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Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion

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Utibe Essien, MD, MPH

CHERP COIN Investigator

Staff Physician at the VA Pittsburgh Healthsystem

Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Profile

Dr. Essien is a health services researcher, clinical internist, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. His primary research work targets racial and ethnic health disparities with a specific focus on the use of novel therapeutics and technologies, particularly in the management of cardiovascular diseases. He has applied innovative methods to study whether racial or ethnic differences exist in the use of novel anticoagulants in patients with atrial fibrillation, including after controlling for patient-level socioeconomic status factors. Additionally, he has examined the role of social determinants such as food insecurity and housing instability on patients with diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and COVID-19.

Dr. Essien recently received a VA HSR&D Career Development Award to study access to, and quality and equity of anticoagulant use in Veterans with atrial fibrillation. Last year, he was named the Director University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Clinical Research Education Career Education and Enhancement for Healthcare Research Diversity Scholars program for medical students, and has also been named one of the of the National Minority Quality Forum's 40 Under 40. In addition, he received the 2021 inaugural Rising Star-Clinical Practitioner Award from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the 2019 American Heart Association Young Investigator Award, and the 2021 Association of American Medical Colleges' Herbert W. Nickens Faculty Fellowship Award. The award recognizes an outstanding, junior medical college faculty member who demonstrates leadership potential in addressing inequity in medical education and health care; demonstrates efforts in addressing educational, societal, and healthcare needs of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States; and is committed to a career in academic medicine.

Notable new article:  

"This cohort study found that in patients with incident atrial fibrillation managed in the VA system, race/ethnicity was independently associated with initiating any anticoagulant therapy and direct-acting oral anticoagulant use among anticoagulant initiators. Understanding the reasons for these treatment disparities is essential to improving equitable atrial fibrillation management and outcomes among racial/ethnic minority patients treated in the VA system."

Essien UR, Kim N, Hausmann LRM, et al. Disparities in Anticoagulant Therapy Initiation for Incident Atrial Fibrillation by Race/Ethnicity Among Patients in the Veterans Health Administration System. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(7):e2114234. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.14234

Funded Research

Access, Quality and Equity of Anticoagulants in Veterans with Atrial Fibrillation (CDA 20-049) as Principal Investigator

Published Research

Disparities in Anticoagulant Therapy Initiation for Incident Atrial Fibrillation by Race/Ethnicity Among Patients in the Veterans Health Administration System. JAMA Network Open (2021)
Essien UR, Hausmann LRM, et al. Disparities in Anticoagulant Therapy Initiation for Incident Atrial Fibrillation by Race/Ethnicity Among Patients in the Veterans Health Administration System. JAMA Netw Open (2021)
Essien UR, Hausmann LRM, et al. Association Between Neighborhood-Level Poverty and Incident Atrial Fibrillation: a Retrospective Cohort Study. J Gen Intern Med (2021)
Essien UR, Fine MJ, et al. Social determinants of atrial fibrillation. Nat Rev Cardiol (2021)
Essien UR, et al. Association Between Neighborhood-Level Poverty and Incident Atrial Fibrillation: a Retrospective Cohort Study. Journal of General Internal Medicine (2021)
Fine MJ, Essien UR, et al. Sex differences in atrial fibrillation: patient-reported outcomes and the persistent toll on women. American journal of preventive cardiology (2021)
Hausmann LRM, Essien UR, et al. Disparate Impact: How Colorblind Policies Exacerbate Black-White Health Inequities. Annals of Internal Medicine (2021)
Navathe A, Essien UR, et al. Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Medical Treatment of Opioid Use Disorders Within the VA Healthcare System Following Non-Fatal Opioid Overdose. J Gen Intern Med (2020)
Essien UR, Zhao X, Thorpe CT, Mor MK, Hausmann LR, Fine MJ, Gellad WF, et al. Association of Race/Ethnicity With Oral Anticoagulant Use in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation: Findings From the Outcomes Registry for Better Informed Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation II. JAMA Cardiol (2018)
Essien UR, et al. Unstable Housing and Diabetes-Related Emergency Department Visits and Hospitalization: A Nationally Representative Study of Safety-Net Clinic Patients. Diabetes Care (2018)
Essien UR, et al.

Research Areas

  • Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities
  • Implementation Science
  • Health Services Research

Awards

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