CARE Fellowship Program graduates have received a number of career development awards.
Karina Berg, MD, MS, the first CARE Program Fellowship graduate (class of 2004), received a NIDA K23 award, and is a recipient of a NIH Loan Repayment award
Hillary Kunins, MD, MPH, MS, the second CARE graduate (class of 2005), is funded under the NIH’s K12 mechanism,
Alain Litwin, MD, MPH, MS, the third CARE graduate (class of 2006), has a K23 application under review by NIDA-K, and is a recipient of a NIH Loan Repayment award
Chinazo Cunningham, MD (class of 2008),
Shadi Nahvi, MD, (class of 2008),
Karina Berg, MD, MS
After completing post-graduate training in Primary Care Internal Medicine (1998-2001) and a Chief Residency (2001-2002), Dr. Karina Berg chose the CARE Fellowship to gain clinical expertise in substance use treatment and receive formal training in clinical research. Her work has focused on antiretroviral adherence in HIV-infected drug users. In addition, Dr. Berg has studied the effects of alcohol use on bone mineral density, and the treatment of chronic pain in methadone maintained drug users.
Since her fellowship, she has gained skills in study implementation, protocol development, and data and staff management, as Medical Director of Dr. Arnsten’s R01-funded randomized trial of the Efficacy and Cost of HAART DOT in Methadone Clinics.
In recognition of her promise as a clinician-investigator, Dr. Berg was awarded an intramural career development award from Montefiore in January 2005. She was then selected by a national committee as a Robert Wood Johnson Physician Faculty Scholar (a 3-year career development award commencing in July 2006) for a project on improving the measurement of antiretroviral adherence in drug users. She submitted a K23 application to NIDA, also on antiretroviral adherence, which was reviewed in March 2006 and received a priority score of 120.
Publications:
- Berg KM, Demas PA, Howard AA, Schoenbaum EE, Gourevitch MN, Arnsten JH. Gender differences in factors associated with antiretroviral adherence. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2004;19:1111-1117.
- Karasz A, Zallman L, Berg K, Gourevitch M, Selwyn P, Arnsten J. The experience of chronic severe pain in patients undergoing methadone maintenance treatment. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2004; Nov;28(5):517-25
- Cunningham CO, Shapiro S, Berg KM, Sacajiu G, Paccione G, Goulet J. An evaluation of a medical outreach program targeting unstably housed HIV infected individuals. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. 2005;16:127-138.
- Cooperman N, Parsons J, Chabon B, Berg KM, Arnsten J. The development and feasibility of an intervention to improve HAART adherence among HIV-positive patients receiving primary care in methadone clinics. Journal of HIV/AIDS and Social Services (in press).
- Cunningham CO, Sohler NL, Berg KM, Shapiro S, Heller D. Type of substance abuse and access to HIV-related health care. AIDS Patient Care and STDS (in press).
- Berg KM, Arnsten JH. Practical and conceptual challenges in measuring antiretroviral adherence. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (in press).
- Berg KM, Kunins HV, Malik R, Harris KA, Nahvi SN, Chaudhry A, Arnsten JH. Effect of alcohol consumption on bone mineral density and osteoporotic fracture: a systematic review and meta-analysis (submitted).
Hillary Kunins, MD, MPH, MS
Alain Litwin, MD, MPH, MS
Shadi Nahvi, MD
After completing residency training in Primary Care Internal Medicine in 2004, Dr. Shadi Nahvi worked as a clinic Medical Director in DoSA for 2 years before becoming a CARE Program Fellow in July 2006. She received a competitive Faculty Development award from AECOM’s NIH-funded Bronx Center to Reduce and Eliminate Health Disparities.
Dr. Nahvi is studying smoking cessation intervention for methadone maintained drug users, and she has recently first-authored an original research paper in this area.
Publications:
- Nahvi S, Richter K, Li X, Modali L, Arnsten JH. Cigarette smoking and interest in quitting in methadone maintenance patients. Addictive Behaviors 2006, Feb 10
Chinazo Cunningham, MD
After completing residency training in Primary Care Internal Medicine in 1997 and a Chief Residency in 1998, Dr. Chinazo Cunningham joined the Einstein/Montefiore faculty as a Clinician-Educator in the Residency Program in Social Medicine (RPSM). She quickly became interested in alternative ways of delivering health care to marginalized and hard-to-reach populations, including drug users and homeless persons, and received funding from HRSA and other sources to begin CitiWide Health Services (in collaboration with CitiWide Harm Reduction).
For the next 5 years Dr. Cunningham directed this program and also led other important service, research, and educational initiatives at AECOM and Montefiore, including a HRSA-funded project evaluating buprenorphine integration in HIV primary care at a Montefiore community health center, and a CDC Minority HIV/AIDS Research Initiative to evaluate determinants of engagement in HIV primary care services among Black and Hispanic single room occupancy hotel residents. Dr. Cunningham applied for and received funding through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Harold Amos Minority Faculty Development Program to enroll in the CRTP and complete a mentored research project in the CARE Program. This project, examining barriers to hepatitis C virus evaluation and treatment in injection drug users, is mentored by Julia Arnsten (CARE Program principal investigator) and co-mentored by Brian Edlin (CARE Program research mentor).