Focus Area Lead Faculty

Listed below are the program’s priority areas within primary care, selected for the strength of UNC’s research and faculty in this area and to their importance to primary care and to current research funders. The named Focus Area Lead Faculty in each area are listed along with their specialized expertise.

Health Disparities, Health Equity, and Social Determinants of Health

Giselle Corbie, MD, MPH
Expertise: methodological, ethical, and practical issues of enrolling minority patients in research, community-participatory research in minority communities including through faith-based organizations, and building community infrastructure to support community engagement.

Daniel Reuland, MD, MPH
Expertise: developing and testing interventions aimed at improving primary health care for vulnerable patient populations, particularly Latino populations.

Gaurav Dave, MD, MPH, DrPH
Expertise: evaluation, health disparities and community-engaged research.

Seth Berkowitz, MD, MPH
Expertise: Health-related social needs, food insecurity, social policy.

Colin Orr, MD, MPH
Expertise: Health of vulnerable pediatric populations and the impact of health disparities.

Community Interventions

Gaurav Dave, MD, MPH, DrPH
Expertise: evaluation, health disparities and community-engaged research.

Alice Ammerman, MPH, DrPH
Expertise: design and testing of innovative clinical and community-based nutrition and physical activity intervention approaches for chronic disease risk reduction in primarily low income and minority populations.

Health Workforce and Rural Health, Access to Care

Erin Fraher, PhD
Expertise: the workforce implications of health reform and new models of primary care team, including the constitution and role substitution of health care teams, and the roles, training and certification issues of new health disciplines.

Colin Orr, MD, MPH
Expertise: Health of vulnerable pediatric populations and the impact of health disparities.

Neal deJong, MD, MPH
Expertise: national workforce quality improvement initiatives in partnership with the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP).

Lisa de Saxe Zerden, PhD, MSW
Expertise: Integrated Behavioral Health, Social Work Workforce, Inter-professional Education and Practice, Behavioral Health, Harm Reduction.

Health Care Delivery Systems & Quality Improvement

Darren DeWalt, MD, MPH
Expertise: health literacy related intervention research, quality improvement and implementation, measurement of patient reported outcomes.

Mike Steiner, MD, MPH
Expertise: improving systems of care for children with medical complexity.

Neal deJong, MD, MPH
Expertise: care of children with multiple complex medical needs – the care these children and families receive as they balance between their primary care and specialty care physicians, such as effective long-term plans of care for children with chronic conditions.

Kori Flower, MD, MPH
Expertise: QI measurement and quality improvement collaboratives aimed at improving child health.

Emily Vander Schaaf, MD, MPH
Expertise: Using research, quality improvement, and educational strategies to promote social justice and health equity for patients and families.

Diet, Obesity, and Cardiovascular Disease Risks

Alice Ammerman, PhD
Expertise: designing and testing innovative clinical and community-based nutrition and physical activity intervention approaches for chronic disease risk reduction in primarily low income and minority populations.

Seth Berkowitz, MD, MPH
Expertise: Understand the role of social determinants of health in cardiometabolic risk, and projects to address health-related social needs to improve cardiometabolic outcomes including weight loss and glycemic control.

Colin Orr, MD, MPH
Expertise: Health of vulnerable pediatric populations and the impact of health disparities, trial of different approaches to prevent childhood obesity.

Carmen Samuel-Hodge, PhD
Expertise: behavioral lifestyle and family-based intervention research among African Americans and low-income populations in the areas of diabetes, diet, obesity, and cardiovascular disease risk reduction intervention research.

Screening, Prevention, and Shared Decision Making

Cindy Feltner, MD, MPH
Expertise: Director of the RTI-UNC Evidence-Based Practice Center, published multiple systematic reviews for AHRQ and the USPSTF.

Carol Golin, MD, MPH
Expertise: studies the influence of patient-provider communication on health outcomes with a particular interest in the effects of enhanced patient participation in medical decision-making.

Daniel Reuland, MD, MPH
Expertise: leads a program to address colorectal cancer screening mortality disparities in northeastern North Carolina through a multi-disciplinary effort involving spatial epidemiology, health services research, health behavior, and implementation science.

Practice-Based Primary Care Innovation and Implementation

Katrina Donahue, MD, MPH
Expertise: dissemination and implementation studies regarding glycemic monitoring in type 2 diabetes as well as the impact of COVID-19 on diabetes care in primary care practices across North Carolina.

Kori Flower, MD, MPH
Expertise: implement innovative, evidence-based strategies that improve access to coordinated care for young children with Developmental Disabilities in medically underserved areas.

Samantha Schilling, MD, MSHP
Expertise: child abuse pediatrician, with a research focus on positive parenting and primary care based RCTs.