Cecile Yama, MD

Cecile Yama is an Assistant Professor in the Center for Child Health Services Research at the Mindich Child Health and Development Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and a general pediatrician in the Department of Pediatrics. She is co-appointed faculty in the Department of Population Health Science and Policy.

Dr. Yama’s clinical, research and advocacy work bridges policy and clinical care to foster healthy environments for children, starting in early childhood. Clinically, Dr. Yama is a board-certified pediatrician with specialized expertise in trauma-informed care of young children with behavioral, developmental, and medical complexity. She has advanced training in infant complex care, NICU follow up and primary care psychiatry. Her clinical work centers on building long-term, family-centered partnerships, helping families navigate complex medical and social systems, streamline their care, and integrate social and behavioral support into primary care.

Her research focuses on the role of economic and social policies—including tax policy and energy assistance—in improving health outcomes in low and middle-income families. She uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to rigorously evaluate how policy design and changes effects child health. Through stakeholder engagement and interdisciplinary partnerships, she also implements and evaluates clinic-based strategies to connect families to policies that can address their social needs. She has a particular interest in the understudied area of energy insecurity and child health, and her work seeks to understand how assistance with energy bills may mitigate the ill effects of extreme weather in children. She collaborates with non-profits and think tanks to contribute a child health perspective to evidence based reports on social policy. She is committed to aligning healthcare delivery with social policies to ensure children and families thrive.

Dr. Yama completed the highly prestigious National Clinical Scholars Program (NCSP) at the University of California, Los Angeles, including a Masters in Health Policy and Management. She has published her work in high-impact journals, including JAMA Pediatrics, JAMA Network Open, JAMA Health Forum, and Perinatology. Dr. Yama’s work significantly advances understanding of the health impacts of energy insecurity, and anti-poverty policy interventions for U.S. children and families. She was selected for the Young Investigator Award from the Academic Pediatric Association, awarded to four promising early career pediatric investigators annually, and has obtained funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, among others, for her work.