Professor Desai’s expertise is in the application of epidemiologic methods to clinical and health services research. Most of his research effort is devoted to mentored, team-science projects in which he is leading or substantially contributing to the analytic and methodological aspects of the work. The overarching goal of his work – across various content areas – is to improve health equity in access, quality, and outcomes of care in a broad range of populations and settings. Professor Desai has extensive experience (1) conducting studies at the interface of mental health and primary care; (2) developing risk-adjusted quality-of-care measures for the Medicare program; (3) determining the incidence, trends, and outcomes of surgical procedures; (4) examining the health, health beliefs, and healthcare utilization of marginalized and stigmatized populations, including immigrants, refugees, and incarcerated individuals; (5) contributing to numerous projects in low- and middle-income settings on a range of topics, including child health, prisoner health, diagnosis and treatment of both non-communicable and infectious diseases, and health systems strengthening; and (6) examining DEI-related issues in the biomedical workforce.
Aging; Mental Disorders; Cardiovascular Diseases; Chronic Disease; Epidemiologic Methods; Health Workforce; Health Services Research; Public Health; Quality of Health Care; Veterans; Global Health; Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation; Quality Indicators, Health Care; Vulnerable Populations; Emigrants and Immigrants; Noncommunicable Diseases