Community

The mission of the CVI MAVENS program is to inspire, empower, and support individuals in academic medicine throughout their career progression to create an integrated community of scientists. You can apply to the MAVENS program if you are a senior postdoctoral scholar or early stage faculty member (Assistant or Instructor) affiliated with the CVI. MAVENS receive support in developing career milestones, sponsorship to achieve career development goals, constructive feedback for growth on professional aims, and recognition of promise as an early career scientist.

CVI is committed to creating a culture of belonging that is open to everyone. We seek representation from various groups among our leadership, faculty recruits, and invited speakers. CVI wants to ensure that everyone has a voice in our community. We administer anonymous climate surveys to assess ways we can continue to improve our Institute's culture. In addition, a committee of CVI staff meet monthly to discuss and plan current and upcoming initiatives to promote community. Twice a year, a committee of advisors convene to holistically assess CVI's offerings and identify ways we can better support our members.

Many CVI members conduct clinical research that has direct impacts on patient care. Over twenty CVI faculty members conduct health disparities-related cardiovascular research, for example:

●      Dr. Elan Burton has conducted research on health disparities in cardiovascular disease, demographic representation in radiology and molecular imaging, and other topics. She received an innovation research grant from the National Science Foundation for her work on an app for emotional support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

●      Dr. Julieta Gabiola’s team is looking into prevention of hypertension through education and lifestyle modification as a practical alternative in the Philippines where hypertension and prehypertension are prevalent and medication is not affordable.

●      Dr. Abha Khandelwal’s research spans clinical trials in preventative cardiology, imaging, cardio-obstetrics and women’s heart health. Her vision is to integrate technology to improve health care delivery, health in high-risk populations, and reduce health disparities.

●      Dr. Abby King’s current research focuses on expanding the reach and generalizability of evidence-based interventions through use of state-of-the-art communication technologies; community-based participatory research perspectives to address health disparities among disadvantaged populations; and policy-level approaches to health promotion.

●      Dr. Mitchell Lunn’s work focuses on improving understanding of the factors that positively and negatively influence sexual and gender minority (SGM) health including research on SGM health disparities, SGM societal experiences, provider education about SGM health, and institutional climate towards SGM people.

●      Dr. Michelle Odden’s research aims to improve our understanding of the optimal preventive strategies for chronic disease in older adults, particularly those who have been underrepresented in research including the very old, frail, and racial/ethnic minorities. Her work has focused on prevention of cardiovascular and kidney outcomes, as well as preservation of physical and cognitive function in older adults.

●      Dr. Latha Palaniappan’s research has focused on the study of different demographic populations, chronic disease, and prevention. Dr. Palaniappan specifically seeks to address the gap in knowledge of health in Asian subgroups and other understudied racial/ethnic minorities.

●      Dr. Fatima Rodriguez specializes in cardiovascular disease prevention, inherited lipid disorders, and cardiovascular risk assessment in high-risk populations.Her research includes a range of topics around racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in cardiovascular disease prevention, developing novel interventions to address disparities, and opportunistic screening of coronary artery disease.

●      Dr. Julia Simard's lab is interested in how misclassification, missed opportunities, and misdiagnosis contribute to disparities in complex conditions such as systemic lupus. In addition to methodologic issues around misclassification and bias and the largely clinical epidemiology focus of her work, Dr. Simard's work examines social determinants of health and health disparities.

●      Dr. Nirali Vora directs the Stanford Global Health Neurology program, through which she started the first stroke unit in Zimbabwe and gained experience in HIV neurology and other neuro-infectious diseases. Additional research interests include stroke prevention, TIA triage, eliminating disparities in health care, and neurology education.

●      Dr. Paul Wise is a health policy and outcomes researcher whose work has focused on children's health; health-outcomes disparities by race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status; the interaction of genetics and the environment as these factors influence child and maternal health; and the impact of medical technology on disparities in health outcomes.

●      Dr. Celina Yong’s research focuses on understanding and reducing inequities in cardiovascular care for patients, as well as resolving gender imbalances in the medical profession itself. She is actively involved in clinical trials of novel devices for percutaneous coronary and structural intervention, and performs structural and coronary interventions at the Palo Alto VA Hospital.