My long-term goal is to prevent cardiometabolic disease in high-risk populations through a three-level approach: 1) clinical investigation of metabolomic processes at the individual level 2) improvements in chronic disease prevention inside the primary care office and 3) lifestyle changes with a focus on practical dietary interventions in the lived environment.
At the individual level:
My clinical research activities center on the metabolic processes connecting dietary intake and cardiometabolic disease and the heterogeneity of type 2 diabetes. I believe that further work with "omics" technologies can help to identify targets for informed prevention. I have also completed a pilot intervention study enrolling participants with prediabetes to evaluate the impact evaluation walnut intake on dietary quality, measures of prediabetes and metabolite expression.
Inside the PCP's office:
I developed a program to improve postpartum transitions to primary care for women with gestational diabetes. In this program, we identified women with a pregnancy affected by GDM who are at high risk of transition to type 2 diabetes and designed programs within our medical record system to track, improve postpartum follow-up and enroll patients into primary care.
At the population level:
We completed a project to help to connect people living with prediabetes with community resources for diabetes prevention.
Separately, I am the clinical site director for the MASALA Study, a long-standing cohort study investigating risk factors for cardiometabolic disease in South Asian Americans.
My future goals are to extend and individualize current knowledge about beneficial dietary and lifestyle interventions to prevent cardiometabolic disease, and to use multi-omics to monitor responsiveness to these programs.