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Basic Science, Clinical & Translational Research

Research Service Overview

Research is a critical mission of the Yale School of Medicine. Understanding resources available to facilitate research, develop collaborations, and advance science can be enormously helpful to individual investigators and the school at large.
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Research Leadership

  • Anthony Koleske, PhD

    Ensign Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and of Neuroscience; Deputy Dean for Research, (Basic Science)

    Anthony J. Koleske is an expert in understanding the biochemical mechanisms that regulate neuronal dendrite and synapse development. After receiving a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Koleske performed his Ph.D. studies with Dr. Richard Young at the Whitehead Institute/Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For his Ph.D. thesis, Dr. Koleske discovered the RNA polymerase II holoenzyme, an important advancement in understanding how gene transcription is turned on. Dr. Koleske went on to do a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. David Baltimore at M.I.T., where he began his work studying cellular functions of Abl family kinases, which his laboratory has shown are essential regulators of the cytoskeleton in diverse cell types. Dr. Koleske joined the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University in 1998, where he currently is Professor and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Neuroscience. Dr. Koleske is the recipient of numerous awards including a Jane Coffin Childs Postdoctoral Fellowship, Special Fellowship and Scholar Awards from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Young Investigator and Established Investigator Awards from NARSAD, an Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association. He has served widely on review panels, including terms as Chair of the Basic Science Study Section for the American Heart Association and the Neurodifferentiation, Plasticity, Repair, and Rhythmicity Study Section of the NIH. He served as Director of the combined PhD programs in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences at Yale (2014-2019).  He also served Director of the China Scholarship Council-Yale World Scholars Program (2014-2019) and was a co-Director of the Yale BioMed SURF Amgen Scholars Program (w/Faye Rogers and Barbara Kazmierczak)(2015-2020).
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  • Brian Richard Smith, MD

    Professor of Laboratory Medicine, of Biomedical Engineering, of Medicine (Hematology) and of Pediatrics; Deputy Dean for Research, (Clinical and Translational); Director, Clinical Immunology Laboratory, Laboratory Medicine; Chair, Laboratory Medicine; Chief, Laboratory Medicine, Yale New Haven Hospital

    Brian R. Smith MD is Deputy Dean for Clinical and Translational Research at the Yale School of Medicine, as well as Co-Director of the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (Co-PI of Yale's CTSA Award), Chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Professor of Laboratory Medicine, Biomedical Engineering, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Yale University. He is the Chief of Laboratory Medicine and Attending Physician at Yale New Haven Hospital and also an attending physician at the Connecticut VA Medical Center and the Bridgeport Hospital.Dr. Smith received his undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Princeton University, his medical degree from the Harvard Medical School, and his residency/fellowship training at The Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Dana Farber Cancer Center. He is board certified in Pathology / Hematopathology and in Internal Medicine / Hematology-Oncology. In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Smith has an investigative interest in the inflammation-hemostasis interface, especially in relation to biomaterials, as well as in cellular immunotherapeutics, with over 175 publications. His work extends from basic wet bench research through clinical and epidemiological trials (T1-T4). He has been continuously funded by the NIH at the PI-level for over 35 years. In these various roles, Dr. Smith has major administrative responsibility for the School’s research enterprise across the T1-T4 spectrum, as well as educational responsibilities across the scientific pipeline from STEM high school student programs through undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate training, for MDs, PhDs, and MD/PhDs. He is the initiator and long-standing PI of Laboratory Medicine’s post-doctoral T32 training program in Immunohematology and has personally mentored over 50 MD, MD/PhD, and PhD trainees, most of whom hold tenure-track positions at major research universities. In addition to directing trainees in bench and translational research, Dr. Smith has extensive experience in the didactic aspects of comprehensive training and career development for clinician-scientists, having developed and published curricula in Laboratory Medicine, developed and published new physician-scientist training paradigms in his field, and, in his capacity as the Chair of the Research Committee for the Association of Pathology Chairs, initiated and helped negotiate a dialogue with the American Board of Pathology that, with the work of many other Chairs of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, resulted in the adoption of a specific Physician-Scientist residency pathway by the Board. Similarly, through his research experience, dean position, and appointment in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, he is very involved with all aspects of PhD training at both the pre- and post-doctoral levels. He has been an invited lecturer on Bioethics and previously served on the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee. Dr. Smith has also played a significant role in gender equity initiatives at Yale. In addition, he has overseen the implementation of research core facilities in Translational Immune Monitoring, Flow Cytometry, and Clinical Sample Real Time Acquisition, chairs the Clinical Research Technology Committee, and has been a guiding member of a Cellular Therapy core resource, all of which have been used successfully by Yale investigators as well as by investigators from other universities.
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Basic Science, Clinical & Translational Research

Organizations on this page

  • YCCI Senior Leadership

    • Brian Richard Smith, MD

      Contact-PI of the Yale CTSA UL1

      Professor of Laboratory Medicine, of Biomedical Engineering, of Medicine (Hematology) and of Pediatrics; Deputy Dean for Research, (Clinical and Translational); Director, Clinical Immunology Laboratory, Laboratory Medicine; Chair, Laboratory Medicine; Chief, Laboratory Medicine, Yale New Haven Hospital

      Brian R. Smith MD is Deputy Dean for Clinical and Translational Research at the Yale School of Medicine, as well as Co-Director of the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (Co-PI of Yale's CTSA Award), Chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Professor of Laboratory Medicine, Biomedical Engineering, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Yale University. He is the Chief of Laboratory Medicine and Attending Physician at Yale New Haven Hospital and also an attending physician at the Connecticut VA Medical Center and the Bridgeport Hospital.Dr. Smith received his undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Princeton University, his medical degree from the Harvard Medical School, and his residency/fellowship training at The Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Dana Farber Cancer Center. He is board certified in Pathology / Hematopathology and in Internal Medicine / Hematology-Oncology. In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Smith has an investigative interest in the inflammation-hemostasis interface, especially in relation to biomaterials, as well as in cellular immunotherapeutics, with over 175 publications. His work extends from basic wet bench research through clinical and epidemiological trials (T1-T4). He has been continuously funded by the NIH at the PI-level for over 35 years. In these various roles, Dr. Smith has major administrative responsibility for the School’s research enterprise across the T1-T4 spectrum, as well as educational responsibilities across the scientific pipeline from STEM high school student programs through undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate training, for MDs, PhDs, and MD/PhDs. He is the initiator and long-standing PI of Laboratory Medicine’s post-doctoral T32 training program in Immunohematology and has personally mentored over 50 MD, MD/PhD, and PhD trainees, most of whom hold tenure-track positions at major research universities. In addition to directing trainees in bench and translational research, Dr. Smith has extensive experience in the didactic aspects of comprehensive training and career development for clinician-scientists, having developed and published curricula in Laboratory Medicine, developed and published new physician-scientist training paradigms in his field, and, in his capacity as the Chair of the Research Committee for the Association of Pathology Chairs, initiated and helped negotiate a dialogue with the American Board of Pathology that, with the work of many other Chairs of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, resulted in the adoption of a specific Physician-Scientist residency pathway by the Board. Similarly, through his research experience, dean position, and appointment in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, he is very involved with all aspects of PhD training at both the pre- and post-doctoral levels. He has been an invited lecturer on Bioethics and previously served on the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee. Dr. Smith has also played a significant role in gender equity initiatives at Yale. In addition, he has overseen the implementation of research core facilities in Translational Immune Monitoring, Flow Cytometry, and Clinical Sample Real Time Acquisition, chairs the Clinical Research Technology Committee, and has been a guiding member of a Cellular Therapy core resource, all of which have been used successfully by Yale investigators as well as by investigators from other universities.
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    • John Krystal, MD

      MPI of the Yale CTSA UL1 and Co-Director of the YCCI

      Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Professor of Translational Research and Professor of Psychiatry, of Neuroscience, and of Psychology; Co-Director, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation; Chair, Psychiatry; Physician-in-Chief of Psychiatry, Yale New Haven Hospital; Director: NIAAA Center for the Translational Neuroscience of Alcoholism; Director, Clinical Neuroscience Division, VA National Center for PTSD

      Dr. Krystal is a leading expert on the neurobiology and treatment of psychiatric disorders. His work links psychopharmacology, neuroimaging, molecular genetics, and computational neuroscience to study the neurobiology and treatment of disorders including alcohol use disorder, depression, PTSD, and schizophrenia. He is best known for leading the discovery of the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine in depressed patients. Within Yale, he chairs the Department of Psychiatry, serves as Chief of Psychiatry for the Yale-New Haven Health System, co-leads the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (CTSA), co-directs the NIAAA Center for the Translational Neuroscience of Alcohol, and leads the Clinical Neuroscience Division of the National Center for PTSD (VA). In addition to his roles at Yale, he serves as editor of Biological Psychiatry, Vice-President of the Scientific Council for the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, as a Scientific Advisory Board member of Aligning Research to Impact Autism, and in numerous other advisory capacities for government agencies, academia initiatives, private foundations, and pharmaceutical/biotechnology companies. He also co-founded Freedom Biosciences, a company devoted to addressing the limitations of current rapid-acting antidepressants. Dr. Krystal previously co-chaired (2018-2024) the Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. He also served on the Department of Defense Psychological Health Advisory Committee, the National Advisory Councils for the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the NIMH Board of Scientific Counselors (chair, 2005-2007). He has led the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (president, 2012) and the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (president, 2016-2018).
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    • Lucila Ohno-Machado, MD, MBA, PhD

      MPI of the Yale CTSA UL1

      Waldemar von Zedtwitz Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Informatics and Data Science; Deputy Dean for Biomedical Informatics; Chair, Department of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science

      Lucila Ohno-Machado, MD, PhD, MBA, is the Deputy Dean for Biomedical Informatics and the Chair of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science. As Deputy Dean for Biomedical Informatics, Ohno-Machado oversees the infrastructure related to biomedical informatics research across the academic health system. Biomedical Informatics and Data Science serves as the hub for biomedical collaboration at Yale. It brings informatics to the clinic and the bedside; innovates new approaches to the analysis of big data across the biomedical research spectrum from basic genetic, proteomic, cellular, and systems biology to the understanding of the social determinants of health; and works in concert with colleagues in data science. Ohno-Machado was health sciences associate dean for informatics and technology, founding chief of the Division of Biomedical Informatics in the Department of Medicine, and distinguished professor of medicine at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). She also was founding chair of the UCSD Health Department of Biomedical Informatics and founding faculty of the UCSD Halicioğlu Data Science Institute in La Jolla, California. She received her medical degree from the University of São Paulo, Brazil; her MBA from the Escola de Administração de São Paulo, Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Brazil; and her PhD in medical information sciences and computer science at Stanford University. She has led informatics centers that were funded by various NIH initiatives and by agencies such as AHRQ, PCORI, and NSF. She organized the first large-scale initiative to share clinical data across five UC medical systems and later extended it to various institutions in California and around the country. Prior to joining UCSD, she was distinguished chair in biomedical informatics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and faculty at Harvard Medical School and at MIT’s Health Sciences and Technology Division. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the American College of Medical Informatics, and the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics. She is a recipient of the American Medical Informatics Association leadership award, as well as the William W. Stead Award for Thought Leadership in Informatics. Long fascinated by the combination of life science and computer science, Ohno-Machado has conducted research in predictive models and data sharing since the start of her career. Her doctoral thesis work involved neural network models for survival analysis, and she subsequently focused on new methods to evaluate predictive performance of models based on clinical and molecular data. Since AI models require large amounts of data, and institutions prefer to keep the data locally, she worked on innovative algorithms to distribute the computation so that data could stay local, but multivariate models could be built and evaluated in a federated manner.
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    • David Coleman, MD

      Co-Investigator of the Yale CTSA UL1 and Director of the YCCI

      Director, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation, Director, Clinical Research, Yale School of Medicine-Yale New Haven Health System, Research Professor, Department of Medicine, YSM

      Coleman returns to Yale following a 16-year tenure as chair of the Department of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine and chief of the medical service at Boston Medical Center. Prior to that he served as chief of medical service at VA Connecticut for 10 years and interim chair of the Department of Medicine at YSM for nearly four years. Coleman served as co-chair with Richard Lifton, MD, PhD, of the committee that recommended the establishment of YCCI in 2004. The first ten years of Coleman's faculty career were focused on laboratory-based research on the mechanisms of macrophage activation. He had an active teaching and clinical load during this period, and also served as the Director of Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control and Director of the HIV Care program at academically affiliated Veterans Affairs Medical Centers. In 1993, Coleman assumed the position of Chief of Medical Service at the VA Medical Service in West Haven Connecticut affiliated with Yale School of Medicine. The responsibilities of this position were expanded in 1995 to include all of VA Connecticut that ultimately included two acute care facilities, six community-based clinics, and affiliations with both Yale and the University of Connecticut Schools of Medicine. While Chief of Medical Service for VA Connecticut, Coleman also served as Acting Specialty and Acute Care Line Manager for three years and Acting Chief of Staff for a year and a half. In these positions, he had additional oversight responsibility for the clinical and academic affairs of he acute care line at VA Connecticut. In February 2003, he assumed the position of Interim Chair of the Department of Medicine at Yale School of Medicine and Chief of the Beeson Medical Service at Yale-New Haven Medical Center. During that time he led the school-wide strategic planning process to develop the clinical and population-based research that led to the establishment of the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation and was the basis for the successful application for a Clinical Translational Science Award. Coleman then became the John Wade Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine and Physician-in-Chief at Boston Medical Center. He served on the Board of Trustees of the Boston Medical Center, on the Board of Directors of the Faculty Practice Plan of Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine, and was a member of the Executive Committee at Boston University School of Medicine. He has had a long-standing interest in basic mechanisms of macrophage function and the role of cytokines in regulating host defenses. His recent work has focused on medical professionalism in medical education and clinical practice.
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    • Melinda Irwin, PhD, MPH

      Deputy Director

      Associate Dean of Research; Interim Department Chair and Susan Dwight Bliss Professor of Epidemiology (Chronic Diseases); Deputy Director (Public Health), Yale Center for Clinical Investigation; Deputy Director, Yale Cancer Center

      Melinda L. Irwin, PhD, MPH is the Susan Dwight Bliss Professor of Epidemiology and Associate Dean of Research at the Yale School of Public Health, Deputy Director of the Yale Cancer Center, and Deputy Director (Public Health) in the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation. Nationally, Dr. Irwin co-leads the SWOG Cancer Research Network Cancer Survivorship Committee. In 2018, Dr. Irwin completed the yearlong Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Program. Dr. Irwin’s experience working across departments, schools, and with interdisciplinary groups of investigators has provided her with the skills to train and mentor effectively.  Dr. Irwin is a prominent leader in the field of cancer prevention and survivorship research. Her research over the past 20 years has focused on randomized trials of exercise and weight loss on biological markers, treatment side effects and quality of life in people with diagnosed with cancer. She has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, American Institute for Cancer Research, Komen for the Cure, and Livestrong Foundation. She is currently leading an NCI-funded clinical trial examining the impact of nutrition and exercise on improving chemotherapy completion rate, endocrine therapy adherence, biomarkers, body composition and quality of life in women beginning chemotherapy for breast cancer, and a also leading a newly funded NCI U01 trial of exercise and nutrition on treatment outcomes in women newly diagnosed with ovarian cancer.  Dr. Irwin is committed to training the next generation of scientists and is currently leading an NCI T32-funded Cancer Prevention and Control Training Program for pre- and post-doctoral fellows and an NCI R25-funded Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer (TREC) Training Program for early career investigators. At Yale, Dr. Irwin has advised, mentored and trained over 100 trainees. Her commitment to training the next generation of scientists is evident in the enthusiasm she brings to mentoring. Her vision is to maximize opportunities for early career investigators so they can become leaders in their respective fields and have a maximal impact on the health and well-being of patients and the population.
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    • Eric Velazquez, MD

      Deputy Director for Clinical Trials Innovation

      Robert W. Berliner Professor of Medicine (Cardiology); Chief, Cardiovascular Medicine; Deputy Director, Clinical Trials Innovation, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (YCCI); Co-Chair, Clinical and Translational Research Oversight Committee; President’s contingency planning committee, Clinical Practice/Clinical Research Subcommittee; Chief, Cardiovascular Medicine, Yale New Haven Hospital, Yale New Haven Hospital; Physician-in-Chief, Heart and Vascular Center, Yale New Haven Health System, Yale New Haven Health System

      Eric J. Velazquez, MD, the Robert W. Berliner Professor of Medicine, is an internationally recognized authority in heart failure, cardiovascular clinical trials, and cardiac imaging.Velazquez serves as the section chief for Cardiovascular Medicine for Yale School of Medicine and the Physician-in-Chief of the Heart and Vascular Center for Yale New Haven Health where he coordinates a high-volume enterprise and an outstanding group of clinician-investigators, physician scientists, and staff who make important contributions across patient care, research and educational domains. He leads more than 150 specialists who focus on every area of cardiac medicine, tapping into a broad array of tools, technologies, and expertise. Additionally, he is the Deputy Director, Clinical Trials Innovation at the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation. Velazquez chose to pursue a career in cardiovascular medicine twenty years ago and through key leadership positions, he has pursued clinical, research, and methodologic interests and facilitated multicenter clinical research programs and quality initiatives with substantive focus and impact on vulnerable and underserved populations at high medical risk, and has honed the administrative skills required to implement challenging programs in diverse settings globally. Today, much of his research and clinical work focuses on the intersection between heart failure and coronary heart disease. As a clinical investigator, he has made major contributions in the design, development, and implementation of landmark clinical trials that have altered international guidelines and the treatment of patients with chronic heart failure. These programs have established the evidence for best practice standards, modified treatment guidelines, and have had a direct impact on the U.S. public health.
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    • Eugene Shapiro, MD

      Yale CTSA KL2 Contact PI

      Professor of Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases) and of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases); Vice Chair for Research, Department of Pediatrics, Pediatrics; Deputy Director, Investigative Medicine PhD Program, Investigative Medicine Program; Co-Director of Education, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation, YCCI Senior Leadership; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health

      Dr. Shapiro received a B.A. with a major in English Literature from Yale College in 1970 and an M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, in 1976.  He completed a residency in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in 1979 and a two-year fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in 1981.  He completed another two-year fellowship in clinical epidemiology (Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program) at Yale in 1983.  He has been on the faculty at Yale since 1983, where he sees patients, teaches, and conducts research.  He is currently Professor of Pediatrics, of Epidemiology and of Investigative Medicine and is Vice Chair for Research of Yale’s Department of Pediatrics.  He is also Deputy Director of Yale’s PhD Program in Investigative Medicine, is Co-Director of Education and Director of Child Health Research for Yale’s Center for Clinical Investigation and is Director of Grant Writing and Evaluation for Yale's Office of Physician-Scientist and Scientist Development.  Dr. Shapiro is board certified in both Pediatrics (1980, unlimited) and Pediatric Infectious Diseases (1994, 2000, 2008).  He served a 6-year term (2 years as Chair) as a member of the Infectious Diseases sub-board of the American Board of Pediatrics.  This is the group that writes the questions for the certifying examination. Dr. Shapiro has more than 250 publications (more than 150 in peer-reviewed journals), most of which are studies related to vaccines. He has been the principal investigator of many clinical studies, a number of which have been funded by highly competitive R01 grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  He has also received funding from private foundations and from industry, including from Connaught, from Pasteur Merieux and from Merck Laboratories.  Dr. Shapiro has been a consultant to the World Health Organization (for both the Department of Vaccines and Biologicals and for the Acute Respiratory Infections Control Programme) and was Chair of the Advisory Group for the Epidemiology Branch of the National Institute of Health and Human Development. He also served as a Special Advisor to the Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccine Advisory Committee.  He has been either Chair or a member of the Data Safety and Monitoring Boards for numerous clinical trials, including clinical trials of the efficacy of vaccines, many of which were (or are currently) funded by the National Institutes of Health. He has served as a member of a permanent NIH study section for a 4-year term and has been an ad hoc reviewer for the NIH many times.  He has also served as a reviewer for grant proposals and/or awards for the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development, the Department of Health of the United Kingdom, the University of Amsterdam, the Czech Health Research Council and the Karolinska Institute. In 2014, Dr. Shapiro received the Stanley A. Plotkin Lectureship in Vaccinology Award for career achievement for research in vaccinology.  In 2017, he received the Pediatric Diseases Society Distinguished Physician Award for “an extensive and distinguished career in pediatric infectious diseases.”
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    • Lloyd G. Cantley, MD

      Yale CTSA TL1 Contact PI

      C. N. H. Long Professor of Medicine (Nephrology) and Professor of Cellular And Molecular Physiology; Vice Chair, Research; Co-director of Education, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation

      Dr. Cantley performed his clinical Internal Medicine training at the University of North Carolina followed by Nephrology fellowship training at the Beth Israel and Brigham and Women's Hospitals in Boston. He then entered research training at Harvard in the laboratories of Dr. Franklin Epstein and Dr. Guido Guidotti before accepting a faculty position at the Beth Israel. In 2000 Dr. Cantley moved from Harvard to Yale where he established his research focus on the reparative tubular responses to kidney injury.
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    • E. Jennifer Edelman, MD, MHS, BS

      Yale CTSA KL2 & TL1 Co-PI

      Professor of Medicine (General Medicine); Associate Professor on Term, Social and Behavioral Sciences

      E. Jennifer Edelman, MD, MHS is a Professor of Medicine and Public Health. Certified as an internist, HIV specialist and in Addiction Medicine, she provides clinical care to persons with HIV and substance use at the Yale New Haven Hospital Center for Infectious Diseases. . Her research focuses on optimizing HIV prevention and treatment in the context of substance use, including opioid, alcohol and tobacco use. To this end and applying a range of methodologies, she leads and collaborates on NIH-funded projects to evaluate novel and implement evidence-based addiction treatment in medical settings, especially HIV treatment settings. In addition, her work has focused on understanding harms associated with opioid use among people with HIV. She collaborates with community-based and public health partners to promote HIV prevention, including use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). She mentors trainees, including post-doctoral fellows and public health students, and is Associate Director of the Research on Addiction Medicine Scholars (RAMS) Program and co-Director of Education at the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation. She regularly serves on NIH grant review committees and is Associate Editor of Addiction Science and Clinical Practice.
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    • Chyrell Bellamy, MSW, PhD

      YCCI Associate Director for Educational Programs and Community Engagement and Participant Recruitment

      Professor of Psychiatry; Director, Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health; Associate Director of Educational Programs, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation

      Chyrell D. Bellamy, PhD, MSW is Professor of Yale University’s Department of Psychiatry, Director of the Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health (PRCH), Director of Peer Support Services & Research and Director of the Yale Lived Experience Transformational Leadership Academy (LET(s)Lead). In addition, Dr. Bellamy is a Senior Policy Adviser for the Office of the Commissioner for the State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS). Dr. Bellamy’s expertise is in 1) community based participatory research and co-design with communities of color and with communities of people living with psychiatric illness, substance use and addictions, HIV, homelessness, and incarceration histories; 2) research expertise on healthcare disparities: sociocultural pathways of recovery from illness and other transformative experiences; 3) development of culturally responsive interventions; 4) qualitative research methods; and 5) development and training on community and clinic based psychosocial and wellness interventions. In her capacity as Director of Peer Services and Research she provides instruction on peer curricula development and training based on her research and practice experience with peer employees since 1993 (beginning with women living with HIV); training of peers to conduct research; research and evaluation on the effectiveness of peer support; and leadership training for people with lived experiences, via the LET(s)LEAD: Lived Experience Transformation Leadership Academy. Dr. Bellamy brings personal and professional expertise as a frontline service provider, clinician, social worker, community educator and organizer, trainer, program evaluator, community and academic researcher in the health and behavioral health fields, and openly identifies as a person with lived experience of multiple marginalized identities including mental illness, trauma, and addictions, and these experiences inform her research and community practice.  Dr. Bellamy’s research is multifaceted, community and lived experience centered. Here are a few examples:-PI PCORI awarded to examine health care choice and health outcomes for people with mental illness and whether a co-located primary health care facility is effective in providing care, coordinating care, and increasing health indicators for people with mental illness. An intervention was developed/piloted based on the 8 dimensions of wellness for people diagnosed with serious mental illness and other multiple health conditions and named Harambee (Swahili for Let’s come together). -PI NIMH R34 awarded to study the target mechanisms of a whole health intervention for people with mental and physical illnesses. This intervention was primarily peer support based and delivered. The state of Connecticut has recently funded Harambee to pilot in 3 sites throughout the state, Middletown,  Bridgeport, and New Haven.-PI CT DMHAS/SAMHSA State Opioid Recovery funds to develop and provide a faith-based opioid recovery program, named Imani Breakthrough (Imani is Swahili for Faith). CBPR process involved working with community to develop a culturally attuned faith-based opioid recovery intervention which combines the 8 dimensions of wellness and the 5Rs of Citizenship (roles, relationships, responsibilities, resources, and rights; and belonging). It takes place in 4 Latinx churches and 4 Black churches in CT. -Imani Breakthrough is now being implemented in Rhode Island with Black and Latinx communities. Soon headed to New Orleans.   -PI NIH Common Fund/NIDA 1U01OD033241-01. Dr Jordan and I are mPIs on a NIH Common Fund U01: Culturally responsive community-driven substance use recovery for Black and Latinx populations. The main goal of this current study is to increase the methodological rigor of Imani by conducting a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to examine whether adding a Church-based Telehealth MAT option to Imani (Imani + CTM) will improve outcomes for Black and Latinx people with AUD or OUD compared to Imani + traditional MAT Referral and Linkage (Imani + MAT R&L) in the community. -PI NIH R34 1 R34 MH131238-01. Adaptation and Implementation of Peer Support to Optimize Engagement and Outcomes for People with Serious Mental Illness in Campinas, Brazil with mPIs with Maria O'Connell and Rosana Onocko Campos.  -PI NIH NIMHD 1R01MDO18255-01. Recovery Finance: Financial health and mental health after incarceration. mPIs Harper & Bellamy. This is a multilevel study which explores effective ways to address financial structural barriers for particularly for Black and Latinx individuals with histories of incarceration and mental health challenges.
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    • Nicola Hawley, PhD

      Associate Director, Dissemination and Implementation Science

      Associate Professor of Epidemiology (Chronic Diseases); Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health; Associate Director for Dissemination and Implementation Science, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (YCCI)

      Dr. Nicola Hawley is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology (Chronic Disease) at the Yale School of Public Health and holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Anthropology at Yale University. She also serves as Associate Director for Dissemination and Implementation Science at the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation. Trained as a human biologist, Dr. Hawley is an internationally recognized expert in maternal and child health, with particular expertise in the developmental origins of obesity and related chronic diseases. Her interdisciplinary research bridges epidemiology, anthropology, and global health to examine how early life exposures—during pregnancy, infancy, and childhood—shape long-term health. She employs a life-course perspective and mixed-methods approaches across cross-sectional, cohort, and randomized controlled trial designs to identify critical windows for intervention. A hallmark of her work is the integration of community-engaged and culturally responsive strategies to address maternal and child health disparities in under-resourced and Indigenous settings. While her primary research focus is on Pacific Islander communities in Samoa, American Samoa, and the US, Dr. Hawley has built long-standing collaborations in South Africa, Uganda, New Zealand, and the United States, contributing to global evidence on perinatal health, childhood growth, and intergenerational disease risk. Her current research portfolio includes NIH- and PCORI-funded studies addressing gestational and Type 2 diabetes, prevention of excess gestational weight gain, childhood obesity, and cardiometabolic risk across generations. She is also leading efforts to develop culturally grounded interventions that span pregnancy through adolescence, aiming to disrupt the intergenerational transmission of chronic disease. As a mentor, Dr. Hawley plays a central role in training the next generation of US and global health scientists, serving as primary mentor on multiple NIH career development awards (K01, K99, F30, F31) focused on Pacific Islander health.
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    • Kristen Harris Nwanyanwu, MD, MBA, MHS

      Associate Director, Community Engagement

      Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science; Associate Director of Community Engaged Research and Participant Recruitment, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (YCCI)

      Dr. Kristen Nwanyanwu graduated with highest honors from the University of Michigan. Her degrees in African-American Studies and Biochemistry became the foundation for her career as a health disparities researcher. At the University of Pennsylvania, she earned her medical degree and MBA from the Wharton School. She is a board-certified ophthalmologist and a practicing vitreoretinal surgeon. She completed residency at the University of Michigan and vitreoretinal surgery fellowship at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary at the University of Illinois at Chicago. After joining the Yale faculty, she was selected for the YCCI Junior Faculty Scholars Program through which she completed her Master of Health Science. She is currently the PI for the NIH-funded Sight-Saving Engagement and Evaluation in New Haven (SEEN) Program, a multi-method approach to identifying and addressing health disparities in diabetic retinopathy. She has lectured nationally on health disparities, access to care, and the surgical management of diabetic retinopathy.
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    • Brian Sevier, PhD

      CTSA Administrator YCCI Executive Director, Finance, Research Administration, Systems & Workforce Development

      YCCI Executive Director, Research Administration and Training, CTSA Administrator

      Brian Sevier is the Executive Director for Research Administration and Training for the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (YCCI). As part of the YCCI, Brian is leading a team of professionals and infrastructure resources to support translational research and science; from study design and development, to study activation, and operational enrollment and recruitment services. This includes supporting activities for the Yale CTSA (UL1, KL2, and TL1) award from the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS). He has been involved in academic research administration for over 20-years, and has previously led contracts and grants administration for the University of Florida Health Sciences Center, and clinical research operations at the University of Florida Office of Clinical Research, UF Health Cancer Center, and the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute, where he most recently held the role as Director of the Office of Clinical Research and COO for the UF CTSI.
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    • Rhonda Paz

      YCCI Executive Director, Finance (Interim), Systems (Interim), Clinical Research Administration & Investigator Services

      Executive Director, Investigator Services

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    • Christine Chaisson

      CTSA Co-Administrator (Interim) Executive Director (Interim), Research Administration, & Workforce Development

      YCCI Sr Assoc Dir. Protocol Design Dev Feasibility

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  • OPSSD Development Team

    • Keith Choate, MD, PhD

      Associate Dean for Physician-Scientist Development

      Aaron B. and Marguerite Lerner Professor and Chair of Dermatology. Professor of Genetics and Pathology. Associate Dean for Physician-Scientist Development

      Keith Choate M.D., Ph.D., is a physician-scientist who employs tools of human genetics to understand fundamental mechanisms of disease. His laboratory studies rare inherited and mosaic skin disorders to identify novel genes responsible for epidermal differentiation and development.  His laboratory has identified the genetic basis of over 12 disorders and has developed new therapeutic approaches informed by genetic findings.  His laboratory is funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and of Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, a division of the National Institutes of Health.Dr. Choate mentors undergraduate, graduate, and medical students in his laboratory, teaches at Yale Medical School, and trains resident physicians and fellows.
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    • Nii Addy, PhD

      Director of Faculty Development and Collaborative Excellence

      Albert E. Kent Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology; Director of Faculty Development and Collaborative Excellence, YSM Office of Collaborative Excellence

      Nii Addy is the Albert E. Kent Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology and the Director of Faculty Development and Collaborative Excellence. He is also Director of the Faculty Mentoring Program for the Minority Organization for Retention and Expansion (MORE) and former co-chair of the Career Development Subcommittee of the ARCH Task Force in the Yale Department of Psychiatry. He contributes to graduate student and postdoctoral training and to mentorship and sponsorship initiatives through his efforts on campus and in scientific societies. He received his B.S. in Biology from Duke University and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Yale University. Dr. Addy directs a federally funded research program investigating cholinergic, dopaminergic and L-type calcium channel mechanisms mediating substance use and mood disorders. Dr. Addy’s team also studies the ability of tobacco product flavor additives to alter nicotine use behavior and addiction. He serves on the journal editorial board of Neuropsychopharmacology, Biological Psychiatry, and Neuropharmacology, and he previously served as a grant reviewer for the Neurobiology of Motivated Behavior (NMB) Study Section of the National Institutes of Health's Center for Scientific Review (CSR). In addition to his campus work, Dr. Addy hosts the Addy Hour podcast, discussing topics at the intersection of neuroscience, mental health, faith, and culture. Episodes include dynamic conversations based on the lived experience and professional expertise of his guests - which include community leaders, clinicians and mental health experts, scientists, professional athletes and entertainers, faith leaders, and mental health advocates. As the creator and host of town hall community events, Dr. Addy has also built unique partnerships to encourage and equip audiences to embrace the use of holistic, integrated tools to address mental health challenges. He has collaborated with Lecrae (Grammy Award-winning artist and NY Times Best Seller), Doug Middleton (Jacksonville Jaguars/ Dream the Impossible Initiative), Allan Houston (former NBA All-Star, NY Knicks/ FISLL Project), the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the Veritas Forum, the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), the Yale University Chaplain's Office, Yale Well, the Salvation Army, Every Nation Church NYC, the American Bible Society and others. His research and community work have been featured by National Public Radio (NPR), Newsday, the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), The Source Magazine, Chuck Norris, BoldTV, Legitimate Matters, and Relevant Magazine. He has presented scientific lectures at universities throughout the United States and Europe, and he serves on the Board of Trustees for The Carver Project, aimed at empowering and connecting individuals across university, church and society.
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    • Valerie Reinke, PhD

      Director of PhD Scientist Development

      Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Genetics; Chair, Genetics

      Valerie Reinke attended University of Illinois, receiving her B.S. in Genetics in 1990. She then went to University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston, Texas for graduate work in the laboratory of Gigi Lozano. There she studied mechanisms of tumor suppression by the factor p53, and received her PhD in Biomedical Sciences in 1996. Valerie performed her postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Stuart Kim at Stanford University in California, focusing on initiating genomic studies of a model organism, the nematode C. elegans. While there, she developed an interest in the role of gene expression in regulating C. elegans germline development. In 2000, she joined the faculty of the Department of Genetics at Yale School of Medicine, and continues to apply genome-wide technologies to understanding gene regulatory mechanisms in the germ line.
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    • Eugene Shapiro, MD

      Director of Grant Writing and Evaluation

      Professor of Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases) and of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases); Vice Chair for Research, Department of Pediatrics, Pediatrics; Deputy Director, Investigative Medicine PhD Program, Investigative Medicine Program; Co-Director of Education, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation, YCCI Senior Leadership; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health

      Dr. Shapiro received a B.A. with a major in English Literature from Yale College in 1970 and an M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, in 1976.  He completed a residency in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in 1979 and a two-year fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in 1981.  He completed another two-year fellowship in clinical epidemiology (Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program) at Yale in 1983.  He has been on the faculty at Yale since 1983, where he sees patients, teaches, and conducts research.  He is currently Professor of Pediatrics, of Epidemiology and of Investigative Medicine and is Vice Chair for Research of Yale’s Department of Pediatrics.  He is also Deputy Director of Yale’s PhD Program in Investigative Medicine, is Co-Director of Education and Director of Child Health Research for Yale’s Center for Clinical Investigation and is Director of Grant Writing and Evaluation for Yale's Office of Physician-Scientist and Scientist Development.  Dr. Shapiro is board certified in both Pediatrics (1980, unlimited) and Pediatric Infectious Diseases (1994, 2000, 2008).  He served a 6-year term (2 years as Chair) as a member of the Infectious Diseases sub-board of the American Board of Pediatrics.  This is the group that writes the questions for the certifying examination. Dr. Shapiro has more than 250 publications (more than 150 in peer-reviewed journals), most of which are studies related to vaccines. He has been the principal investigator of many clinical studies, a number of which have been funded by highly competitive R01 grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  He has also received funding from private foundations and from industry, including from Connaught, from Pasteur Merieux and from Merck Laboratories.  Dr. Shapiro has been a consultant to the World Health Organization (for both the Department of Vaccines and Biologicals and for the Acute Respiratory Infections Control Programme) and was Chair of the Advisory Group for the Epidemiology Branch of the National Institute of Health and Human Development. He also served as a Special Advisor to the Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccine Advisory Committee.  He has been either Chair or a member of the Data Safety and Monitoring Boards for numerous clinical trials, including clinical trials of the efficacy of vaccines, many of which were (or are currently) funded by the National Institutes of Health. He has served as a member of a permanent NIH study section for a 4-year term and has been an ad hoc reviewer for the NIH many times.  He has also served as a reviewer for grant proposals and/or awards for the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development, the Department of Health of the United Kingdom, the University of Amsterdam, the Czech Health Research Council and the Karolinska Institute. In 2014, Dr. Shapiro received the Stanley A. Plotkin Lectureship in Vaccinology Award for career achievement for research in vaccinology.  In 2017, he received the Pediatric Diseases Society Distinguished Physician Award for “an extensive and distinguished career in pediatric infectious diseases.”
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    • Christopher Whitlow, MD, PhD, MHA

      Director of Procedural Scientist Development

      Chair, Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging; Chair, Radiology & Biomedical Imaging

      Christopher Whitlow, MD, PhD, MHA, chair of radiology and biomedical imaging and assistant dean for translational research at Yale School of Medicine, focuses on advancing neuroimaging, computational data science, and translational innovation in biomedical imaging. Whitlow’s research integrates computational approaches such as artificial intelligence, deep learning, and graph theoretical network methods to analyze complex clinical and research data. His work aims to synthesize imaging, genomic, and clinical information to enhance precision diagnostics and improve patient care, particularly in oncology and neurosciences. Whitlow’s research interests include developing and implementing advanced signal processing applications, real-time predictive analytics for oncology, and artificial intelligence-based imaging tools. He has contributed to the creation of patient-specific 3D-printed anatomical models for pre-surgical planning and patient education. Whitlow also works to establish new biomarkers for conditions such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer’s disease, and neurooncologic disorders, aiming to address key challenges in population health. His academic leadership extends to fostering collaborative research and supporting the growth of faculty across Yale School of Medicine and Yale New Haven Health System. Whitlow serves as chief of radiology at Yale New Haven Hospital and radiologist-in-chief across Yale New Haven Health System. In his clinical practice, Whitlow is a neuroradiologist who evaluates and manages patients with traumatic brain injury, neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, and neurological cancers. He employs advanced imaging techniques to support diagnosis and treatment planning for a range of complex neurological conditions. Whitlow received his medical and doctoral degrees from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and earned a master’s degree in health care administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He completed his internship at Moses Cone Memorial Hospital and his residency and fellowship at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He has held leadership roles in national professional societies, including serving as president of the American Society of Functional Neuroradiology and contributing to committees of the Radiological Society of North America, American College of Radiology, and American Society of Neuroradiology.
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  • Office of Health Equity Research

    • Daniel Sarpong, PhD

      Executive Director

      Senior Research Scientist (General Medicine)

      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. Before joining Yale University in the School of Medicine, He was a Tenured Professor of Biostatistics, Endowed Chair of Health Disparities, and Director of the Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities (CMHDRE) at the Xavier University of Louisiana. Additionally, he served as the Director of the Community Engagement Cores of Xavier RCMI Cancer Center and the Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science (LA CaTS) Center.  During 2000 and 2010, he was Director and Co-Principal Investigator of the Jackson Heart Study Coordinating Center (JHSCC), Director of Data Management, Quality Assurance, and Information Technology, and Senior Biostatistician of the JHSCC at Jackson State University.
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    • Sakinah Carter Suttiratana, PhD, MPH, MBA

      Associate Research Scientist

      Dr. Suttiratana is a Sociologist of Health and Illness whose interests include various sociocultural influences on health. She currently serves as Director of Community Engagement and Partnerships, in the Office of Health Equity Research and Director of Education and Training, Equity Research and Innovation Center at Yale School of Medicine. In these roles, Dr. Suttiratana trains and mentors postdoctoral fellows and mid career health professionals in mixed methods and qualitative research and research that partners across sectors and includes the perspectives of people with lived experience/end users. She also is Community Outreach and Engagement faculty for the Yale Cancer Center. Current research projects include projects to explore peer mentoring and resource interventions to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in technology use for management of Type 1 diabetes, communications messages around cancer prevention and screening, tobacco and nicotine regulation, and health misinformation, elevating the lived experiences of medical device trial participants, and institutional practices to advance more representative clinical trials. Dr. Suttiratana has contributed to various translational and community-based research and implementation projects among U.S. and international populations. Dr. Suttiratana has professional experience in epidemiological surveillance, community based, participatory research, clinic-based, comparative effectiveness research, qualitative and mixed methods design and analysis, intervention implementation, program evaluation and health leadership development in the U.S. and the Latin American and Caribbean region including work for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, and The California Endowment.
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    • Erin Singleton, MPH

      Program Manager

      Program Manager; Research Project Coordinator II

      Erin Singleton, MPH, is a Program Manager for the Office of Health Equity Research at the School of Medicine. Previously, Erin was a Project Coordinator at Smilow Cancer Hospital and served as a Health Promotion Specialist in Kyrgyzstan for the Peace Corps. She also worked as a Lead Academic Advisor for the Yale –Bridgeport GEAR UP Partnership. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Elon University and a Master of Public Health degree from Southern Connecticut State University.
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    • Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, MHS

      Associate Dean for Health Equity Research and C.N.H. Long Professor of Internal Medicine (General Medicine), of Epidemiology (Chronic Disease) and of Public Health (Social And Behavioral Sciences); Associate Dean, Health Equity Research; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health; Founding Director, Equity Research and Innovation Center (ERIC), Yale School of Medicine; Director, Center for Research Engagement (CRE); Deputy Director, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (YCCI); Director, Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership

      Dr. Nunez-Smith is Inaugural Associate Dean for Health Equity Research; C.N.H Long Professor of Internal Medicine, Public Health, and Management; Founding Director of the Equity Research and Innovation Center (ERIC); Director of the Center for Research Engagement (CRE); Deputy Director at the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation; Core Faculty in the National Clinician Scholars Program; Research Faculty in the Global Health Leadership Initiative; and Director of the Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership. Dr. Nunez-Smith’s research focuses on promoting health and healthcare equity for structurally marginalized populations with an emphasis on centering community engagement, developing patient reported measurements of healthcare quality, and identifying regional strategies to reduce the global burden of non-communicable diseases. Dr. Nunez-Smith has extensive expertise in examining the effects of social and structural determinants of health, systemic influences contributing to health disparities, health equity improvement, and community-academic partnered scholarship. In addition to primary data collection, management, and analysis, ERIC has institutional expertise in qualitative and mixed methods, population health, and medical informatics. Dr. Nunez-Smith is the principal investigator on many NIH and foundation-funded research projects, including an NIH-funded project to develop a tool to assess patient reported experiences of discrimination in healthcare. She has conducted an investigation of the promotion and retention of diversity in academic medical school faculty and has published numerous articles on the experiences of minority students and faculty. Funded by NIH/NIMHD, she established the Eastern Caribbean Health Outcomes Research Network (ECHORN), a research collaborative across four Eastern Caribbean islands, supporting several chronic disease research projects and enhancing health outcomes research and leadership capacity in the region; the flagship ECHORN Cohort Study recruited and is following a community-dwelling adult cohort (n=3000) to examine novel chronic disease risk and protective factors. She received NIH/NHLBI funding to build upon this work by recruiting children into an expanded intergenerational ECHORN cohort, inclusive of a biorepository. She is also PI on one of five NIH/NIMHD-funded Transdisciplinary Collaborative Centers on Health Disparities focused on Precision Medicine which leverages the ECHORN infrastructure to conduct collaborative research on hypertension and diabetes. Most recently, as the COVID-19 pandemic has shed national attention on the health and healthcare disparities of marginalized populations, she received NIH funding to leverage ECHORN to improve the COVID-19 testing cascade in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Further, she was called upon to chair the Governor’s ReOpen CT Advisory Group Community Committee and was subsequently named co-chair of the Biden-Harris Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board. She served as Senior Advisor to the White House COVID-19 Response and Chair of the Presidential COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force at the Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Nunez-Smith has mentored dozens of trainees since completing fellowship and has received numerous awards for teaching and mentoring. An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, Dr. Nunez-Smith is board certified in internal medicine, having completed residency training at Harvard University’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and fellowship at the Yale Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, where she also received a Masters in Health Sciences. Originally from the US Virgin Islands, she attended Jefferson Medical College, where she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, and she earned a BA in Biological Anthropology and Psychology at Swarthmore College.
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  • Research Leadership

    • Anthony Koleske, PhD

      Ensign Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and of Neuroscience; Deputy Dean for Research, (Basic Science)

      Anthony J. Koleske is an expert in understanding the biochemical mechanisms that regulate neuronal dendrite and synapse development. After receiving a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Koleske performed his Ph.D. studies with Dr. Richard Young at the Whitehead Institute/Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For his Ph.D. thesis, Dr. Koleske discovered the RNA polymerase II holoenzyme, an important advancement in understanding how gene transcription is turned on. Dr. Koleske went on to do a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. David Baltimore at M.I.T., where he began his work studying cellular functions of Abl family kinases, which his laboratory has shown are essential regulators of the cytoskeleton in diverse cell types. Dr. Koleske joined the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University in 1998, where he currently is Professor and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Neuroscience. Dr. Koleske is the recipient of numerous awards including a Jane Coffin Childs Postdoctoral Fellowship, Special Fellowship and Scholar Awards from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Young Investigator and Established Investigator Awards from NARSAD, an Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association. He has served widely on review panels, including terms as Chair of the Basic Science Study Section for the American Heart Association and the Neurodifferentiation, Plasticity, Repair, and Rhythmicity Study Section of the NIH. He served as Director of the combined PhD programs in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences at Yale (2014-2019).  He also served Director of the China Scholarship Council-Yale World Scholars Program (2014-2019) and was a co-Director of the Yale BioMed SURF Amgen Scholars Program (w/Faye Rogers and Barbara Kazmierczak)(2015-2020).
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    • Brian Richard Smith, MD

      Professor of Laboratory Medicine, of Biomedical Engineering, of Medicine (Hematology) and of Pediatrics; Deputy Dean for Research, (Clinical and Translational); Director, Clinical Immunology Laboratory, Laboratory Medicine; Chair, Laboratory Medicine; Chief, Laboratory Medicine, Yale New Haven Hospital

      Brian R. Smith MD is Deputy Dean for Clinical and Translational Research at the Yale School of Medicine, as well as Co-Director of the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (Co-PI of Yale's CTSA Award), Chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Professor of Laboratory Medicine, Biomedical Engineering, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Yale University. He is the Chief of Laboratory Medicine and Attending Physician at Yale New Haven Hospital and also an attending physician at the Connecticut VA Medical Center and the Bridgeport Hospital.Dr. Smith received his undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Princeton University, his medical degree from the Harvard Medical School, and his residency/fellowship training at The Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Dana Farber Cancer Center. He is board certified in Pathology / Hematopathology and in Internal Medicine / Hematology-Oncology. In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Smith has an investigative interest in the inflammation-hemostasis interface, especially in relation to biomaterials, as well as in cellular immunotherapeutics, with over 175 publications. His work extends from basic wet bench research through clinical and epidemiological trials (T1-T4). He has been continuously funded by the NIH at the PI-level for over 35 years. In these various roles, Dr. Smith has major administrative responsibility for the School’s research enterprise across the T1-T4 spectrum, as well as educational responsibilities across the scientific pipeline from STEM high school student programs through undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate training, for MDs, PhDs, and MD/PhDs. He is the initiator and long-standing PI of Laboratory Medicine’s post-doctoral T32 training program in Immunohematology and has personally mentored over 50 MD, MD/PhD, and PhD trainees, most of whom hold tenure-track positions at major research universities. In addition to directing trainees in bench and translational research, Dr. Smith has extensive experience in the didactic aspects of comprehensive training and career development for clinician-scientists, having developed and published curricula in Laboratory Medicine, developed and published new physician-scientist training paradigms in his field, and, in his capacity as the Chair of the Research Committee for the Association of Pathology Chairs, initiated and helped negotiate a dialogue with the American Board of Pathology that, with the work of many other Chairs of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, resulted in the adoption of a specific Physician-Scientist residency pathway by the Board. Similarly, through his research experience, dean position, and appointment in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, he is very involved with all aspects of PhD training at both the pre- and post-doctoral levels. He has been an invited lecturer on Bioethics and previously served on the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee. Dr. Smith has also played a significant role in gender equity initiatives at Yale. In addition, he has overseen the implementation of research core facilities in Translational Immune Monitoring, Flow Cytometry, and Clinical Sample Real Time Acquisition, chairs the Clinical Research Technology Committee, and has been a guiding member of a Cellular Therapy core resource, all of which have been used successfully by Yale investigators as well as by investigators from other universities.
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    • Amy Blanchard, MS

      Director of Research Cores; Director of Research Cores, Office of the Dean, School of Medicine

      Amy is trained in Molecular Biology and brings more than 20 years of research core experience to the Director of Research Cores position. Since 2002, Amy has held multiple positions in YSM genomic research cores, as a technician in the Oligosynthesis core and as the Director of DNA Sequencing. This experience and training has cultivated a deep understanding of research core operations as well as university policies, and allows Amy to strongly support YSM's research cores program.
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    • Keith Choate, MD, PhD

      Aaron B. and Marguerite Lerner Professor and Chair of Dermatology. Professor of Genetics and Pathology. Associate Dean for Physician-Scientist Development

      Keith Choate M.D., Ph.D., is a physician-scientist who employs tools of human genetics to understand fundamental mechanisms of disease. His laboratory studies rare inherited and mosaic skin disorders to identify novel genes responsible for epidermal differentiation and development.  His laboratory has identified the genetic basis of over 12 disorders and has developed new therapeutic approaches informed by genetic findings.  His laboratory is funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and of Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, a division of the National Institutes of Health.Dr. Choate mentors undergraduate, graduate, and medical students in his laboratory, teaches at Yale Medical School, and trains resident physicians and fellows.
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    • Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD

      Ensign Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology) and Professor of Pharmacology; Deputy Director, Yale Cancer Center; Chief of Hematology/Medical Oncology, Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital; Program Director, Master of Health Science - Clinical Investigation Track (MHS-CI)

      Dr. Roy Herbst is internationally recognized as one of the foremost leaders in the development of targeted and immune-based therapies for the treatment of lung cancer. His pioneering clinical studies investigating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeted agents in lung and head and neck cancers brought forth a new era in precision medicine and oncology. His translational research spurred the evolution of adaptive clinical trial design toward increasingly more personalized therapeutic approaches, and he was among the first to champion the use of targeted therapies during the earliest stages of disease. His groundbreaking studies have identified critical biomarkers of sensitivity and resistance to immunotherapy, helping to inform treatment decision-making. His work throughout the past three decades has significantly advanced the standard of care for patients with lung cancer, greatly enhancing survival and quality of life beyond what was previously thought to be possible. After earning B.S. and M.S. degrees from Yale University, Dr. Herbst earned his M.D. at Cornell University Medical College and his Ph.D. in Molecular Cell Biology at The Rockefeller University in New York City, New York. His postgraduate training included an internship and residency in Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. His clinical fellowships in Medicine Oncology and Hematology were completed at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, respectively. Subsequently, Dr. Herbst completed an M.S. degree in Clinical Translational Research at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Prior to his appointment at Yale, Dr. Herbst was the Barnhart Distinguished Professor and Chief of the Section of Thoracic Medical Oncology in the Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. He also served as Professor in the Department of Cancer Biology and Co-Director of the Phase I Clinical Trials Program. Dr. Herbst traversed to the forefront of personalized medicine and immunotherapy early in his career, identifying key biomarkers and bringing novel targeted and immune-based treatments to patients by serving as principal investigator (PI) for seminal clinical trials testing these agents in advanced-stage lung cancers. This work led to the approval of several important targeted therapies (such as gefitinib, erlotinib, cetuximab, bevacizumab, and axitinib), that revolutionized the field and quickly became the standard of care. This research laid the groundwork for more recent paradigm-shifting studies led by Dr. Herbst investigating targeted agents in earlier stages of disease. One such study, the ADAURA trial, demonstrated the dramatic effect of the third generation EGFR-inhibitor osimertinib as an adjuvant therapy in early-stage resected non-small cell lung cancer, the results of which were published twice in the New England Journal of Medicine, and led to worldwide drug approval and expanded access for patients. He and his colleagues at Yale were also among the first to describe the PD-1/PD-L1 adaptive immune response in early phase trials and to offer clinical trials of the PD-L1 inhibitors atezolizumab and pembrolizumab to lung cancer patients. Dr. Herbst’s leadership in this arena has been formally recognized by his selection to deliver plenary presentations at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meetings in 2020 and 2023. Dr. Herbst’s work on umbrella trials, master protocols, and pragmatic trials has further galvanized the field of targeted therapy and cancer drug approvals by the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Nationally, he works closely with public-private partnerships to develop large master protocol clinical studies. He was co-leader of the Biomarker-integrated Approaches of Targeted Therapy for Lung Cancer Elimination-1 (BATTLE-1) and subsequent BATTLE-2 clinical trial programs and was the founding PI of the Lung Master Protocol (Lung-MAP), a position he held for ten years. The Lung-MAP protocol utilizes patient biomarkers to choose treatments that are most likely to provide benefit. He testified on this before the US House of Representatives 21st Century Cures Committee and has helped solidify master protocols as the preferred clinical trial design by the FDA. He is currently the Chair Emeritus and Senior Advisor for the Lung-MAP trial through SWOG. Extending on the success of the Lung-MAP initiative, Dr. Herbst was instrumental in the design and implementation of the Pragmatica-Lung Cancer trial, modernizing and simplifying inclusion criteria to expand access to life-saving treatments to those patients who need it most, often from underserved and rural areas. As a testament to the efficiency of such a trial design, it has accrued 800 patients nationwide in just one year. Dr. Herbst is a highly respected clinician­ scientist who has been a champion of translational medicine for decades, recently authoring a high-profile review of the 20-year progress in lung cancer for the journal Nature that is widely cited. He has authored or co-authored more than 500 publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles, abstracts, and book chapters. His work has appeared in many prominent journals, such as the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research, Lancet, and the New England Journal of Medicine. Work published in Nature was awarded the 2015 Herbert Pardes Clinical Research Excellence Award by the Clinical Research Forum. His abstracts have been presented at the annual meetings of ASCO, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC), and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer, to name a few. In 2015, and again in 2020 and 2025, Dr. Herbst’s team at Yale was awarded a Lung Cancer SPORE (P50 grant) by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which has identified new immunotherapies and mechanisms of sensitivity and resistance to EGFR targeted therapies. In 2017, he successfully helped establish and led the Yale-AstraZeneca Alliance, a strategic partnership that leverages the strengths of academia and industry working together to generate breakthroughs in cancer treatment and care. His work has also been funded by ASCO, AACR, the US Department of Defense, and by an AACR/Stand Up to Cancer Dream Team grant. Dr. Herbst is a Fellow of ASCO and a member of AACR, where he serves as Chair of the AACR Science Policy and Government Affairs Committee. He has been a major proponent of efforts to promote tobacco control and regulation (including e-cigarettes), authoring multiple policy statements and leading frequent Capitol Hill briefings. He has served on both the IASLC and AACR Board of Directors. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and an elected member of the Association of American Physicians. He has served over ten years in non-consecutive terms as a member of the National Academy of Medicine’s (NAM’s) Cancer Policy Forum, now on his second term, for which he organized and chaired or co-chaired several meetings focused on policy issues in personalized medicine and tobacco control such as, “Policy Issues in the Development of Personalized Medicine in Oncology,” “Reducing Tobacco Related Cancer Incidence and Mortality,” “Optimizing Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) for Clinical Research,” and “Addressing the Impact of Tobacco and Alcohol Use on Cancer-Related Health Outcomes.” Most recently he led the authorship of the manuscript from the 2023 PPP meeting published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and is leading the writing team for the most recent workshop. For his lifetime achievement in scientific contributions to thoracic cancer research, Dr. Herbst was awarded the 2016 Paul A. Bunn, Jr. Scientific Award by the IASLC at their 17th WCLC in Vienna, Austria. He and his team at the Yale Cancer Center were awarded the 2018 Team Science Award from the Association for Clinical and Translational Science for their pioneering work in advancing our understanding of immunotherapy. In 2020, Dr. Herbst was awarded the AACR Distinguished Public Service Award for Exceptional Leadership in Cancer Science Policy. Dr. Herbst is the recipient of the 2022 Giants of Cancer Care® award for Lung Cancer and was honored by Friends of Cancer Research in 2021 as one of their 25 scientific and advocacy leaders who, through their work and partnership, have been instrumental over the course of the last 25 years in making significant advancements for patients. In 2024, Dr. Herbst became a member of the Board of Directors for Friends of Cancer Research. That year, he was also awarded the Ezra Greenspan Award from the Chemotherapy+ Foundation. In 2025, he was elected into the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. Beyond Dr. Herbst’s exceptional research accomplishments, he remains a noted educator and teacher. Dr. Herbst is proud to serve as the creator and inaugural director of the Masters in Health Science in Clinical Investigation at the Yale Medical School, which provides training in, and integration of, translational research of all types. He has written chapters for major oncology textbooks (Devita, Frei) and is the Hematology/Oncology Section Editor for the upcoming 28th Edition of Goldman-Cecil Medicine. Since 2021, he has been the Co-Chair/Co-Director of the Robert A. Winn Excellence in Clinical Trials Award Program: Design and Implementation of Clinical Trials Workshop in collaboration with the AACR. Today, and throughout Dr. Herbst’s storied career, he has remained steadfastly committed to delivering exceptional and compassionate patient care, producing top-notch translational research, and providing enlightening educational experiences to trainees that will prepare them for successful and meaningful careers as healthcare providers and clinical researchers. He has and continues to promote an atmosphere of collegiality and collaboration, building translational bridges between basic and clinical researchers, as well as between academic and industry partners. Dr. Herbst inspires his peers, colleagues, and trainees to strive for excellence in the laboratory, clinic, classroom, and community, and his legacy will make an impact on patients for years to come.
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    • Ruth R Montgomery, PhD

      Professor of Medicine and Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases); Associate Dean for Scientific Affairs, Dept Clinical: Internal Medicine

      Ruth R. Montgomery is a cellular immunologist with particular expertise in use of novel technology for human translational studies. Her research employs systems wide studies to identify individual differences in immune responses that lead to divergent outcomes to infection. Her group focuses on effects of aging on innate immunity and individual variation influencing susceptibility to West Nile, dengue, Zika and COVID-19 viruses, and inflammatory profiling of patients with sickle cell disease. She has overseen studies of immune responsiveness in human cohorts with successful enrollment of >2000 healthy individuals. Dr. Montgomery’s work is notable for her use of primary human cells to demonstrate immune related mechanisms and illuminate potential avenues for therapeutic interventions. She launched the CyTOF facility at Yale in 2013, was co-chair of the University Provost’s ITS Advisory Committee (ITSAC), and serves as Associate Dean for Scientific Affairs.
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    • Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, MHS

      Associate Dean for Health Equity Research and C.N.H. Long Professor of Internal Medicine (General Medicine), of Epidemiology (Chronic Disease) and of Public Health (Social And Behavioral Sciences); Associate Dean, Health Equity Research; Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health; Founding Director, Equity Research and Innovation Center (ERIC), Yale School of Medicine; Director, Center for Research Engagement (CRE); Deputy Director, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (YCCI); Director, Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership

      Dr. Nunez-Smith is Inaugural Associate Dean for Health Equity Research; C.N.H Long Professor of Internal Medicine, Public Health, and Management; Founding Director of the Equity Research and Innovation Center (ERIC); Director of the Center for Research Engagement (CRE); Deputy Director at the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation; Core Faculty in the National Clinician Scholars Program; Research Faculty in the Global Health Leadership Initiative; and Director of the Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership. Dr. Nunez-Smith’s research focuses on promoting health and healthcare equity for structurally marginalized populations with an emphasis on centering community engagement, developing patient reported measurements of healthcare quality, and identifying regional strategies to reduce the global burden of non-communicable diseases. Dr. Nunez-Smith has extensive expertise in examining the effects of social and structural determinants of health, systemic influences contributing to health disparities, health equity improvement, and community-academic partnered scholarship. In addition to primary data collection, management, and analysis, ERIC has institutional expertise in qualitative and mixed methods, population health, and medical informatics. Dr. Nunez-Smith is the principal investigator on many NIH and foundation-funded research projects, including an NIH-funded project to develop a tool to assess patient reported experiences of discrimination in healthcare. She has conducted an investigation of the promotion and retention of diversity in academic medical school faculty and has published numerous articles on the experiences of minority students and faculty. Funded by NIH/NIMHD, she established the Eastern Caribbean Health Outcomes Research Network (ECHORN), a research collaborative across four Eastern Caribbean islands, supporting several chronic disease research projects and enhancing health outcomes research and leadership capacity in the region; the flagship ECHORN Cohort Study recruited and is following a community-dwelling adult cohort (n=3000) to examine novel chronic disease risk and protective factors. She received NIH/NHLBI funding to build upon this work by recruiting children into an expanded intergenerational ECHORN cohort, inclusive of a biorepository. She is also PI on one of five NIH/NIMHD-funded Transdisciplinary Collaborative Centers on Health Disparities focused on Precision Medicine which leverages the ECHORN infrastructure to conduct collaborative research on hypertension and diabetes. Most recently, as the COVID-19 pandemic has shed national attention on the health and healthcare disparities of marginalized populations, she received NIH funding to leverage ECHORN to improve the COVID-19 testing cascade in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Further, she was called upon to chair the Governor’s ReOpen CT Advisory Group Community Committee and was subsequently named co-chair of the Biden-Harris Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board. She served as Senior Advisor to the White House COVID-19 Response and Chair of the Presidential COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force at the Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Nunez-Smith has mentored dozens of trainees since completing fellowship and has received numerous awards for teaching and mentoring. An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, Dr. Nunez-Smith is board certified in internal medicine, having completed residency training at Harvard University’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and fellowship at the Yale Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, where she also received a Masters in Health Sciences. Originally from the US Virgin Islands, she attended Jefferson Medical College, where she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, and she earned a BA in Biological Anthropology and Psychology at Swarthmore College.
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    • Craig Roy, PhD

      Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis and of Immunobiology and Director of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS); Vice-Chair, Department of Microbial Pathogenesis; Co-Director of Graduate Admissions (DGA), Microbiology PhD Program of Biological and Biomedical Sciences

      Craig Roy received his B.S. from Michigan State University in 1985 and earned his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University in 1991 in the laboratory of Dr. Stanley Falkow. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Ralph Isberg in the Department of Molecular Microbiology at Tufts University School of Medicine in 1996, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Stony Brook University. Dr. Roy became a founding member of the Department of Microbial Pathogenesis at Yale University in 1998 and serves as Vice-Chair. He currently holds the title of Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunobiology. Research in the Roy laboratory focuses on the host-pathogen interface. Using multi-disciplinary approaches his laboratory has discovered many novel mechanisms that intracellular pathogens use to modulate host membrane transport pathways, which allow these pathogens to evade cell autonomous defenses and create novel organelles that permit bacterial replication.
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  • CORE Research Facilities

    • Amy Blanchard, MS

      Director of Research Cores; Director of Research Cores, Office of the Dean, School of Medicine

      Amy is trained in Molecular Biology and brings more than 20 years of research core experience to the Director of Research Cores position. Since 2002, Amy has held multiple positions in YSM genomic research cores, as a technician in the Oligosynthesis core and as the Director of DNA Sequencing. This experience and training has cultivated a deep understanding of research core operations as well as university policies, and allows Amy to strongly support YSM's research cores program.
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    • Ben Myers, PhD

      Director of Research Cores (Central)

      I’m dedicated to building the scientific infrastructure and technical workforce that will enable the discoveries — and discoverers — of the future.Trained as both a scientist and an engineer, I bring deep, hands-on expertise in materials characterization and micro/nanofabrication, along with more than 23 years of experience in research core management and development. At Yale, I lead the creation and operation of shared experimental resources that empower researchers across the natural sciences and engineering to pursue transformative research.As Co-Director of Yale’s University-wide Research Cores program, I work in close partnership with the Yale School of Medicine to strengthen and align support infrastructure for Yale’s cores. I provide strategic oversight and support for all cores outside YSM and direct leadership for several centrally supported units. My work focuses on advancing research capabilities, fostering collaboration, and elevating the visibility and impact of research cores and their staff — ensuring that Yale’s scientific infrastructure continues to drive innovation and discovery well into the future. See my publications here: https://scholar.google.com/cit...
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  • YSM Pre-Award Team (YPAT)