LEADERSHIP

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Dr. Misra is a Professor in the WVU School of Public Health and MPH Program Coordinator, Social and Behavioral Sciences; she also directs the Public Health Training Center and holds faculty appointment in the WVU Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Dr. Misra has a background in nutrition and terminal degree in health services. She is a health disparities researcher with a research focus on diabetes. She has conducted multi-center epidemiological and intervention studies examining prevalence and risk factors for metabolic syndrome, diabetes and cardiovascular disease among multiethnic populations in the US with cross-cultural comparative studies in rural/urban India and Mexico. As a translational researcher she combines public health and clinical models of inquiry to examine factors that contribute to health disparity in underserved populations. As project director she will lead the team in planning, implementation and evaluation of the community-based program, serve as the primary contact for community partners and will be involved in all aspects of the study implementation and evaluation.

Dr. Samboorthi is a professor in the WVU School of Pharmacy and PhD Program Director, Health Services and Outcomes Research. Samboorthi is also a co-investigator of the WVU Clinical and Translational Science Institute. She is trained in Economics with a research focus on healthcare access, quality, treatment, and outcomes of adults with multiple co-morbid chronic conditions including diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and depression. Samboorthi's research work on co-morbid chronic conditions, specifically the interaction between physical and mental health conditions is well known and published both in the US and outside of the US. She will lead the project along with Dr. Ranjita Misra and will participate in all aspects of the study.

Dana King is a native West Virginian and currently Chair of the Department of Family Medicine. His MD is from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. He did his family medicine residency training at University of Maryland, and then completed a Family Medicine Faculty Development Fellowship at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. His Master of Science in Clinical Research was completed at the Medical University of South Carolina. His research interests include over 100 publications on primary care, cardiovascular risk and lifestyle factors in adults. His interest in DHSMP stems from his career-long passion for improving lifestyles in patients with diabetes, obesity, and other cardiovascular conditions.

Dr. Sijin Wen is an assistant professor in the Department of Biostatistics at WVU School of Public Health and the Director of Biostatistics Core Facility at WVU Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center. Dr. Wen has extensive skills with clinical trial designs, disease recurrences/survival analysis and Bayesian computation. He previously was a Principal Statistical Analyst at MD Anderson Cancer Center from 2001-2012 and he has been serving as a co-investigator/biostatistician on more than 10 NIH/NCI funded grants, including NCI Specialized Program of Research Excellence (MD Anderson Cancer Center), U54 NIH/NIGMS (West Virginia) and P30 NIH/NIGMS (West Virginia).

  Sarah Lipinski recently completed her Master’s of Science in Health Science at WVU where she also received her BS in Psychology. As Project Coordinator, she serves as the liaison between participants and project leadership, helps organize session materials, manages blood screenings/graduation, and assists with administrative tasks for the project. Her research interests focus on health psychology, behavioral modification, public health, rural health disparities, and resiliency. Sarah aspires to get her PhD in Clinical Psychology so that she can work directly with patients to improve both their mental and physical health.