ASCI / Young Physician-Scientist Awards, 2023
The Young Physician-Scientist Awards (YPSA) recognize physician-scientists who are early in their first faculty appointment and have made notable achievements in their research.
About the awardee
Utibe R. Essien, MD, MPH is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) and a health services researcher at the VA Pittsburgh Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, where he practices clinically as a generalist. He completed his medical education at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and his internal medicine residency and general internal medicine fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School. He received an MPH degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. In 2018, he joined the faculty at Pitt, where he is director of the Career Education and Enhancement for Health Care Diversity Program for medical students.
Dr. Essien’s research program examines racial and ethnic disparities in the implementation of novel, evidence-based therapies for the management of chronic cardiovascular diseases, particularly atrial fibrillation. His work provides a research framework for “pharmacoequity,” a concept he coined that describes how empirical studies can advance the goal of ensuring that all patients have equal access to life-saving therapies. His research is supported by grants from the American Heart Association, Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. His leadership and advocacy in health equity have been acknowledged with several research awards and a growing national reputation that is reflected in invitations to write commentaries for leading medical journals including JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine, and NEJM and deliver numerous national medical Grand Rounds.
Dr. Essien is also recognized for his expertise in science dissemination, actively engaging through social media and the lay press. He has been interviewed about his research by the New York Times, Washington Post, and NPR and has authored op-eds for the LA Times and STAT News. He is the co-founder of the Antiracism in Medicine podcast and is an associate editor at JAMA Network Open.