Roles
Research Assistant Professor
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Biography
Dr. Elfassy’s background is multi-disciplinary. She received her MSPH from George Washington University, after which she worked as a Research Associate for Pfizer and then as a Research Scientist for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. It was at the New York City Health Department where she gained an interest in population health and broad based strategies to reduce sodium intake on a population level. Following her experience at the health department, Dr. Elfassy went on to complete her PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Miami where she also conducted her American Heart Association post-doctoral fellowship focused on dietary sodium intake and its association with hypertension among US Hispanics. Following her appointment as an assistant professor, Dr. Elfassy was awarded a University of Miami Clinical and Translational Science Institute KL2 award. As part of this project, she described rates of incident hypertension among US Hispanic/Latino participants of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos. Her current research funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities at NIH is an extension of this work and examines genetic, social, clinical, and behavioral factors that contribute to observed hypertension disparities across different US Hispanic/Latino groups. To date, Dr. Elfassy has published over 35 manuscripts, with many in top tier journals such as: Circulation, JAMA Neurology, Kidney International, Stroke, Hypertension, the American Journal of Epidemiology, and others. Dr Elfassy has been invited to present at national and regional conferences and has been acknowledged for her work. For example, in 2020, Dr. Elfassy was recognized by the American Heart Association as a national finalist for the Sandra A Daugherty Award for Excellence in Cardiovascular Disease or Hypertension Epidemiology and Prevention. Additionally, in 2021 Dr. Elfassy accepted an invitation to serve as a global faculty member at Stanford University’s Center for Asian Health Research and Education. -
Teaching Interests
Trained as an epidemiologist, Dr. Elfassy has taught the following Master’s/PhD level courses and statistical computing workshops:
EPH 728 Social Epidemiology
EPH 722 Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Statistical Computing Workshop: Introduction to SAS part 1
Statistical Computing Workshop: Introduction to SAS part 2
Statistical Computing Workshop: Advanced SAS
In addition to formal coursework instruction, Dr. Elfassy serves as a research mentor to: Masters students, Medical students, PhD students, post-doctoral scholars, and early career faculty.
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Research Interests
Dr. Elfassy’s research interests are in the area of cardiovascular health and reducing minority health disparities. She is particularly interested in how social forces, including socio-economic position, acculturation, and culturally related behaviors, such as diet influence health and shape disparities within ethnic minority populations. In her NIH funded work, she is focused on identifying biological, social, and behavioral factors that explain differential rates of hypertension between the different Hispanic/Latino subgroups in the US. In another related area of her research, she is leading work to characterize dietary patterns among Asian Americans and analyzing whether these patterns are associated with cardiometabolic health. Dr. Elfassy is also interested in research related to vascular contributors of cognitive health, with a focus on ethnic minority populations. -
Publications
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