Nita Vangeepuram, MD

Nita Vangeepuram, MD, is a practicing general pediatrician, clinical researcher, and an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics, Environmental Medicine and Public Health, and Population Health Science and Policy, and Community Engagement Core Lead of Mount Sinai’s Institute for Health Equity Research. She completed an accelerated BS/MD program at Stevens Institute of Technology and Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. She then completed her pediatrics residency training at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University and a joint fellowship in General Academic Pediatrics and Environmental Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she also received her Master of Public Health degree.

Dr. Vangeepuram has been a PI or co-I on several federally funded studies collaborating with community stakeholders to develop and implement health surveys, interventions, and disease prevention programs, and in conducting quantitative and qualitative research. She has led studies to examine barriers and facilitators for recruitment and retention of diverse populations for community-based and other types of research.

Dr. Vangeepuram completed a Career Development Award (K23) and an R03 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) to develop and implement models for the prevention of Type 2 diabetes among at-risk East Harlem youth using community-based participatory research (CBPR) and novel methods (peer education and mobile health technologies). She also has an R21 from NIDDK to to apply advanced machine learning techniques to National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data to develop a prediabetes/diabetes screener for diverse youth. Dr. Vangeepuram has also received additional funding from the American Academy of Pediatrics, Centers for Disease Control, New York State, and Cigna foundation to support her research.

In 2020, Dr. Vangeepuram led efforts to deploy a community-based survey to understand the instrumental and psychosocial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on priority at-risk NYC populations. This work expanded through Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) funding to understand pandemic impacts on patients with type 2 diabetes and other chronic conditions, as well as conduct a case study of community engaged research during the COVID-19 pandemic using novel virtual strategies. Dr. Vangeepuram is currently co-I of an NIH Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) grant to increase COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and uptake and reduce related disparities among Black, Latinx, and Asian populations, and promote inclusion of these racial/ethnic minority populations in COVID-19 clinical trials through participatory approaches.

Dr. Vangeepuram is co-I of Mount Sinai’s CTSA (focus on community engagement), co-chair of Region 2 of the Academic Pediatrics Association, lead of the Division of General PediatricsDiversity and Equity Clinical Research Workgroup, director of the Student Research Assistant Program in Child Health, and member of several other professional societies, Mount Sinai centers, institutes, and committees, and community coalitions in East Harlem.