Director : Carla Williams, MD
Carla Williams, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Howard University Cancer Center. Her research focuses on building capacity within community-based organizations to provide brief health promotion interventions. She also directs projects that provide community-based cancer education and access to cancer screening for the uninsured and under-insured. Dr. Williams works with local community coalitions and service providers to improve cancer prevention, early detection, treatment and quality of life.
Co-Director: : Mary Ann Dutton, PhD
Mary Ann Dutton, PhD is a Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical Center and Co-Director of the Community Engagement Component of the Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science. Her research focuses on trauma, violence and mental health among low-income, minority individuals and community-based interventions that attempt to reduce health disparities associated with effective treatment. She has recently studied telehealth and mindfulness interventions for PTSD and related mental and physical health outcomes.
Additional Team Members
Daniel Merenstein, MD, Practice Based Research Network (PBRN) Coordinator- Capital Area Primary Care Research Network (CAPRICORN)
Dr. Merenstein is an Associate Professor of Family Medicine at Georgetown University, where he also directs Family Medicine research. The primary goal of Dr. Merenstein’s research is to provide answers to common clinical questions that lack evidence and improve patient care. Dr. Merenstein is a clinical trialist who has recruited over 1,200 participants for 6 trials since 2006. In all his trials he recruits in both Spanish and English.
Veronica Clarke-Tasker, PhD, Student Engagement Coordinator
Tawara Goode, MA, Cultural Competence Coordinator
Ms. Goode is an Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator for the National Center for Cultural Competence at Georgetown University. She is nationally and internationally recognized as a thought leader in the area of cultural and linguistic competency. Her research focuses on cultural and linguistic competence and its role in addressing health care disparities including partnering with diverse communities to improve the health of their members. Ms. Goode currently conducts four national projects that focus on cultural and linguistic competence at the intersection of race, ethnicity, and disability.
Finie Richardson, MPH, Practice Based Research Network Coordinator- DC PrimCare Practice Based Research Network Coordinator
Mrs. Hunter-Richardson is an Instructor and Program Manager for the Department of Community and Family Medicine at the Howard University College of Medicine. She is the Network Coordinator for DC PrimCare, a network of primary care practices serving the DC Metropolitan area. Her professional background merges translational and community-based research conducted in medically underserved communities. She has implemented projects that developed culturally and linguistically appropriate interventions using community-based participatory research (CBPR) to improve health outcomes among low-literacy minority populations.
Bradford Wilson, PhD, Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Liaison
Dr. Wilson serves as the Community Liaison and Community Engagement Cluster member for the CTSA and a Senior Research Associate at the National Human Genome Center at Howard University. His research interests include the genetics of health disparity diseases like asthma, cardiovascular disease, breast/colon/prostate cancer, diabetes, and hypertension, the pharmacogenomics of treating them, and the ethical legal and social issues (ELSI) surrounding it all. He also has recently completed the “Know Your F.A.C.T.s”; Family Ancestry Conditions and Traits family health history project for the D.C. Department of Health and interested in using technology to increase minority participation and representation in research.