Secondary Mentorship Program for Diverse Research Faculty
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In collaboration with the MGH Equity and Community Health Office, the Disparities Solutions Center has created the Secondary Mentorship Program for Diverse Research Faculty. The following three were selected for participation as mentees in this year's cohort.
Katia Canenguez, PhD, EdM
Associate Director, Hispanic Psychiatry Clinic
Pediatric Behavioral Health Psychologist
Pediatric/Congenital Cardiology and Raising Healthy Heart Program | Mass General for Children
Mass General Brigham Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center
Researcher | Harvard/MGH Center on Genomics, Vulnerable Populations, and Health Disparities
Mongan Institute Health Policy Center
Instructor, Harvard Medical School
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Dr. Katia Canenguez is a clinical researcher at the Harvard/MGH Center on Genomics, Vulnerable Populations, and Health Disparities and a Pediatric Psychologist in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital/MassGeneral for Children. She is also an Instructor at Harvard Medical School. Her clinical interests and expertise revolve around the practice of pediatric behavioral medicine. In her clinical work she has been actively involved in providing treatment for patients of diverse backgrounds afflicted with anxiety, depression, trauma, adjustment issues, with comorbid medical conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and MS. Her research interests are in the areas of behavioral health equity, resilience, spirituality, community mental health, global health, evidence-based interventions to promote well-being, and research for policy change. Dr. Canenguez is interested in the intersection of health, mental health and education with a focus on developing evidence based effective prevention and intervention programs that are culturally sensitive. Dr. Canenguez earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and theology from Boston College, a master's in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University, and a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
Emily Lau, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
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Dr. Emily Lau is a women's cardiovascular health specialist and investigator at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Lau directs the Cardiometabolic Hormones and Health Clinic in the Corrigan Women's Heart Health program. Dr. Lau's laboratory focuses on understanding how biologic sex differences and female-specific cardiovascular risk factors contribute to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease uniquely in women. She leads a clinical-translational research program that applies multi-dimensional molecular profiling (multi-omics), imaging, exercise physiology, and data science to large scale cohorts, electronic health record data, and patient-oriented studies to advance mechanistic understanding of women's
cardiovascular health and disease. Several active areas of investigation include: (1) identifying and characterizing biologic sex differences in cardiovascular disease susceptibility, pathogenesis, and response to therapy, (2) investigating immunometabolic and hormonal mechanisms of cardiovascular disease in women, and (3) identifying novel digital biomarkers to improve cardiovascular disease risk assessment in women. Dr. Lau's research is supported by the NIH/NHLBI, American Heart Association, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, and the MGH SPARK Award.
Magdalena Sevilla-Gonzalez, PhD
Instructor in Medicine
Department of Medicine
Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit
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Dr. Sevilla-Gonzalez is an early-career nutrition scientist specializing in type 2 diabetes-related outcomes and big-data 'omics analyses. Her primary career goal is to develop precision medicine strategies for type 2 diabetes prevention across ancestry diverse populations. Dr. Sevilla-Gonzalez completed her Ph.D. in Epidemiology at the National University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City, where she was honored with the prestigious medal Alfonso Caso for academic merit. Her research includes translational studies on precision nutrition in low-middle-income settings and gene-environment interactions. Dr. Sevilla’s work has been supported by the NHLBI BioData Catalyst Fellowship, the NIDDK Bridges Consortium Pilot and Feasibility Grant, and the American Diabetes Association Postdoctoral Fellowship.