Melissa Simon

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Melissa Andrea Simon is an American clinical obstetrician/gynecologist and scientist who focuses on health equity across the lifespan. [1] [2] Simon is founder and director of the Center for Health Equity Transformation (CHET) in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, [3] and founder of the Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative, a National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer partnership led by the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Northeastern Illinois University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. [4] [1] She is the George H. Gardner, MD Professor of Clinical Gynecology, [5] the Vice-Chair of Clinical Research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, tenured professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Preventive Medicine and Medical Social Sciences (Implementation Science) at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and Associate Director of Community Outreach and Engagement at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. [6] [1]

Contents

Education

Simon earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago in 1994, a master's in public health from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1996, and a medical degree at Rush Medical College in 2000. She completed a residency (including a chief administrative year) at Yale University New Haven Hospital, followed by a fellowship in family planning and reproductive health at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 2006. [1]

Career

Research

Simon has led several large community-based intervention trials utilizing community engaged research approaches to extend and adapt the patient navigation intervention model developed by the Patient Navigation Research Program [7] to diverse under-served populations. [8] Simon leads the NCI U54 Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative (ChicagoCHEC). [9] She developed and led the first National Cancer Institute (NCI) developmental Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) funded in gynecologic cancer disparities which focuses on translational research on cervical, ovarian, and endometrial cancer disparities. [10] She has also collaborated with researchers in Nigeria on a study of cervical cancer and epigenomics in women with HIV. [11]

Simon has led grants funded by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) partnered with Chicago Public Libraries that seek to improve diversity in clinical trials through the creation of Health for All and Navigating Wellness platforms, [12] [13] and led the ECOG-ACRIN SUPPORT: Multilevel Intervention to Improve Diverse Enrollment in Cancer Clinical Trials study. [14] She has worked on minority aging research and in the support of research education and training with the National Institute on Aging (NIA) Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR), the Rutgers-NYU Asian Center for Health Promotion and Equity. [15]

Mentoring

Simon is a nationally recognized mentor for students and faculty. [16] She is the Research Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Women’s Reproductive Health Research (WRHR) K12 Program. [17] Simon is also the Principal Investigator of the NIMHD T37 Minority Research Training in Health Disparities Program. [18] She also leads the NIH FIRST grant for Northwestern, which aims to hire 15 underrepresented minority faculty over the next 3 years. [19]

In June 2018, the White House and NSF awarded Simon with the Excellence in Mentorship in Science (PAESMEM) Award for her commitment to mentorship of minority and underrepresented students across the pipeline. [20] In 2020, Simon received the Northwestern University Mentor of the Year Award. [21]

Simon leads the Center for Health Equity Transformation’s Health Equity Scholars and Chicago CHEC Research Fellows programs, and the Northwestern University Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology's Uterine Leiomyoma Research Center Lab Immersion Program. [22]

Government service

Simon serves on the Community Preventive Services Task Force, [23] and served on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) from 2017-2022. Since 2023, Simon has continued supporting the USPSTF as an advisor. Simon also serves on the NIH's Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health. [24] She serves as a member of the National Academy of Medicine's Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity, as well as its Board of Population Health and Public Health Practice and the NAM Leadership Consortium’s Care, Culture and Decision-Making Innovation Collaborative. [1] [25] [26] [27] She has chaired an NIH Standing Study Section – Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (DIRH, now called Science of Implementation in Health and Healthcare) and special emphasis panels. [28]

Other service

Simon serves on the board of the Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force, and helped to write and implement the Illinois Breast Cancer Quality Screening and Treatment Act. [29] She also serves on the board of the Health and Medicine Policy Research Group. [30] Simon was invited to the JAMA editorial board in 2023. [31] She chairs the Health Equity Committee for the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) cancer cooperative trials group, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group and the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ECOG-ACRIN). [32]

Selected honors and awards

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Biography. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. July 2019. Accessed on July 25, 2019. https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Biography/melissa-a-simon
  2. ↑ Health Equity Champion. NorthwesternMedicine Magazine. February 2019. Accessed on July 25, 2019. https://magazine.nm.org/2019/02/11/simon-health-equity-champion/
  3. ↑ New Center for Health Equity Transformation Established. NorthwesternMedicine Campus News. September 2018. Accessed on July 25, 2019. https://news.feinberg.northwestern.edu/2018/09/new-center-for-health-equity-transformation-established/
  4. ↑ $17.4 Million Grant to Tackle Cancer in Chicago’s Lower-Income, Minority Neighborhoods. Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University News. 2015. Accessed on July 25, 2019. https://www.cancer.northwestern.edu/news/2015/NCI-Underserved.html
  5. ↑ The Investiture of Melissa Simon, MD, MPH, as the Gardner Professor. NorthwesternMedicine News Blog. January 2015. Accessed on July 25, 2019. https://www.nm.org/about-us/northwestern-medicine-newsroom/nm-news-blog/the-investiture-of-melissa-simon-md-mph-as-the-gardner-professor
  6. ↑ "Associate Director, Community Outreach and Engagement – Melissa Simon, MD, MPH". Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Care Center. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  7. ↑ Freund KM; Battaglia TA; Calhoun E; Dudley DJ; Fiscella K; Paskett E; Raich PC; Roetzheim RG (December 15, 2008). "Patient Navigation Research Program Group. National Cancer Institute Patient Navigation Research Program: methods, protocol, and measures". Cancer. 113 (12): 3391–9. doi:10.1002/cncr.23960. PMC   2698219 . PMID   18951521.
  8. ↑ "CHET Research Projects". www.feinberg.northwestern.edu. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Chicago CHEC Institutions". ChicagoCHEC. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Northwestern University Cancer Health Equity Research SPORE (NU-CHERS)". www.feinberg.northwestern.edu. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  11. ↑ Musa, Jonah; Achenbach, Chad J.; Evans, Charlesnika T.; Jordan, Neil; Daru, Patrick H.; Hou, Lifang; Murphy, Robert L.; Adewole, Isaac F.; Simon, Melissa A. (November 22, 2018). "Association between patient-reported HIV status and provider recommendation for screening in an opportunistic cervical Cancer screening setting in Jos, Nigeria". BMC Health Services Research. 18 (1): 885. doi: 10.1186/s12913-018-3700-y . ISSN   1472-6963. PMC   6251217 . PMID   30466437.
  12. ↑ "Health for All — Real Talk: Clinical Trials". www.feinberg.northwestern.edu. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Navigating Wellness Project: Advancing Library-Academic Medical Center Partnerships to Navigate Wellness and Scale Preventive Services Access". www.feinberg.northwestern.edu. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  14. ↑ "The ECOG-ACRIN SUPPORT Trial: Multilevel Intervention to Improve Diverse Enrollment in Cancer Clinical Trials". Northwestern Scholars. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Asian Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR)". www.feinberg.northwestern.edu. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  16. 1 2 Simon Honored with Presidential Award for Mentorship. News Center. Northwestern Medicine. July 2018. Accessed on July 25, 2019. https://news.feinberg.northwestern.edu/2018/07/simon-honored-with-presidential-award-for-mentorship/
  17. ↑ "Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology: Research Career Development". www.feinberg.northwestern.edu. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  18. ↑ "Training the Next Generation". www.feinberg.northwestern.edu. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  19. ↑ "NURTURE PROGRAM - Northwestern University". nurture.northwestern.edu. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  20. ↑ "PAESMEM » Awardee Profile". paesmem.nsf.gov. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  21. ↑ "Honoring the 2020 Mentors of the Year". Northwestern Medicine News Center. March 18, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  22. ↑ "CHET Education Programs" . Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  23. ↑ "CPSTF Announces Chair and Welcomes New Members". The Community Guide. December 29, 2022. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  24. ↑ "Advisory Committee on Research on Women's Health Committee Members". Advisory Committee Members. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  25. ↑ Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Health and Medicine Division. Accessed on July 25, 2019. http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/Activities/SelectPops/HealthDisparities.aspx
  26. ↑ "About the Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice". www.nationalacademies.org. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  27. ↑ "Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity". www.nationalacademies.org. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  28. ↑ "About Dr. Melissa Simon". Simon Lab. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  29. ↑ Board Members. Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force. Accessed on July 25, 2019. http://www.chicagobreastcancer.org/site/epage/93312_904.htm
  30. ↑ Board of Directors. Health and Medicine Policy Research Group. Accessed on July 25, 2019. http://www.hmprg.org/about-us/board-of-directors/
  31. ↑ Journal of the American Medical Association (April 25, 2023). "Editorial Staff". JAMA. 329 (16): 1331–1332. doi: 10.1001/jama.2022.15880 .
  32. ↑ "Health Equity Committee". ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  33. ↑ Community Health Heroes. National Academy of Medicine. Accessed on July 25, 2019. https://nam.edu/community-health-heroes/
  34. ↑ American Public Health Association announces 2018 award recipients. American Public Health Association. October 2018. Accessed on July 25, 2019. https://www.apha.org/news-and-media/news-releases/apha-news-releases/2018/2018-awards-recipients
  35. ↑ https://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/sites/ipham/news/simon-presidential.html
  36. ↑ Melissa Simon Selected to Participate in Prestigious 2019 Presidential Leadership Scholar Program. Institute for Public Health and Medicine News. Northwestern Medicine. Accessed on July 25, 2019.
  37. ↑ Rohman, Melissa (October 18, 2021). "Three Feinberg Faculty Elected to National Academy of Medicine". Northwestern Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine News Center. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  38. ↑ "Feinberg Faculty Elected to Prestigious Societies". News Center. April 11, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  39. ↑ "BRIMR Rankings of NIH Funding in 2022 | BRIMR". brimr.org. February 9, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  40. ↑ Doss, Will (April 11, 2022). "Feinberg Faculty Elected to Prestigious Societies". Northwestern Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine News Center.
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