NIMHD names Anna María Nápoles, PhD, MPH Scientific Director
Nápoles will be NIH’s first Latina Scientific Director.
The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) announced the appointment of Anna María Nápoles, Ph.D., M.P.H., as scientific director of its Division of Intramural Research (DIR), making her the first Latina named to the position at the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Nápoles joins NIMHD from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) where she served as a professor and behavioral epidemiologist in the Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine since 2001. She has been at the forefront of developing methods for community-engaged, translational research to improve the health of disparity populations that build community capacity to deliver culturally suitable, evidence-based behavioral interventions.
Dr. Nápoles brings more than 30 years of experience in research on patient-clinician communication, cancer control health disparities, psycho-oncology, and community-based models of research in racially and ethnically diverse populations, as well as socioeconomically diverse groups. She has served as a scientific advisor to numerous NIH and non-NIH funded research projects, advising on the use of advanced qualitative and quantitative methods for studying complex socio-behavioral processes that affect the health of disparity populations.
Following an extensive national search for this appointment, Dr. Nápoles will begin her appointment on Nov. 13. In her new role Dr. Nápoles will focus on population health with an emphasis on social, behavioral, and clinical research while utilizing the robust basic science environment at NIH. She will also oversee the executive direction and scientific leadership for the entire intramural research program at NIMHD.
Dr. Anna Nápoles
This page was last updated on Friday, January 21, 2022