Welcome to Pressure Check New Haven

Dr Erica Spatz is a preventive cardiologist with a focus on hypertension, cardiometabolic disease, and women’s cardiovascular health. She is an Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine, and of Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health. She is Director of the Preventive Cardiovascular Health Program at Yale/YNHH Heart and Vascular Center and of Remote Patient Monitoring for the Yale/YNHH Aligned Clinician Enterprise. Through digital innovation and deep community engagement, she is shaping a new model of cardiovascular prevention that is personal, participatory, and impactful.

Dr. Perez- Escamilla is a Professor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences). He also serves as the Director of the Office of Public Health Practice; Director of Maternal and Child Health Promotion (MCHP) Program; and Director of YSPH Global Health Concentration. He has co-led innovative mixed-methods implementation studies assessing the impact of community health worker person centered interventions on breastfeeding, type-2 diabetes, post-partum hypertension and mental health outcomes among in vulnerable communities.

Natasha Ray, Director, New Haven Healthy Start (The COMMUNITY Foundation for Greater New Haven) is a longtime collaborator with Yale researchers. She is a co-chair of the Center for Research Engagement at Equity Research and Innovation Center. She is also a Community PI on another PCORI award for which Dr Rafael Perez Escamilla is also a dual PI. Ms Ray is expert in the New Haven community, in developing and running community Boards, and in community-academic research partnerships. She serves a similar role of Community PI on the PCORI EMPOWER grant, creating efficiencies related to understanding the work, meeting with PIs, and developing materials to support the community advisory boards.

Katherine Tucker (DNP, RN, APRN-BC, NE-BC) is an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, she is a Clinical Program Director in the YNHH Heart and Vascular Center and is a Board Member of the National Black Nurses Association. Katherine is an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at Southern Connecticut State University and has a focuses on mitigating factors that lead to poor health outcomes, health and healthcare disparities. She has studied transitional care and is deeply involved in community health.

Dr. Daniel F. Sarpong, trained biostatistician, is a Senior Research Scientist in the Department of General Internal Medicine and Executive Director of the Office of Health Equity Research (OHER). Dr. Sarpong’s research focuses on translational research exploring innovative approaches to mitigating biological and social determinants of health disparities in primarily chronic diseases.

Dr. Brita Roy (MD, MPH, MHS) is a Clinical Associate Professor at New York University Grossman School of Medicine. She is also Director of Community Health and Clinical Outcomes—Beyond Bridges, a transformative initiative to improve population health and well-being among a diverse immigrant community in Brooklyn, NY, through community-clinical partnerships. She co-leads the Collective WELL Research Team, and previously co-led the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) 100 Million Healthier Lives measurement team and served as lead faculty for the IHI Pathways to Population Health Action Community.

Dr. Heather Lipkind (MD, MS) is the Director of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Weill Cornell. Dr. Lipkind has clinical experience and research expertise in perinatal epidemiology and birth outcomes. Her research examines associations between hypertension and psychiatric conditions and pregnancy outcomes as well as research with diverse pregnant populations. She has created programs that help patients understand the association of pregnancy-related health conditions with long-term health outcomes with a focus on hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and cardiovascular disease.