The Institute holds 14th Annual Research and Innovation Symposium

The Institute hosted its 14th Annual Research and Innovation Symposium on May 20, 2026 at the New York Academy of Medicine. The event recognizes the hard work of Institute staff and partners who continually seek evidence-based ways to improve their services and provide better care for our communities. This year, we were grateful for the support of our generous symposium sponsors: Ponce Bank, NFP, Mutual of America, and Imagine360.

Dr. Nichola Davis, the Chief Population Health Officer at New York City Health+Hospitals delivered the keynote address. She spoke about critical importance of research and quality improvement in identifying ways to improve the health of our communities and how safety-net health care providers like health centers and hospitals can collaborate to advance this work.

Awards were given to projects in four different categories: Research, Continuous Quality Improvement, Innovative Projects, and Resident-led. At the end of the event, the attendees voted for their favorite project to win the People’s Choice Award.

First place winners in each category were:

Research:

Trauma-Informed Gynecologic Care in a Specialized Primary Care Clinic: Patient Experiences of Pelvic Exams

Authors: Noreen Singh, MD, MPH; Ariel Jacobs; Saskia Shuman, MHS, PhD; Nandini Shroff, MPH, PhD

Continuous Quality Improvement:

Implementing AI-Enabled Diabetic Retinopathy Screening in a Federally Qualified Health Center Network: A RE-AIM Evaluation

Authors: Michaela Frazier, PhD, MSW; Christina Carranceja, MPH, PMP, LSSYB; Saskia Shuman, MHS, PhD; Elizabeth Lever, Julie Schoonover, MD

Innovative Projects:

Construyendo Fortaleza Comunitaria: A participatory approach to Spanish language adaptation of a resilience-building intervention

Authors: Madeline Villalba; Kristina Davila; Guedy Arniella, MS; Rachel Reich; Devin Madden, MPH, PhD; Nita Vangeepuram, MD, MPH

Resident-led:

The Use of Artificial Intelligence in an Urban Family Medicine Residency Program

Authors: Emilia Zevallos, MD, MSc; Chloe Chaudhury, MP, MPH; Julie Schoonover, MD; Caitlin Weber, MD, FAAFP, MS, IBCLC

Finally, the Institute would like to thank the event sponsors: Ponce Bank, Mutual of America, Imagine360 and NFP.