I am a clinician-researcher focused on how health-related social needs impact people's ability to enact healthy behaviors and how we can adjust practice and address system inequities to change that. I am especially interested in the relationship between food insecurity, ability to engage in physical activity and diabetes and obesity.

Elena Broaddus, PhD, MSPH, is a western-Colorado based Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and co-director of PEACHnet—a practice- and community-based research network for Colorado’s western slope. Elena’s doctoral training was in global public health and social and behavioral interventions, and her current research interests focus on the integration of efforts to understand and address social determinants of health into primary care.

I study how to improve health equity using HIT-based interventions in safety net clinics. Expertise in social risks, health services, clinical decision support, and implementation science.

I received a Master in Public Health from Colorado School of Public Health with an emphasis on epidemiology and biostatistics. I have spent over a decade investigating and helping organizations learn about the context, mediators and interventions on social determinants of health both in government and non-profit sectors. I currently work for the Office of Community Health at Kaiser Permanente and consult with the Social Health Practice (SHP) team to strategically plan research investments, identify and coordinate with researchers and evaluators, and to digest and apply learnings to the strategic and tactical direction of SHP.

Deepak Palakshappa, MD MSHP is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics and the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Dr. Palakshappa’s research focuses on improving the health outcomes of low-income and vulnerable populations. He is particularly interested in addressing food insecurity and other social drivers of health.

Elena Byhoff, MD MSc is an Associate Professor in the Division of Health Systems Science in the Department of Medicine and in the Division of Health Informatics and Implementation Sciences in the Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at UMass Chan Medical School. She is a practicing internal medicine doctor and health services researcher with an interest in how primary care can be leveraged as a point of entry to address social determinants of health and reduce health disparities. Dr. Byhoff works closely with community organizations to develop and grow connections between health care and social service delivery. Her research includes stakeholder perspectives and implementation considerations for social needs programs in health care settings, and the consequences of policy incentives on partnerships between health care and social service organizations.

Tiajuanna “Tia” Francis is the co-founder of It’s Possible, Inc., a women’s empowerment movement. As an expert by experience, she uses her journey of overcoming serious illness and adversity to inspire women to heal, grow, and embrace their true potential through resilience, self-reflection, and self-esteem building.

As a fully engaged, volunteer patient advocate, I continue to identify barriers that hinder patient access to prescribed therapies. I share patient experiences with policymakers and evoke change in legislation to improve access to equitable, quality, affordable healthcare.

33 years Alzheimer/Dementia Community Care for Caregivers facing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. National Caregiver Advocate and Comparative Effective Research Advisor. Serve on several mental health national Expert by Experience panels.

Njeri Grevious (she/they) is currently a Product Manager at Microsoft. Previously, they worked in the financial sector at Goldman Sachs after receiving their undergraduate degree in Applied Mathematics and Biomedical Engineering from Yale. Njeri is also a patient/consumer representative on the steering committee of the Health Experiences Research Network (HERN). Whenever possible, she also enjoys being a volunteer mentor as well for several organizations that sponsored her education including the Ron Brown Scholars Program, Gates Millennium Foundation and Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. Njeri lives in the Hudson Valley, is a concert violinist and enjoys learning romance languages – a hobby which stems from her Latin studies in high school.