BIRCWH Associates

BIRCWH associates are the past scholars that remain connected to the Tulane BIRCWH program even when they are not financially supported by the program. The associates provide valuable feedback to the steering committee and mentors regarding the program effectiveness.  In addition, BIRCWH associates provide much desired ‘peer mentoring’ of new scholars. 

 

Lydia Bazzano Lydia Bazzano, MD (BIRCWH training 2005-2007)
Associate Professor of Epidemiology
Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
Her clinical research focuses on cardiovascular disease and its risk factors among men and women, with an emphasis on the role of cardio-metabolic factors, including diet, obesity, lipids and glucose, in the development of vascular disease among men and women, with an emphasis on the role of cardio-metabolic factors, including diet, obesity, lipids and glucose, in the development of vascular disease and its consequences.  Since 2010 Dr. Bazzano has been working with the Bogalusa Heart Study and currently serves as the chair of the Bogalusa Heart Study Program steering committee and as principal investigator of NIH/NIA R01AG041200 investigating the role of vascular aging and differences in cognitive and physical performance among men and women in the Bogalusa Heart Study cohort. Bazzano currently serves as the Tulane BIRCWH WHRL director.
Awarded R01: The Role of Vascular Aging in Cognitive and Physical Function
 
Sarah A. O. Gray, PhD Sarah Gray, PhD (BIRCWH Training 2015-2017)
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Tulane University School of Science and Engineering
Her research focus is on early childhood. Her research examines relational and contextual risk and protective factors that contribute to young children’s psychosocial and educational adjustment.  She is particularly interested in studying the contexts of poverty, violence exposure, early care-giving relationships, and schools, and in elucidating mechanisms of change in interventions for young girls and boys and their caregivers. Her BIRCWH research centers around maternal and child health, with specific interests in moderators and mediators in the biological embedding of early stress and trauma and a focus on parasympathetic cardiovascular and relationship-based pathways in girls and boys.
Awarded NARSAD Award: Parasympathetic and Behavioral Synchrony and Child Emotion Dysregulation Following Trauma
 
Milton Hamblin, PhD, headshot, Assistant Professor, Pharmacology
Milton Hamblin, PhD(BIRCWH Training 2012-2014)
Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology
Tulane University School of Medicine
Dr. Hamblin came to Tulane in 2012 after completing his postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan. Hamblin's research focuses on sex-related differences in vascular function and vascular remodeling-related pathophysiological diseases, including atherosclerosis, vascular lesion formation, and abdominal aortic aneurysms.
Awarded Board of Regents Grant: Determining the Role of Rapid Estrogen Receptor - Alpha Signaling in Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms
Emily Harville, PhD, Associate Professor Epidemiology, headshot Emily Harville, PhD (BIRCWH Training 2008-2010)
Associate Professor of Epidemiology
Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
Dr. Harville's research focuses on reproductive epidemiology.  Her research centers on pregnancy epidemiology, stress measurement and epidemiological methods. She is currently the Principal Investigator on 1 R01 grant investigating the Long-Term Burden of Maternal Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Birth Outcomes. Harville is also the PI on 1 U19 subproject, investigating the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on pregnant women and women of reproductive age.
Awarded R01: Long-Term Burden of Maternal Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Birth Outcomes
 
Catherine MKinley, Associate Professor of Social Work, standing in front of map of New Orleans' French Quarter  Catherine McKinley, PhD, LMSW (BIRCWH training 2017-2019)
​ Associate Professor of Social Work
 Tulane University School of Social Work
 BIRCWH Project: Cardiovascular Disease and American Indian Women
Dr. McKinley (formerly Burnette) began working with Indigenous tribes of the Southeast over 10 years ago related to violence against women and children, mental health, substance abuse and mental health, and physical health, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease. She has worked in collaboration with tribes to develop the ecological “Framework of Historical Oppression, Resilience, and Transcendence”, which identifies and organizes culturally relevant risk and protective factors for health disparities across community, family, and individual levels. Since coming to Tulane in 2013, she has published over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and has been involved in federally-funded research to address violence, substance abuse, and associated health disparities using culturally relevant intervention approaches. Awarded R01: Chukka Auchaffi' Natana: The Weaving Healthy Families Program to Promote Wellness and Resilience and Prevent Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence
 
Dragana Lovre, MD (BIRCWH training October 1, 2017-Present)   
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Tulane University School of Medicine
BIRCWH Project: Improvement in Metabolism in Obese Postmenopausal Women with Novel Estrogen Complexes
Dr. Dragana Lovre joined the Section of Endocrinology after completing her Endocrinology Fellowship at Tulane University School of Medicine in 2016. Dr. Lovre received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Baldwin-Wallace University in Cleveland, Ohio. She then worked at Case Western Reserve University on NIH Developmental Research projects prior to starting medical school. Dr. Lovre is board certified in Internal Medicine and trained at LJ Chabert  Medical Center in Houma, Louisiana. Her clinical and research interests focus on cardiovascular complications of diabetes with special interest women’s health.  Dr. Lovre is currently involved in multiple trials on estrogen effect on glucose homeostasis and cardiovascular complications of diabetes. 
 
Lisa Molix, Associate Professor of Pyschology, sitting on a bench outdoors, hand crossed Lisa Molix, PhD (BIRCWH training 2011-2013)
Associate Professor of Psychology 
Tulane School of Science and Engineering
She came to Tulane in 2007, immediately following the completion of her PhD at the University of Missouri. Dr. Molix's research focuses on examining an interdisciplinary model of intergroup stress that investigates the relationships between psychosocial and behavioral factors (e.g. prejudice, empowerment, social identity, intergroup interactions) and cardiovascular health risk factors and outcomes in women and ethnic minorities.
Awarded R01: Pleiotropic Effects of Prorenin Receptor in Collecting Duct and Infrarenal RAS Activation
 
Minolfa Prieto, MD, headshot, Associate Professor of Psychology Minolfa C. Prieto, MD, PhD (BIRCWH training 2008-2011)
Associate Professor of Physiology
Tulane University School of Medicine
She investigates the role of the intrarenal Renin-Angiotensin System in the development and progression of hypertension, as well as sex differences in the regulation of genes involved in the development of hypertension in response to high salt.
Awarded R01:Pleiotropic Effects of Prorenin Receptor in Collecting Duct and Infrarenal RAS Activation
Leia Saltzman, PhD, MSW, Assistant Professor of Social Work

Leia Saltzman, PhD, MSW (BIRCWH training October 1, 2018-Present)
Assistant Professor of Social Work
Tulane University School of Social Work
BIRCWH Project: Sex Differences in the Impact of Traumatic Loss on Cardiovascular Health 
Leia Y. Saltzman joined the Tulane community in 2017 after completing her post-doctoral training as an  Azrieli International Post-Doctoral Fellow at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She earned her MSW and PhD in Social Work at Boston College. Trained in both qualitative and quantitative methods, Dr. Saltzman’s research uses mixed methodology to explore the process of adaptation in the context of trauma, community violence, and mass disaster. Her previous research has focused on positive adaptation trajectories such as resilience and posttraumatic growth. Currently, Dr. Saltzman’s work explores the role of time in the process of adaptation, with the goal of developing time-informed and sustainable mental health interventions. She is interested in community based research that influences mental health policies and clinical practices with trauma-affected populations in order to promote well-being, build stronger families, and more cohesive communities that can withstand the impact of mass disaster, trauma, and violence.
John S. Schieffelin, MD

John S. Schieffelin, MD (BIRCWH training 2015-2017)
Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics
Tulane University School of Medicine
Dr. Schieffelin completed his MD as well as an Internal Medicine and Pediatrics residency training at Tulane University. He is also trained in adult and pediatric infectious disease through a combined Louisiana State University-Tulane University fellowship program. His research focuses on the pathophysiology and immunology of viral hemorrhagic fevers. He is particularly interested in studying the clinical course of diseases such as Lassa fever and Ebola virus disease to identify interventional targets to improve supportive care in females and males. His BIRCWH research focused on cardiovascular and gender differences in Lassa fever disease. This work identified markers as well as the severity of cardiovascular disease among patients with acute Lassa fever. His research investigated the role cardiovascular factors play a role in the increased prevalence and mortality seen among women.   
Jylana Sheats, PhD Jylana Sheats, PhD (BIRCWH training October 1, 2016-September 30, 2018)
Assistant Professor of Nutrition
Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
BIRCWH Project: Efficacy of a Culturally-Tailored Mobile Phone-Based Intervention to Improve Eating Behaviors Among Obese African American Men and Women
Jylana teaches in the Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences. Within the broader fields of nutrition and physical activity, her research focuses on the examination of individual, social, contextual, environmental (built, food), and policy-related determinants of obesity and chronic disease among racial/ethnic and vulnerable populations. Her recent efforts address health disparities through theoretically grounded, evidenced-based interventions. As a BIRCWH Scholar, her research focuses on the efficacy of novel, culturally-informed, communication technologies to improve food related behaviors among African American women and men.
LaKeisha Williams, PharmD, MSPH LaKeisha Williams, PharmD, MSPH (BIRCWH training 2015-2017)
​Faculty, Clinical Researcher
​College of Pharmacy at Xavier University
As a faculty member at Xavier University, Dr. Williams has served as an instructor, preceptor and mentor to introductory and advanced level pharmacy students. She has two clinical practice sites at the Louisiana State University (LSUHSC) Ambulatory Care Clinics, serving as a clinical preceptor for third and fourth year pharmacy students and as a clinical pharmacist providing medication therapy management services to patients, and pharmacotherapeutic recommendations to healthcare professionals of an interprofessional team. As a BIRCWH Scholar, Dr. Williams’s research explores gender and racial/ethnic determinants and intervention to improve medication adherence, with a focus on vulnerable and underserved populations with chronic cardiovascular health conditions.
Andrea Zsombok Andrea Zsombok, PhD (BIRCWH training 2010-2012)
Associate Professor of Physiology and Medicine, Endocrinology Section
Tulane University School of Medicine
Dr. Zsombok's research focuses on the autonomic control of visceral organs during metabolic and cardiovascular diseases in rodents.  Her investigations employ electrophysiological, anatomical, retrograde tracer approaches in combination with in vivo brain injections in females and males.
Awarded R01: TRPV1-Dependent Autonomic Control in Diabetes
Photo of Joshua Bundy

Joshua D. Bundy, PhD, MPH (BIRCWH Training 2019-2022)
Assistant Professor of Epidemiology
Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
Dr. Joshua Bundy is an epidemiologist with expertise in cardiovascular disease and renal disease. Dr. Bundy’s research seeks to identify men and women at high risk for cardiovascular disease by focusing on subclinical disease, hypertension, and novel risk factors or therapeutic targets. Dr. Bundy is interested in testing interventions in clinical trials and employing innovative statistical approaches for evidence-based medicine, including novel risk prediction methods and exploring the intersection of technology and disease prevention.

Dr. Bundy is an investigator with the Tulane University Translational Science Institute (tulanectsi.org) and the Tulane Center of Excellence in Sex-Based Biology & Medicine (sbm.tulane.edu).
Jerry Zifodya, MD Jerry Zifodya, MD, MPH,TM (BIRCWH Training 2020-2022)
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Tulane University School of Medicine
Dr. Jerry Zifodya was raised in Zimbabwe. He first came to New Orleans as a medical student and received his medical degree and a Master’s in Public Health & Tropical Medicine from Tulane. It was during his training that he and his wife fell in love with the city. After medical school he moved to Nashville and completed Internship and Residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. After residency, he then moved to Seattle for clinical and research fellowship training in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Washington. Being from Zimbabwe, Dr. Zifodya has always had an interest in global health. As part of his research training he was awarded a Fogarty Global Health Research Fellowship. He spent a year in Kisumu, Kenya engaging in research on the pulmonary and cardiovascular complications of HIV infection and tuberculosis.

Dr. Zifodya continues to be actively engaged in research and his research interests are in chronic communicable and noncommunicable lung disease in a local and global setting. He is focused on chronic pulmonary complications of HIV including chronic sequela of tuberculosis particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. He returned to New Orleans and joined Tulane faculty as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine in 2019. He will primarily see inpatients in the medical ICU and pulmonary consult service at the University Medical Center of New Orleans and Tulane University Medical Center.

Yilin Yoshida, PhD, MPH (BIRCWH Training 2020-2023)
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Section of Endocrinology & Metabolism
Tulane University School of Medicine
Dr. Yilin Yoshida is a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the Section of Endocrinology & Metabolism at Tulane University School of Medicine. She is a chronic disease epidemiologist. Dr. Yoshida research interests and expertise include diabetes epidemiology, sex differences in cardiometabolic disease, women’s health, and sex differences in COVID-19. Dr. Yoshida’s current research seeks to understand biobehavioral mechanisms underlying women’s excessive cardiovascular risk in diabetes.

Dr. Yoshida is a BIRCWH scholar (NIH K12) at Tulane. She was an awardee of the Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science Center (LA CaTS) Pilot grant in 2021. Dr. Yoshida’s research was also supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the American Diabetes Association. Dr. Yoshida joined Tulane University in June 2019. Before that, she was a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Management and Informatics at the University of Missouri – Columbia.