Naheed Ahmed, PhD, MPH, MA

Naheed Ahmed, PhD, MPH, MA, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She is a mixed methods researcher with an interdisciplinary background in family science, public health, and medical anthropology. She studies digital health, chronic diseases, mental health, and comorbid disorders. Her research uses community-engaged approaches and is primarily with immigrant and minority populations. Dr. Ahmed’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in high impact journals including Annals of Epidemiology, Annual Review of Public Health, Assessment, and JAMA Network Open.

Gurvinder Singh, Associate Research Coordinator

I am currently working as an Associate Research Coordinator at the Department of Population Health at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, where I support data-driven research initiatives. I received my bachelor's degree in computer science from CUNY York College. I am passionate about addressing health disparities and advancing health equity within underserved communities, particularly within the South Asian population. My work focuses on supporting research initiatives that use data and improve community health outcomes.

Miguel Cainzos Achirica, MD, MPH, PhD

I am preventive cardiologist and cardiovascular epidemiologist trained in Barcelona (Spain) and Johns Hopkins (Baltimore [MD], USA). My research interests focus on 2 complementary approaches to the prevention of cardiovascular disease: 1) interventions at the population level, with a special focus on the identification of vulnerable populations, minorities, and other groups at increased risk of cardiovascular disease; and 2) interventions at the individual level, using cardiac imaging and other novel biomarkers to inform a most precise cardiovascular risk management. My interest in South Asian cardiovascular health stems from my early clinical and research experiences with the local South Asian community in Barcelona. My work in this space since 2013 has contributed to increase awareness on the high burden of diabetes, obesity, and coronary heart disease (CHD) among South Asians living in Southern Europe, particularly Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, and my findings are currently being used by the local health authorities to inform tailored public health interventions. South Asians in the US are also at higher CHD risk than the general population, and there is a lack of SA-specific risk assessment tools for this group in the US. I look forward to contributing to fill these research gaps and have collaborated with the MASALA investigators since 2016.

Saikat Talukder, Community Health Representative

Saikat Talukder is a Community Health Representative in the Department of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Finance from Brooklyn College. In his role, Saikat works closely with the South Asian community, providing culturally tailored health education, outreach, and individual counseling for the MASALA and CSP studies.

Saikat recruits participants in both community and clinical settings, conducts eligibility screenings, explains study goals, and supports participants through the consent process. He collects and manages study data, assists participants during clinical visits, conducts follow-up calls, and helps communicate lab results. In addition, Saikat handles administrative responsibilities such as registering participants, scheduling Clinical Research Center visits, updating study documents after visits, retrieving lab results, and managing and distributing cash incentives among participants.

Saikat has also conducted qualitative interviews with MASALA participants and is currently analyzing and coding the interview data. Within the MASALA Study, Saikat successfully recruited the highest number of Bangladeshi participants through community outreach, referrals, and personal networks.

Outside of work, Saikat enjoys traveling, hiking, and kayaking. He is passionate about sports such as cricket, carrom, and soccer. He also enjoys spending time with friends and family, and listening to his favorite podcast, Seerah (Biography) of Prophet Muhammad.

Sabiha Sultana, BSW, Community Health Worker

Sabiha Sultana, BSW, is a community health worker at the NYU Center for the Study of Asian American Health (CSAAH), within the NYU Langone Department of Population Health. Sabiha is fluent in Bengali/English and is dedicated to serving her community. Within her role at NYU, she works closely with the New York City (NYC) South Asian community. She has experience helping patients from NYC primary care practices to prevent and manage cardiovascular diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, by providing in-language and culturally-appropriate health education and lifestyle coaching. She has also built strong relationships with women’s groups in the Bangladeshi community in Brooklyn and Queens for the NYU Community Service Plan. Sabiha is also a certified health navigator and assists in enrolling patients into health insurance plans. Within the MASALA Study, she will be recruiting individuals for the NYU site and will conduct MASALA Visit 1B exams. Sabiha graduated from the City University of New York (CUNY) at York College with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Welfare from National University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and thus, has extensive experience and skill providing social services. Previously she’s worked as a case work liaison and outreach services specialist, providing services within New York City. In her free time, Sabiha enjoys doing Arts and Crafts, Gardening and cooking up healthy Bangladeshi dishes! 

Haroon Zafar, Research Data Associate

Haroon Zafar is currently working as a Research Data Associate in the Department of Population Health at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He received his Bachelor's degree in Biomedical sciences from Brooklyn College and Master’s in Biomedical Informatics from SUNY Downstate Medical Center. He aspires to further his education with a PhD in Biomedical Informatics. 

He is passionate to bridge the health literacy and equity gap in the South Asian community and promotes health education and a healthy lifestyle for community members. His work focuses on diabetes prevention and management within the South Asian community.

Belinda Needham, PhD, MA

Belinda Needham is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan.  Her research focuses on health disparities.  In general, members of socially disadvantaged groups have worse mental and physical health than those who have higher social status.  Belinda’s work seeks to identify, explain, and reduce gender, socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, and sexual orientation health disparities.  Using data from the MASALA study, she has authored or coauthored papers on (1) sex steroid hormones and cardiometabolic health and (2) acculturation and symptoms of depression.

Andrew J. Cooper, Statistical Analyst/Programmer

Andrew J. Cooper is a statistical analyst/programmer in the Division of General Internal Medicine & Geriatrics at Northwestern University.  He has more than 15 years of experience inpublic health and health services research, filling a variety of roles in data management, data architecture, application development and statistical analysis.  While he has worked on a range of research studies and topics, much of his experience is in diabetes and cardiovascular health.  He completed a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago and is currently working on a Master of Science in predictive analytics.  Andrew is a statistician on the MASALA study.  

Morgana Mongraw-Chaffin, PhD, MPH

Dr. Morgana Mongraw-Chaffin is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Prevention at the Wake Forest School of Medicine. Her research focuses on the etiology and prevention of obesity and cardiometabolic disease with particular interest in metabolically healthy obesity, glucose dysregulation, and ectopic fat. Her complementary work has investigated the role that reproductive and pregnancy factors play in women’s lifetime risk for cardiovascular disease. Dr. Mongraw-Chaffin’s work in MASALA has concentrated on her specific interest in elucidating differences by sex and race/ethnicity in the distribution and resulting risk from ectopic fat.

Yichen Jin, MSPH

Yichen Jin is a Research Associate in the Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University. She has a Master of Science in Public Health (specializing in Nutrition) from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and her research interests are in examining the role of dietary determinants of health and wellness. In the MASALA study, Yichen has focused on the role of diet and other lifestyle factors with cardiometabolic health.

Nicola Lancki, Statistical Analyst

Nicola Lancki is a statistical analyst in the Division of General Internal Medicine & Geriatrics at Northwestern University. She completed her Master of Public Health in Epidemiology in 2010 from the University of Illinois at Chicago and has worked in applied public health as an epidemiologist with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Illinois Department of Public Health.  She has several years of experience in health research with roles in data management, database design and development, and statistical analysis.  She is excited to be a part of this important study to inform the treatment and prevention of heart disease in South Asians.

B'Joe Mammoottil, M.Sc., Research Study Coordinator

B’joe is a Research Study Coordinator for MASALA studies in the Center for Community Health at the Institute for Public Health and Medicine (IPHAM), Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois. He earned his M.Sc. in 1999 from Medical College Baroda, M.S University, Baroda, India. His previous research work focused on Diabetes Mellitus, Cardiovascular disease, and Dementia in the Indian population. His earlier assignments include being a Junior and Senior Research fellow at Cardiac Care Center, SRMC&RI in Chennai, India. He is very excited to be a part of South Asian Studies in America, the MASALA Exam 3 and MASALA 2G Studies at Northwestern University.

Hema Naik, MPH, DLO, MBBS, Research Project Coordinator

I am a Research Project Coordinator at Northwestern University. I completed my Masters in Public Health from Benedictine University. My passion to work for Public health was driven from my past experience of working in medicine. It gives me immense satisfaction to work for the South Asian community as they are very often underrepresented in the field of research. In my free time, I like to read, listen to music and spend time with my family.

Subia Javed, Family Liaison/Community Health Specialist

I work as a family liaison at Skokie School district 69. I help families not only in interpretation and translation (Urdu, Hindi and Gujrati) but also work as a bridge between parents, school and community. I support families in an area needed and also engage them in our community.

Additionally, I work as a community health specialist at Northwestern University in South Asian research studies. The main part of my work is to recruit and provide health education which I really enjoy.

In my free time, I like to enjoy the outdoors, hang out with friends and travel.