Monica Peek
Monica Peek, MD, MPH, MScis an Associate Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago where she provides clinical care, teaches, and does health services research in the area of health disparities. She received her medical degree and master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University and completed her residency training at Stanford University Hospital. She then worked for theNational Health Service Corps for two years at a community health center for the medically underserved in Ohio before relocating to Chicago.
Dr. Peek’s main research interest involves patient/provider communication, with an emphasis on shared decision-making (SDM) among racial/ethnic minorities with diabetes. Her current research projects include research exploring patient and provider SDM behaviors among patients with chronic diseases (e.g. diabetes), qualitative and quantitative studies exploring racial differences in shared decision-making among Latinos with diabetes, and research exploring associations between self-reported healthcare discrimination and diabetes.
Dr. Peek is the Principal Investigator of a multi-site intervention funded by an NIDDK R18 grant and the Merck Foundation to improve diabetes care and outcomes on the South Side of Chicago, a primarily working-class African-American community with significant disparities in diabetes health outcomes such as lower extremity amputations. The intervention utilizes an integrated approach that includes culturally tailored patient activation training, a diabetes quality improvement collaborative (e.g. implementing care coordination), cultural competency/communication training for clinicians, and enhanced community partnerships (e.g. utilizing food prescription/vouchers redeemable at local farmer’s markets and grocers).
As a member of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) program office finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change,ÿDr. Peek led the systematic review of healthcare interventions to reduce disparities in diabetes care and outcomes. She has also been funded by RWJF and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) to explore racial differences in patient/provider communication and to pilot patient-empowerment interventions to enhance such communication among blacks with diabetes. In addition, Dr. Peek was part of the NIDDK strategic planning committee whose 2010 report? Advances and Emerging Opportunities in Diabetes Research? set forth the diabetes research agenda for the next 5-10 years.
Dr. Peek also does research on the development and evaluation of community-based, culturally-tailored interventions to promote healthy behaviors and preventive care, including women’s health (i.e. breast cancer screening), physical activity, and diabetes self-management.
Marshall Chin
Marshall Chin, MD, MPH is the Richard Parrillo Family Professor of Healthcare Ethics in the Department of Medicine and the Director of the Chicago Center for Diabetes Translation Research at the University of Chicago. Dr. Chin is a practicing general internist and national expert in improving diabetes care for vulnerable patients and reducing racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare. Together withÿMonica Peek, MD, MPH, he leads Improving Diabetes Care and Outcomes on the South Side of Chicago, a multi-faceted initiative that incorporates culturally tailored patient education and empowerment, provider training in communication and behavioral change, a quality improvement collaborative with six clinics, and community partnerships.
Dr. Chin also leads an evaluation of the implementation of the patient-centered medical home in 65 safety net clinics across five states. As Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change National Program Office, he leads a major effort to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare by identifying effective interventions and helping organizations improve their ability to deliver equitable care. Dr. Chin serves as Associate Chief and Director of Research in the Section of General Internal Medicine, Associate Director of the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, and Co-Director of the John A. Hartford Foundation Center of Excellence in Geriatrics. He has received the Society of General Internal Medicine Mid-Career Research Mentorship Award and the University of Chicago Department of Medicine Arthur Rubenstein Mentorship Award. Dr. Chin also serves on the Board of Directors of AcademyHealth, the CDC Community Preventive Services Task Force, the editorial board of the journal Health Services Research, and the National Advisory Committee of the RWJF Aligning Forces for Quality Program.
