To hear more from the 2021 Mahoney Fellows about their research projects and fellowship experiences, watch the additional videos here.

The Mahoney Fellowship will be on hiatus for the 2023 summer session. Please check back for updates.

Description

The Margaret E. Mahoney Fellowship in Health Policy program offers a unique opportunity for outstanding medical, dental, public health, public policy, and graduate nursing students to conduct summer research projects on early childhood health and development and/or some aspect of health care delivery transformation for vulnerable populations with an emphasis on the policy implications of the research findings. The Fellowship also includes a variety of leadership development activities and skill building in policy advocacy with opportunities to meet local and national health policy leaders. Fellows will receive a stipend of $6,000 intended to cover living expenses.

    Application Requirements

    Applicants must propose a research project and research mentor. The project should focus on a health policy issue (government policy at national/state/local level, institutional, or health facility policy) with clear objectives and a plan for making progress on this issue that can be completed during a 10-week period. Projects must be conducted under the supervision of a senior professional mentor in an academic, government, or non-profit institution in the Greater New York/New Jersey area. Please see the list of Previous Recipients at the bottom of this page for examples of successful projects.

    Program and Participation

    During the summer of their Mahoney Fellowships, Fellows are expected to work on their projects full-time during regular business hours for the entire 10-week period between June and August, except when participating in the program's required enrichment activities. Fellows cannot undertake clinic or other school obligations in this 10-week period.  

    Enrichment activities include but are not limited to: assessing and strengthening your leadership skills; strategies for policy advocacy at local, state and national level; media training; a conflict management and negotiation workshop; and career panel with health sector thought leaders. A schedule will be provided at the start of the program and may be amended as opportunities arise (Mahoney Fellows are expected to attend all enrichment activities). On successfully completing the Fellowship, the students will join a Margaret Mahoney Fellows Alumni Association and will continue to be offered unique opportunities for career development.

    Award Information

    Fellows will receive a stipend of $6,000. This stipend is payable in two installments: 2/3 at the beginning of the program and 1/3 upon acceptance of the Fellow’s final report. No support for indirect costs or laboratory expenses is provided. 

    Eligibility Requirements

    Eligible applicants must be:

    • Graduate-level students currently enrolled in medical, dental, public health, public policy or graduate nursing schools in the United States. Students graduating in May 2021 are ​eligible to apply.
    • Undergraduates and are not eligible to apply.  
    • Applicants must be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident, or authorized to work in the U.S. throughout the award period.

    Application Process

    Applicants must complete an online application that requires uploading certain materials and forms:

    1. A personal statement (maximum 1000 words) about the applicant’s interest in the Fellowship that connects her/his education, leadership experience and career goals to the Mahoney program, and explains the proposed project. Applicants should describe the project’s policy relevance and what will be accomplished during the Fellowship time period.
    2. A letter of support from a project mentor
    3. A letter of recommendation from a senior faculty member at the applicant's school affirming that applicant is a student in good standing and assessing her/his suitability for this kind of Fellowship experience and how it will contribute to her/his career development.
    4. Resume

    Applicants will be evaluated for the following:

    A demonstrated commitment to improving the health and well-being of children and/or vulnerable or at-risk populations; a demonstrated interest in health policy; demonstrated leadership potential; potential of project proposal and setting to directly engage applicant in questions of policy change; and for a clear relationship between the proposed project and the applicant's career goals..

    To begin the application process, click on the link below. You will be asked to complete an eligibility quiz. Provided that you meet the program eligibility requirements, you will then be asked to register by creating a login and password. With your login and password, you will be able to access the online application, including the forms that you must upload and complete.

    CLICK HERE TO APPLY ONLINE

    The application should work in all browsers. We recommend that you use Firefox, Chrome or Internet Explorer.

    Background

    The New York Academy of Medicine administers the program. Established in 1847, the Academy is dedicated to ensuring everyone has the opportunity to live a healthy life. Through our original research, policy and program initiatives we provide the evidence base to address the structural and cultural barriers to good health and drive progress toward health equity. This work, and our one-of-a-kind public programming, is supported by our world class historical medical library and our Fellows program, a unique network of more than 2,000 experts elected by their peers from across the professions affecting health.

    About Margaret E. Mahoney

    Margaret E. Mahoney was a distinguished Fellow of The New York Academy of Medicine and a member of NYAM’s Board of Trustees from 1991-1999. She was a pioneer in the establishment of health care philanthropy in her leadership roles at the Carnegie Corporation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and as President of the Commonwealth Fund from 1980 until 1995. Friends and colleagues often referred to her unique ability to assemble the brightest minds to tackle the most critical health care issues of the day, and her unwavering commitment to improving the lives of New Yorkers.

    Throughout her distinguished career, Margaret was passionately committed to addressing the health care and developmental needs of vulnerable populations, especially children. While at Commonwealth, she was instrumental in helping to create Healthy Steps, an initiative that encourages physicians to closely monitor a child’s development during the first three years following birth. Through her efforts, Healthy Steps has become a preeminent national model for integrating health care and social services for children in underserved and impoverished communities.

    Margaret passed away in December of 2011. To honor her legacy and her commitment to improving health care for vulnerable populations, The Commonwealth Fund, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, The New York Academy of Medicine, Carol and David Richards, and other founding donors came together to create this fellowship program for medical, dental, public health, nursing, and public policy students focused on transforming health care delivery systems for vulnerable populations and early childhood development and prevention.

    Contact information:

    Margaret E. Mahoney Fellowship Program
    The New York Academy of Medicine
    1216 Fifth Avenue
    New York, NY 10029-5202
    E-mail: dfingerhut@nyam.org

    Current & Previous Recipients
    2021

    William Britton, MD, 2024
    Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
    “Preferences for Genetic Results in Research”

    Chloe Kang, PhD, 2023
    Columbia University School of Nursing
    “Identifying the Relationship Between State-Level Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment Maturity Status and COVID-19 Death in Nursing Homes”

    Andrea Lopez, MPH, 2021
    CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy
    “Exploring Barriers to Care in the Latino Community and the Role of Community Health Workers”

    Sofia Palacios, MPH, 2022
    New York University School of Global Public Health
    “Investigating Access and Quality of Care Among Low-Income Medicare Patients in Puerto Rico”

    Derek Soled, MD/MBA, 2022
    Harvard Medical School, Harvard Business School
    “COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence and Equity”

    Nitya Venkat, MD, 2024
    Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University
    "Comparing Bundle Payments for Care Improvement in Total Hip and Knee Replacements with Innovative Condition-Based Bundled Payments”

    Lori Zomback, MD 2024
    SUNY Downstate Medical College
    “The Prevalence and Predictors of Medical Distrust in Pregnant Women”

    2020

    Olivia Brown, MPH 2021
    Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
    “Evaluation of ThriveNYC in Middle School-Aged Children in Harlem”

    Ryan Carson, MD 2023
    Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
    “An Investigation into the Policies Available to a Developed Nation Seeking to Improve its Antimicrobial Stweardship Effectively and Efficiently”

    Mercedes Forster, MD 2023
    Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University
    “Key Stakeholders Perspectives of a Community Heath Worker Program in a Large, Urban, Safety Net Hospital”

    Taylor Harrel, MD 2023
    Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
    “Improving Postpartum Care: An Investigation of How Racial/Ethnic Disparities Drive Postpartum Emergency Department Visits Among Low-Income Women of Color”

    Samir Kamat, MD 2023
    Iahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
    “Perspectives on Managing Covid-19 Among Those Recently Released from Incarceration in New Jersey: A Qualitative Study”

    Jillian Keegan, MD 2023
    Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
    "Collecting Stakeholder Perspectives on Health Equity Measurments”

    Supakorn "Mint" Kueakomoldej, BS, RN, CCRN, PhD 2022
    Columbia University School of Nursing
    “Care Omission in Low-Income Primary Care Practices”

    Jessica Nino de Rivera, MD 2023
    Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
    “Studying Glycemic Control in Latinx Type 2 Diabetes Patients”

    Amanda Wang, MD 2023
    Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
    “Addressing Food Insecurity in Northern Manhattan”

    Jessica Zhang, MD 2023
    Albert Einstein College of Medicine
    “Evaluating Cultural Competency in Mental Healthcare Using the Multicultural Counseling Knowledge and Awareness Scale”

    2019

    Anibelky Almanzar, MD 2022
    Northeast Ohio Medical University
    “Equitable Reimbursement for Community-Based Services”

    April Ancheta, PhD in Nursing 2021
    Columbia University School of Nursing
    “Examining the Relationship Between State-Level Anti-bullying Laws with Sexual Orientation Enumeration and Alcohol Use Among Sexual Minority Adolescents”

    Alexander Chen, MPH 2020
    Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
    “Use geospatial analysis to examine the association between neighborhood food environment and dietary behaviors and health outcomes in NYC”

    Laura Heath, MPH 2019
    Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
    “Integrating medical and behavioral sciences within New York”

    Samantha Goulding, MPH 2020
    Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
    “Integration of competencies and practical recommendations for providers treating children with obesity”

    Sabrina Mangal, PhD in Nursing 2020
    Columbia University School of Nursing
    “Exploring family engagement in catheter-associated infection (CAUTI) prevention for pediatric patients”

    Elena McCormick, DDS 2022
    Columbia University College of Dental Medicine
    “Compiling a complete and detailed record of each state's Medicaid policy regarding orthodontia”

    Amber Simmons, MD 2022
    Weill Cornell Medical College
    “Assess the overlap of negative health outcomes and housing insecurity in the Jamaica Queens neighborhood of NYC”

    Kathleen Yu, MD 2022
    Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
    “Research barriers to kidney procurement from deceased organ donors”

    Zizi Yu, MD 2020
    Harvard Medical School
    “Developing an Educational Curriculum for Acral Lentiginous Melanoma in a Diverse Brooklyn Population”

    2018

    Cilgy Abraham, BS, RN, PhD 2020
    Columbia University School of Nursing
    "Primary Care Provider Practices and Care for Non-English Speaking Patients"

    Arushi Atluri, DDS 2020
    Columbia University College of Dental Medicine
    "Assessing the Healthcare Changes Underway in the U.S. and their Implications for the Careers of today’s Dental Students"

    Katherine Donovan, MD 2021
    Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
    "Exploration of Specific Interventions to Address Unmet Mental Healthcare Needs in East Harlem"

    Joseph Geiger, DDS 2019
    New York University College of Dentistry
    "Misaligned U.S. Medicaid Dental Fee Schedules for Children's Caries Prevention"

    Kurt Koehler, MD 2021
    Temple University, Lewis Katz School of Medicine
    "The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Adult Health and Health Care Utilization"

    Mateo Mendoza, MD 2021
    University of Cincinnati College of Medicine  
    "Disparities in Cancer Care Experiences Across Race, Ethnicity, and Language"

    Annie Yang, MD 2021
    Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
    "Patterns of end-of-life care among NJ Medicaid beneficiaries with advanced breast and colorectal cancer"

    Jeremy Ziring, MD 2021
    New York University School of Medicine
    "Implementing Population-Wide Risk Stratification at a Safety Net Health System"

    2017

    James Blum, MD 2020
    Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
    “Identifying quality interventions to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in very low birth weight morbidity and mortality”

    Daniel Bu, MD 2020
    Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
    “Using the concept of time-driven activity based costing to gauge the cost of transforminal lumbar interbody fusion”

    Brielle Cardieri, MD 2020
    Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
    “Studying the impact of small tests of change at the practice level to evaluate how they impact patient experience and provider satisfaction”

    Hera Maryam, MD 2020
    Washington University School of Medicine
    “Investigating strategies employed by student-run free clinics in meeting the needs of the communities they serve”

    Lilian McKinley, MD 2020
    Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
    “Analyzing the effectiveness of quality improvement measures for iron deficiency in the children seen at the Charles Rangel Community Clinic”

    Ngobitak Ndiwane, DDS 2020
    Columbia University College of Dental Medicine
    “Investigating age-related disparities in oral health literacy and dental anxiety at the Harlem United Community Aids Center”

    John Park, MPH 2017
    Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
    “Characterizing health insurance coverage for AANHPI minorities in the metropolitan New York area”

    Tiffany Taylor, MPH 2017
    Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
    “Evaluating the Clinical Alternative to Punitive Segregation in the New York City Jail System”

    2016

    David Boedeker, MHA 2017
    Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
    "HPV Vaccination Rates and School Health Forms"

    Catherine Dinh-Le, MPH 2017
    Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University
    "Developing Consumer e-Health Tools to Engage non-English Speaking Patients"

    Cooper B. Kersey, MD 2019
    Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
    "Utilizing Community Based Organization Mapping in the Academic Medical Setting: Addressing Social Determinants of Health within the Patient Centered Medical Home Model"

    Ivan Marquez, MD 2019
    Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
    "Evaluating a Diabetes Intervention Program to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities"

    Sarah McNabb MPH 2017
    University of Washington
    "Patterns of Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition in New York"

    Samira M. Pingali, MPH 2017
    Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
    "Addressing the Social Determinants of Mental Health: A Curriculum Design"

    Sobia Rafiuddin, DDS 2019
    Columbia University College of Dental Medicine
    "Integrating Oral Health in Home Visiting Programs: Program and Policy Options"

    2015

    Hewett Chiu, MPA 2015
    NYU Wagner School of Public Service
    “Achieving Full Integration: Empowering Community-Based Organizations in Medicaid Reform”

    Neal Emery, MD 2018
    Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
    “From Interferon to Insurance: A Qualitative Analysis of Treatment Barriers Facing People with Hepatitis C”

    Michael Fogge, DDS 2017
    Columbia University College of Dental Medicine
    “Assessment and Mobilization of Community Oral Health Resources in Northern Manhattan”

    Jill Humphrey, MPH 2016
    Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
    “When Policy Isn’t Enough: Enhancing Effectiveness & Sustainability through Monitoring & Evaluation in the NYC School Vision Program”

    Caleb McEntire, MD 2018
    Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
    “Doc, I Am Trans: An Interactive Story-Based Training Module for Transgender Healthcare”

    Baho Sidiqi, BS/MD 2018
    Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education
    “Prioritize Health!”

    Saeyoan Thirunavukkarasu, MPH 2015
    Hofstra University
    “Are School District Nutrition Policies and Practices Associated with Academic Performance?”

    Roosa Tikkanen, MPH 2015
    Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health
    “Hospital Community Benefits Revisited: Access to Hospital Care for Minority and Low-Income New Yorkers”

    2014

    Johanna Andrews, MPH 2014
    Hofstra University
    “Searching for a More Comprehensive Approach to the Delivery of Services for the Food Insecure in Nassau County”

    Scott Jelinek, MD/MPH 2017
    Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai
    “A Retrospective Study of Superficially Invasive Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Anus (SISCCA)”

    Kylie Kang, MD 2017
    Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
    “The Influence of Health Disparities in Radiation Therapy Decision-making for the Treatment of Prostate Cancer”

    Leslie Maness, MD 2015
    Boston University School of Medicine
    “Medication Dosing Errors: Exploring the Roles of Parent Health Literacy and Limited English Proficiency”

    Pliceliany Perez, MD 2017
    Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons
    “Smoking Prevalance and Readiness to Quit in Washington Heights-Inwood”

    Alex Sheen, DDS 2016
    Columbia University College of Dental Medicine
    “The Role of Oral Health in Emerging High Performance Health Systems”

    2013

    Martin Casey, MD 2016
    Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
    “Geographic and racial disparities in the utilization of high volume surgical centers for bladder cancer”
    Supervisor: Matthew D. Galsky, MD, Associate Director, Cancer Clinical Trials Office, Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

    Bronwyn Fleming-Jones, MSN 2014
    Yale University School of Nursing
    “Facilitators and barriers to access and adherence to care for women with gestational diabetes at the South Bronx Center for Children and Families”
    Supervisor: Barbara Hackley, MS, RN, CNM, Assistant Director of Women’s Health at the South Bronx Center for Children and Families

    Jason Lin, DDS 2015
    Columbia University College of Dental Medicine
    “Recommendations for Dental Institutions to Improve the Oral Health of Vulnerable and Underserved Populations in New York City”
    Supervisor: Courtney H. Chinn, DDS, MPH, Assistant Professor, Section of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Division of Community Health, Columbia University College of Dental Medicine

    Vikaskumar Patel, DDS 2014
    New York University College of Dentistry
    “Exploring linkages between NYU Dental School and Federally Qualified Health Centers to serve underserved populations”
    Supervisor: Andrew Schenkel, DMD, MS, Associate Director of Community Based Dental Education, NYU College of Dentistry

    Aakash Shah, MD 2016
    Harvard Medical School
    “Managed Care Plans and Safety Net Accountable Care Organizations: A Case Study into Delivery System Change”
    Supervisor: Joel C Cantor, Sc.D., Director, Center for State Health Policy, Rutgers University