Program Director. In his current role as PAGNY COO, Jonathan will be responsible for overseeing daily operations, leading growth strategies, and heading outreach and business relations.

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Dr. Dawn Hershman 
MD, MS

Dr. Hershman is an American Cancer Society Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Director of the Breast Oncology and Population Science Program for the Columbia University Irving Medical Center Cancer Center. She has spent the past 20 years developing a comprehensive multidisciplinary program to study ways of improving cancer care delivery, reducing disparities and improving the quality of life and quality of care of cancer survivors. 

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Dr. Daichi Shimbo 
MD

Dr. Shimbo is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine, Associate Dean of Research and Career Development, and Director of the Columbia Hypertension Center. Through the CUIMC Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA)/Irving Institute, he runs the Irving Institute’s resource for developing clinician and non-clinician scientists at CUIMC.

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Dr. Olajide Williams  
MD, MS

Dr. Williams is a Professor and Chief of Staff of the Department of Neurology and the Associate Dean of Community Research and Engagement at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He is the Co-Director and Founder of the Columbia Wellness Center which trains Community Health Workers.  He is founder and chair of Hip Hop Public Health, an internationally recognized organization that creates and implements multimedia public health interventions that engage young people in the health of their families and communities.

COMMUNITY Center
Research Project PIs 

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CHURCH
Dr. Sidney Hankerson
 
Md, MBA

Dr. Hankerson is a psychiatry clinician and researcher with expertise in toxic mental health effects of Structural Racism and Discrimination. He is an Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Community Engagement in the Department of Psychiatry and Director of Mental Health Equity Research at the Institute for Health Equity Research in the Department of Population Health Science and Policy at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The focus of Dr. Hankerson’s research is to reduce stigma about mental illness and increase access to care. 

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DREAM
Dr. Nour Makarem

PhD
 

Dr. Makarem is a cardiovascular and sleep epidemiologist at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She has an NHLBI-, NIMHD, and American Heart Association funded research program that focuses on the role of health behaviors, particularly multidimensional sleep and circadian health and dietary patterns, in cardiometabolic health preservation and cardiovascular disease prevention. Her research goals are to promote cardiovascular health, address sex and ethnic disparities in cardiovascular health, and enhance cardiovascular disease risk modeling

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IMPACT
Dr. Ian Kronish

MD, mph

Dr. Kronish is a general internist and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center.  He is the Co-Director of Columbia Doctors Hypertension Center and Associate Director of the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health. He has expertise in implementation science research, health inequity work, and medication adherence, and has advanced methodologies for adherence measurement.

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CHURCH
Dr. Olajide Williams
 
MD, MS

Dr. Williams is a Professor and Chief of Staff of the Department of Neurology and the Associate Dean of Community Research and Engagement at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He is the Co-Director and Founder of the Columbia Wellness Center which trains Community Health Workers.  He is founder and chair of Hip Hop Public Health, an internationally recognized organization that creates and implements multimedia public health interventions that engage young people in the health of their families and communities.

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DREAM
Dr. Parisa Tehranifar

DrPH

Dr. Tehranifar is an Associate Professor of 

Epidemiology at the Columbia University Medical Center and a health disparities researcher with expertise in cancer screening and implementation science. She has led etiologic and implementation science studies on chronic disease prevention in diverse populations, including many NCI- and NIMDH-funded large-scale studies.

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IMPACT
Dr. Dawn Hershman 

MD, MS

Dr. Hershman is an American Cancer Society Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Director of the Breast Oncology and Population Science Program for the Columbia University Irving Medical Center Cancer Center. She has spent the past 20 years developing a comprehensive multidisciplinary program to study ways of improving cancer care delivery, reducing disparities and improving the quality of life and quality of care of cancer survivors. 

To address the high burden of chronic diseases among

Black and Latinx populations, COMMUNITY

focuses on two of the leading causes of death

– cardiovascular disease and cancer

– and their risk factors.

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