NCEPCR Research Fellows

Personal Reflections and Projects

Below are personal reflections of a few of our fellows and the projects they have worked on.

Khushbu Khatri Park, Ph.D. Candidate, M.P.H., M.B.A.

"I am deeply grateful for the mentorship and experiences I gained during my fellowship with the National Center for Excellence in Primary Care Research (NCEPCR) at AHRQ. The opportunity to contribute to meaningful primary care research efforts under Dr. Aimee Eden’s guidance has been invaluable for my professional development and my continued passion for primary care research." 

During my summer 2024 fellowship, I worked on a novel project focused on organizing and curating primary care research across multiple Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies. Collaborating closely with Dr. Eden and Dr. Laura Sessums, we designed a tool with a detailed system of topics and subtopics that categorizes primary care research areas. This tool helps align projects to broad research goals, identifies research gaps, and supports the HHS Initiative to Strengthen Primary Care by prioritizing future research efforts. 

One of the highlights of my fellowship came at the end, when we were able to beta test the Primary Care Research Overview (PCRO) Tool with AHRQ staff and cross-agency stakeholders. We were able to capture essential insights from our partners and had a plan to making the tool more intuitive and aligned with the needs of its users in its next iteration. During my fellowship, I also had the opportunity to revise and enhance an existing analysis report on the AHRQ's 2021-2022 primary care research portfolio, building on the legacy of past fellows. 

This fellowship deepened my understanding of the intricacies of defining primary care and primary care research and the process of navigating large-scale, multi-agency projects. I had the privilege of engaging in strategic discussions, contributing to meetings, and collaborating with staff across various AHRQ departments. These experiences gave me a new appreciation for the coordination required to drive meaningful change in healthcare. 

I am immensely thankful for Dr. Eden’s mentorship and the support I received from AHRQ. This fellowship has not only influenced my ongoing dissertation work, which is focused on primary care settings, but also solidified my commitment to pursuing a career dedicated to improving primary care research and practice.

Rika Kaneshige, M.P.H.

"As a fellow, the opportunity to learn from Dr. Aimee Eden and others at AHRQ was an invaluable experience. I appreciated the opportunity to build upon, develop, and apply skills I learned during my M.P.H. program."

Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, I received my Bachelors of Science in Neuroscience and Masters in Public Health from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. I am an OMS-II at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, New York, Middletown Campus.

During the summer before my second year, I had the privilege of working as a summer fellow at AHRQ. Under the leadership of Dr. Aimee Eden, I assisted with a primary care research (PCR) grant analysis. Through this study we aimed to determine the distribution of PCR grant types, topics, and approval status. I was fortunate enough to present our findings at the North American Primary Care Research Group Conference in San Francisco, California, in November 2023. The opportunity to share our findings at the conference was a wonderful, and enriching, conclusion to the program. Mahalo (thank you), Dr. Eden and AHRQ for an unforgettable experience.

Caitlyn Bernard, M.P.H.

"I am incredibly grateful for my time at AHRQ and Dr. Aimee Eden's mentorship. It was a truly invaluable experience!"

As a Health Policy Associate with Applied Policy, I perform health policy research and analysis for various healthcare clients with an emphasis on pharmaceutical companies. Born and raised in Northern Virginia, I received a Master of Arts in Biomedical Sciences from Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine at Bluefield College, a Master of Public Health from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from George Mason University.

In Summer 2023, I had the opportunity to work under Dr. Aimee Eden as a Junior Service Fellow with AHRQ's Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement. I worked on an analysis of primary care research (PCR) grants received by AHRQ from 2021-2022. My focus was specifically on delineating the characteristics of PCR grants that received funding within this time frame. I had the opportunity to present these findings at the North American Primary Care Research Group Conference in October 2023. I have developed a report of this analysis that will be posted on the AHRQ website in the near future.

Michelle Rockwell, Ph.D., R.D.

"My dissertation research focused on the assessment of low-value care cascades and several years of experience as a healthcare clinician motivated me to pursue a career transition into health services research. But it was the AHRQ summer fellowship experience in 2020, the summer after completing my Ph.D., that confirmed my commitment to primary care research for the second half of my career."

 Under the mentorship of Elisabeth Kato, M.D., M.R.P., my fellowship experience involved an analysis of AHRQ’s investment in primary care research over the previous 30 years. For this analysis, I combined data from literature searches, funding databases, agency correspondence, and multiple other sources to develop a comprehensive report for the National Center for Excellence in Primary Care Research. An early version of the report was provided as pre-reading for AHRQ’s winter 2020 meeting of primary care research leaders and stakeholders focused on establishing an agenda for primary care research in the U.S. Findings were also presented at the Annual Meeting of the North American Primary Care Research Group in 2020.

I benefited tremendously from many aspects of the AHRQ summer fellow experience and from Dr. Kato’s generous mentorship, but my favorite experience was engaging current and former AHRQ and National Institutes of Health leaders and highly experienced primary care researchers in one-on-one interviews about AHRQ’s history and accomplishments. What a fascinating way to learn about the hard work and commitment that laid the foundation for primary care research in the U.S.! I especially remember my interview with the late David Meyers, M.D. (acting AHRQ Director at the time), particularly his explanation of how far primary care research has come in 30 years and his insights on approaches to facing the challenges ahead of us.

I also appreciated AHRQ’s commitment to providing summer fellows with multiple hands-on experiences. We had the opportunity to present our projects, contribute to meetings, engage in agency events, get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into grant review processes, engage in interagency project work, and considering the timing, AHRQ’s response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. I am so grateful for this too-good-to-be-true start to my primary care research career!

Alexis Fernando Leal, M.P.H., C.P.H.Q. 

“This was an incredible and fast-paced experience that tested my ability to adapt in profound ways. Throughout the experience, I always felt supported and part of the team.” 

I had the pleasure to join AHRQ’s Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement fellowship program during the summer of 2019 under the mentorship of Elisabeth Kato, M.D., M.R.P., to plan and develop a research strategy and scientific review analyzing AHRQ’s investment in primary care research from 2008-2019. By the end of the fellowship program, two abstracts were submitted and presented at their respective conferences. The first abstract more specifically focused on AHRQ’s investments in primary care transformation and highlighted potential areas for future research and was presented at the 2019 North American Primary Care Research Group Conference (NAPCRG) in Toronto, Canada. The second abstract addressed AHRQ’s investments in primary care dissemination and implementation research and was presented at the 12th Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation in 2019 (Putting evidence into practice in primary care: Agency for healthcare research and quality’s investment in primary care dissemination and implementation research (confex.com)). 

I greatly appreciated how Dr. Kato always made sure to find different ways to get me engaged in agency events, contribute to meetings, meet people from other agencies, or just find time to chat over lunch. The fellowship experience was a great way to apply many of the skills I had learned in my M.P.H program and an invaluable first look into working in the federal government. I am very grateful for the opportunity, the experiences, and the friendships that came with it.