Faculty Award Spotlights: Drs. Puja Chebrolu and Molly McNairy

This past month Dr. Chebrolu received the Fund for the Future grant, which supports academically accomplished instructors and faculty in acquiring additional preliminary data to write a successful NIH K award or foundation equivalent. Dr. Chebrolu plans to use this award to conduct research on the rate of development of diabetes after pregnancy in women with a history of gestational diabetes in Pune, India. The pathophysiology of diabetes may be different in South Asians, as >50% of people with diabetes in this population are non-overweight. Our limited understanding of diabetes in non-overweight populations leads to poorer treatment outcomes in these groups. Dr. Chebrolu's research aims to develop a better understanding of this condition and develop interventions based on its pathophysiology and important risk factors.

Additionally, Dr. McNairy was recently awarded the Jessica M. and Natan Bibliowicz Award for Excellence in Mentoring Women Faculty. Dr. McNairy has developed specific interventions and programs for mentoring women as a co-founder of the Weill Cornell Women in Global Health Research Initiative. This initiative seeks to empower and support women working in global health and is supported by the NIH Fogarty International Center. This initiative was tarted in 2015 by junior faculty after noticing the gender disparity between the number of women contemporaries (young trainees, faculty entering global health) and the number of women leaders (section chairs, senior professors)in this field. Through a formal study of female health workers in resource rich and poor settings, Dr. McNairy and her colleagues identified challenges and practical interventions to improve the retention of women in global health research. More importantly, Molly has integrated the findings of this study into her own work in Haiti and Africa to promote women in leadership in global health. Of note, the NIH Fogarty International Center – which is the NIH center dedicated to global health training – recently adopted many of the policies suggested by Dr. McNairy and her colleagues. Dr. McNairy has had an impact on her trainees, the mentorship culture at Weill Cornell, and now mentorship globally through her impact on NIH polic

 Dr. Puja Chelobru in Pune, India with the study team for a hypertension study.      

Dr. Molly McNairy at GHESKIO in Port-au-Prince, Haiti with GHESKIO faculty Drs. Pape, Pierre, and Rouzier.