The ACCELERATE Research Team


 

Joshua J. Joseph

MD, MPH, FAHA

Investigator

Joshua J. Joseph, MD, MPH, FAHADr. Joshua J. Joseph is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. He is the Prinicipal Investigator of the ACCELERATE…

Joshua J. Joseph, MD, MPH, FAHA

Dr. Joshua J. Joseph is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. He is the Prinicipal Investigator of the ACCELERATE Research Group. He is an alumnus of Morehouse College (B.S. in Biology, ‘03) and Boston University School of Medicine (M.D., ‘09), during which time he spent 2 years at the National Institutes of Health in the Medical Research Scholars Program. He completed his internal medicine residency and was on the General Internal Medicine faculty at Yale University School of Medicine. He serves as the Co-Chair of the OSU Wexner Medical Center Obesity and Nutrition Steering Committee and a member of the Health Equity Steering Committee. Dr. Joseph’s National Institutes of Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded research focuses on prevention and treatment of diabetes, and cardiovascular disease through a health equity lens. Nationally, he is an engaged member of the Endocrine Society, American Heart Association, and American Diabetes Association.

 

Darrell M. Gray II

MD, MPH, FACG

Investigator

Darrell Gray, MD, MPH, FACGI am a gastroenterologist specializing in the evaluation, management and prevention of diseases involving the digestive tract. I completed medical school at Howard University College of Medicine, my residency in internal m…

Darrell Gray, MD, MPH, FACG

I am a gastroenterologist specializing in the evaluation, management and prevention of diseases involving the digestive tract. I completed medical school at Howard University College of Medicine, my residency in internal medicine at Duke University Medical Center and my gastroenterology fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis. I also received my Master’s of Public Health at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. Previously, I serve as an assistant professor of medicine, director of Community Engagement and Equity in Digestive Health, and medical director of Endoscopy and Gastroenterology Services at The Ohio State University. Previously, I was the deputy director of the Center for Cancer Health Equity at the OSUCCC – James, as well as a member of the Cancer Control Program, where my research is focused on community engagement in preventive health behaviors and interventions, and on understanding the interaction of the social determinants of health, public health and healthy policy in cancer prevention.

 

Sophie A. Lazarus

Ph.D.

Investigator

Sophie A Lazarus, PhDSophie A. Lazarus, PhD provides evidence-based interventions for mood, anxiety, and personality disorders. She specializes in mindfulness-based interventions and directs the mindfulness-based cognitive therapy program. She is ac…

Sophie A Lazarus, PhD

Sophie A. Lazarus, PhD provides evidence-based interventions for mood, anxiety, and personality disorders. She specializes in mindfulness-based interventions and directs the mindfulness-based cognitive therapy program. She is actively involved in research, education, and administrative efforts. Dr. Lazarus’ research has concentrated on the characterization of interpersonal functioning in individuals with disorders of emotion dysregulation. She has a particular interest in methods that examine social networks characteristics as indices of interpersonal dysfunction. In addition to this, she is currently interested in understanding the effect of mindfulness-based interventions on populations with comorbid mental and physical illnesses and investigating the role of mindfulness on interpersonal processes.

 

Guy Brock

Ph.D.

Investigator

Guy Brock, Ph.D.Guy Brock, PhD, is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics. He currently leads the Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design (BERD) Core of the Center for Clinical Translational Science (CCTS…

Guy Brock, Ph.D.

Guy Brock, PhD, is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics. He currently leads the Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design (BERD) Core of the Center for Clinical Translational Science (CCTS) and is Deputy Director of the Center for Biostatistics. He also previously served as the Director of the Biostatistics Resource at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (BRANCH). Prior to joining The Ohio State University, Dr. Brock was with the faculty in the Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics at the University of Louisville from 2005 - 2015 and served as the Director of the Statistical Consulting Center. Dr. Brock is highly collaborative and has promoted team science through his collaborations with clinical, basic, and population science investigators during the past 15 years. He has also taken a leadership role in promoting and maintaining rigorous scientific conduct at OSU by obtaining supplemental funding for a course devoted to rigor, reproducibility, design, and data analysis.

 

Rosevine AZAP

BS

Trainee

Rosevine Azap, BSRosevine A. Azap is a medical student at The Ohio State University. In 2019, she received a B.S. in Microbiology with Scholars Distinction from the Ohio State University. Her research in Dr. Joseph’s lab focuses on the American Hear…

Rosevine Azap, BS

Rosevine A. Azap is a medical student at The Ohio State University. In 2019, she received a B.S. in Microbiology with Scholars Distinction from the Ohio State University. Her research in Dr. Joseph’s lab focuses on the American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple 7 and its attainment in African American men. She has a passion for health equity and the eradication of health disparities in marginalized communities. As a medical student, Rosevine is involved in various activities that are centered around this cause such as HEADS UP, SNMA, New Life Free Clinic, and more. Outside of academics, Rosevine loves dance, traveling, learning about different cultures and languages, theater, and coffee shops!

 

Bjorn Kluwe

BS

Staff

Bjorn Kluwe started working in the ACCELERATE Research group during the second semester of his freshman year. He recently graduated with a BS in economics from Ohio State. He is currently a research assistant in the lab and is taking a gap year befo…

Bjorn Kluwe started working in the ACCELERATE Research group during the second semester of his freshman year. He recently graduated with a BS in economics from Ohio State. He is currently a research assistant in the lab and is taking a gap year before hopefully matriculating to medical school next year. He hopes to become a physician-scientist and has a strong interest in chronic disease treatment and prevention. His work in the ACCELERATE group has primarily focused on the role of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis and the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone system in the development of cardiometabolic disease in diverse populations.

 

Luiza Reopell

BS

Research Administration Management Senior Analyst

Luiza is a graduate of The Ohio State University Public Health and Sociology programs. She is working to increase diversity in clinical trials.

Luiza is a graduate of The Ohio State University Public Health and Sociology programs. She is working to increase diversity in clinical trials.

 

Amani Wilson

BS

Clinical Research Assistant

Amani Wilson graduated from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelors of Applied Health Science. She is a clinical research assistant for the ACCELERATE research group and plans to start medical school in Fall 2024. 

 

Jacsen Luthy

BS

Research Intern

Jacsen began working with Dr. Joseph and the ACCELERATE Research Group as a sophomore while attending Davidson College (24’). As a rising senior, he will graduate with a B.S. in psychology with a minor in public health. Jacsen is also a Division 1 scholar-athlete at Davidson where he plays soccer, and have used his passion for physical activity and public health to guide my research interests. Jacsen is developing my his own research investigating the association of exercise with cardiovascular health among Black men. The experiences he have gained through the ACCELERATE Research Group has led him to pursue a career and an advanced degree in public health.

Timiya S. Nolan

PhD, APRN-CNP, ANP-BC

Investigator

Timiya Nolan, PhD, APRN-CNP, ANP-BC

Dr. Nolan is a health disparities-focused nurse scientist developing interventions that promote self-management in the prevention and control of chronic conditions (i.e. breast cancer and cardiovascular disease). Her dissertation study of young African American (AA) breast cancer survivorship, funded by an American Cancer Society Doctoral Degree in Cancer Nursing Scholarship, provided formative data toward the systematic adaptation of a psychoeducational, quality-of-life intervention. Dr. Nolan’s postdoctoral fellowship afforded her opportunities to examine effects of a cancer prevention intervention for multi-ethnic women while using intramural funds to advance her quality-of-life intervention, as well as exploring connections between cancer and cardiovascular disease in AA women. By identifying/understanding contextual factors of self-management in health and well-being, Dr. Nolan hopes to be better able to develop, implement and disseminate culturally-sensitive interventions for African Americans that will eventually reduce health disparities.

 

David Kline

Ph.D.

Investigator

David Kline, Ph.D.Dr. Kline is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at The Ohio State University. He is also affiliated with the Center for Biostatistics, co-leads the Population Health Informatics and Biostatistics (PH…

David Kline, Ph.D.

Dr. Kline is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at The Ohio State University. He is also affiliated with the Center for Biostatistics, co-leads the Population Health Informatics and Biostatistics (PHIB) Lab, and is a member of the Infectious Diseases Institute. Broadly, Dr. Kline's research is focused on addressing problems in population health and epidemiology using biostatistical methodology and data science. He is particularly interested in using multivariate disease mapping techniques and Bayesian hierarchical models to address complex, difficult to measure social and epidemiological problems. Dr. Kline applies his biostatistical expertise in a wide variety of collaborative research. He is primarily focused on modeling clinical and observational data. Dr. Kline currently has established collaborations with the Joseph Lab, Neuroscience Research Institute, and the Comprehensive Cancer Center.

 

James B. Odei

Ph.D.

Investigator

James Odei, PhDDr. Odei comes to the college with a Ph.D. in Statistics. Prior to joining the OSU College of Public Health in the Division of Biostatistics, he served as a visiting assistant professor at OSU’s College of Arts and Sciences in the Dep…

James Odei, PhD

Dr. Odei comes to the college with a Ph.D. in Statistics. Prior to joining the OSU College of Public Health in the Division of Biostatistics, he served as a visiting assistant professor at OSU’s College of Arts and Sciences in the Department of Statistics, where he taught both undergraduate and graduate courses.

His research interests include spatial, temporal, spatio-temporal modeling using Bayesian methods and hierarchical modeling and applications to ecology and health. He believes that interdisciplinary collaboration is key to making scientific progress.

 

Amaris Williams

Ph.D.

Post-Doctoral Researcher

Dr. Amaris Williams has a PhD in nutrition from Cornell University. She is a Post-Doctoral Scholar working on the ACCELERATE research team to eliminate health disparities in diabetes and hypertension. She is engaged in data analysis, grant and manus…

Dr. Amaris Williams has a PhD in nutrition from Cornell University. She is a Post-Doctoral Scholar working on the ACCELERATE research team to eliminate health disparities in diabetes and hypertension. She is engaged in data analysis, grant and manuscript writing, study design, and bench lab work.

 

SOngzhu Zhao

MS

Statistician

Songzhu Zhao is a Biostatistician in the OSU Biostatistics department. Her areas of expertise are mixed effects modeling for repeated measures, linear and non-linear regression methods, and working with large population databases.

 

Emmanuella Aboagye-Mensah

Ph.D.

Doctoral Student

Emmanuella Aboagye-Mensah is a doctoral student at The Ohio State University College of Public Health. In 2020, she obtained a B.S. in Public Health from The Ohio State University, and further pursued her passion for healthy populations at New York University where she received a global MPH in Health Policy and Management in 2023. Emmanuella is interested in studying ways and in creating tools that can increase access to quality care, particularly for marginalized and vulnerable populations. Outside of academia she enjoys jazz and afrobeats, tennis, and traveling.

 

Neal Pohlman

BS

Trainee

Neal Pohlman, BSNeal Pohlman grew up in Columbus before attending Oberlin College for his undergraduate studies in Biology and History. After graduating from Oberlin he worked in Chicago at Northwestern University on the development of novel therape…

Neal Pohlman, BS

Neal Pohlman grew up in Columbus before attending Oberlin College for his undergraduate studies in Biology and History. After graduating from Oberlin he worked in Chicago at Northwestern University on the development of novel therapeutics for Heart Failure. Neal is now an MD candidate at Ohio State University and is especially interested in cardiology and health policy. While at Ohio State, he has been involved in advancing equity in healthcare through serving on the boards of the American Medical Association, Students for a National Health Program, and HEADS UP. In Dr. Joseph’s Lab group, Neal is engaged in population level research on the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone system and ambulatory blood pressure, as well as ideal cardiovascular health attainment and cardiovascular disease outcomes in individuals with diabetes. Outside of school and research, Neal enjoys athletics, cooking, and hunting for the best brewery in Columbus.

 

Jayvon McKinley

BS

Trainee

I am a senior at Kettering College pursuing a bachelor of science degree in Human Biology. My passion to improve individual and community health has sparked my interest in a career in Interventional Cardiology. I believe having an understanding of L…

I am a senior at Kettering College pursuing a bachelor of science degree in Human Biology. My passion to improve individual and community health has sparked my interest in a career in Interventional Cardiology. I believe having an understanding of Life’s Simple 7 will help me achieve a well-rounded comprehension of cardiac health. I recently completed an internship with the Association of State Public Health Nutritionist at the Ohio Commission of Minority Health. This opportunity connected me with Dr. Joshua Joseph’s Research Group at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

 

Kwame lartey

BS

Research Intern

Kwame Lartey is a senior at The Ohio State University pursuing a Bachelor's of Science in Biology. He recently completed the Ohio State ASPIRE Medical Research program that connected him with the ACCELERATE research group where he contributes to research that advances cardiometabolic health equity. He plans to attend medical school in Fall 2025 and his future career goals include promoting equitable access to healthcare worldwide while improving the quality of health care.