Overview

I am a general internist and health services researcher, currently serving as Professor of Medicine, Charles and Mary Bauer Endowed Chair, and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. I also lead UBMD Internal Medicine as its President and CEO, overseeing strategic direction and clinical excellence across the practice.

Prior to joining UB, I held a transformative leadership role at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), beginning in 2017. As Division Chief of General Internal Medicine, I spearheaded a comprehensive restructuring of a division comprising seven sections, 192 employees, and a budget exceeding $40 million. My initiatives included:

• Reorganizing the hospital medicine section to establish sustainable leadership and improve operational efficiency.
• Redesigning the primary care section with new benchmarks for clinical operations, resulting in measurable gains in productivity.
• Enhancing research capacity by recruiting faculty, expanding protected time, and securing increased funding.
• Building infrastructure to support clinical operations, quality improvement, and research integration.
• Developing a robust mentoring framework for junior and mid-career faculty.

I cultivated a deep understanding of MCW’s matrixed health system, aligning clinical service lines, staffing models, and incentive structures with institutional goals. I led efforts to define margin targets and collaborated with operations partners to create shared visions and quality improvement processes that bridged clinical and research domains. During this time, I also invested in my own leadership development, completing the Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute’s 6-month program, earning certification as an executive coach, and engaging in intensive coaching to refine my leadership style.

Before MCW, I spent 17 years at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), where I directed two major research centers for over a decade and completed the MUSC Leadership Development Program.


Research Contributions

Over the past 25 years, my research has centered on advancing health equity and improving outcomes for vulnerable populations. My work spans:

1. Reducing health disparities and addressing structural racism.
2. Investigating the impact of social determinants and social risk on health.
3. Evaluating telehealth and telemedicine as effective care delivery modalities.
4. Exploring behavioral economics in chronic disease management.
5. Studying non-communicable diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, Central America, and the Middle East.

I currently serve as Principal Investigator on multiple NIH-funded projects and have authored over 500 peer-reviewed publications. My methodological expertise includes clinical trials, qualitative and mixed methods, structural equation modeling, observational studies, community-based participatory research (CBPR), and implementation science. I’ve served on numerous NIH, CDC, and VA study sections and lead a multidisciplinary team that has secured nine federally funded grants focused on diabetes and health disparities since 2008.


Teaching & Mentorship

Teaching is central to my mission of cultivating the next generation of healthcare leaders. I emphasize learner-centered instruction, adaptive assessment, and real-world application of knowledge. My approach recognizes individual strengths and fosters growth through personalized feedback and skill development.

Mentorship is a cornerstone of my career, particularly for women and individuals traditionally underrepresented in medicine. Since 2011, I’ve held an NIH NIDDK K24 grant that enabled me to mentor over 170 individuals, including:

• 42 junior and mid-career faculty
• 20 fellows
• 12 postdoctoral scholars
• 13 doctoral students
• 45 medical students
• 11 undergraduates
• 24 high school students

I’ve served on 12 PhD committees and 4 Master’s Thesis committees, and currently mentor three NIH K-award recipients and an ADA Junior Faculty Awardee focused on health disparities.


Commitment to Equity & Inclusion

I am deeply committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion across academic medicine. My efforts include:

• Eliminating gender-based pay gaps for faculty with equivalent clinical responsibilities.
• Diversifying leadership by race, ethnicity, and gender.
• Reforming recruitment practices to attract and retain diverse talent.
• Creating evidence-based interview protocols and support systems for equitable hiring.



Vision

My career is driven by a commitment to excellence in healthcare delivery, transformative research, inclusive education, and community engagement. I strive to build systems that empower faculty, trainees, and staff to lead change, improve lives, and shape the future of medicine.

Artificial Intelligence, Behavioral Medicine, Biostatistics, Clinical Outcomes, Clinical Research, Community Based Participatory Research, Community Based Research, Community Health Research, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, Diabetes, Endocrinology, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Epidemiology, Epidemiology, Geriatric Medicine, Geriatrics / Gerontology, Health Disparities, Health Disparities Research, Health Outcomes Research, Health Services Research, Health Services Research, Implementation Science, Internal Medicine, Metabolic Disorders, Military & Veterans Health/Healthcare, Nutrition, Obesity, Patient Centered Outcomes, Public Health, Public Health and General Preventive Medicine, Racial Disparities Health Research

Physician Gender: