Amy D. Waterman, PhD
Deputy Director
Dr. Amy D. Waterman is a national transplant innovator and the Deborah C. and Clifton B. Phillips Centennial Chair for Clinical Research in Transplant Medicine, a Full Professor, and the Director of Patient Engagement, Diversity, and Education, representing both J.C. Walter Transplant Center at Houston Methodist Hospital and the Houston Methodist Research Institute. As a Health Services Researcher and Social Psychologist, Dr. Waterman conducts research in areas including how best to expand access to optimal treatments, reduce racial disparities, ensure informed decision-making, ensure patient-centered care, and improve health outcomes. She has published more than 125 journal articles encompassing many components of clinical and translational research, including patient-oriented research, clinical trials, behavioral and multilevel interventional studies, development of new educational technologies, outcomes and health services research and implementation of best practices. She has designed and tested the efficacy of a suite of innovative educational resources including mobile decision aid applications, a digital storytelling application, and texting interventions about living donation. She has been the Principal Investigator on over 10 grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Her award-winning educational resources have been translated into multiple languages and delivered to patients in thousands of clinical settings in the United States, Canada and online. Her research has been supported by almost $30 million in grants and, in 2019, she received the American Society of Transplantation Clinician of Distinction Award for national influence in transplantation by a non-physician. Prior to joining the faculty at Houston Methodist Research Institute, she was a faculty member at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine in Nephrology and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis in General Medical Sciences.
Staff
Mayra Almendarez
Research Coordinator
Mayra Almendarez graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration from University of Houston–Clear Lake in 2019. She is currently a graduate candidate at Western Governors University, pursing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with an emphasis on Healthcare Management. Mayra is currently working as a Research Coordinator for the Patient Engagement Research Lab, representing both J.C. Walter Transplant Center at Houston Methodist Hospital and the Houston Methodist Research Institute, with a focus on community engagement and outreach. She is passionate to conduct research in areas including how best to expand access to optimal treatments, reduce racial disparities, ensure informed decision-making, ensure patient-centered care, and improve health outcomes. Mayra has built her career around organ transplantation. She brings 13 years of experience on patient-centered care and health education development, and hopes to contribute to research clinical trials, behavioral and multilevel interventional studies, development of new educational technologies, outcomes and health services research and implementation of best practices. Mayra is excited to soon pursue a Doctoral in Public Health degree with an emphasis on health promotion and behavioral sciences.
LaShara Davis, PhD,
Independent Investigator
Dr. LaShara A. Davis is an independent scientist with The Patient Engagement Research Lab. She graduated with a degree in Communication from the School of Communication and Information in 2004. She continued her education at Purdue University where she received a MA in 2007 and a PhD in Communication in 2011 with an emphasis in Health Communication and Social Influence. She completed postdoctoral training in racial and ethnic disparities in living donor kidney transplant in 2013 at Washington University School of Medicine. Since then, Dr. Davis has built her career around research on patient-centered care, health education development and reducing racial and ethnic health disparities. As an independent Scientist at Houston Methodist Hospital, her goal is to deepen the understanding of the creation, implementation, and evaluation of health campaigns with a special focus on health disparities affecting low-income, low-literate, and underserved populations.
Victoria Cassell
Clinical Research Data Coordinator
Victoria Cassell graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology in 2018 and obtained her MS in Psychology in 2021. Her focus in academics is Social Psychology, specifically gender, diversity, and inclusion, and the relationship between identity and motivational factors/experiences of fear. She is currently working as the Clinical Research Data Coordinator for the Patient Engagement Research Lab at Houston Methodist’s Academic Institute, where she hopes to contribute to research addressing disparities in healthcare and access to health education affecting individuals based upon their gender identity, race/ethnicity, and/or socioeconomic status.
Imory Jefferson James, MPH
Senior Research Coordinator
Imory Jefferson James graduated with a degree in Psychology from Wake Forest University in 2010. She continued her education in 2016 at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston where she earned a Master of Public Health (MPH) with an emphasis on health promotion and behavioral science. Imory has diverse experience in planning and executing global clinical research in neurological outcomes, SARS-CoV-2, surgical oncology, and pediatric general surgery. She is passionate about disease prevention and empowering people to take ownership of their wellness journey. As a Senior Research Coordinator for the Patient Engagement Research Lab at Houston Methodist Hospital, she hopes to improve the quality of patient care by optimizing the use of research as a tool to increase health literacy and help individuals from underserved populations navigate the healthcare system.
Aisha Matin
Research Coordinator
Aisha Matin graduated from the University of Houston in 2019 with a Bachelor’s in Finance. She decided to pursue her passion for healthcare and began working on Houston Methodist’s Surgery Transplant Research Team in 2020. Her experience in clinical research sparked her curiosity and awareness around the health disparities within her own community. She is currently a Research Coordinator in the Patient Engagement Research Lab and hopes to contribute to initiatives that empower patient advocacy and educate underfunded communities about the importance of preventative health measures. Aisha is particularly passionate about researching and addressing factors that contribute to unequal healthcare access. She is excited to pursue a Master’s in Public Health in the near future to advance her passion and interests.
Catherine Pulicken, MHA
Project Manager
Catherine Pulicken is responsible for business and research operations for The Patient Engagement Research Lab implementation at Houston Methodist through the management of research associates and federally funded grant projects. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Health Education in 2014 and completed a Master of Health Administration (MHA) in 2017 from the University of Houston. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, pursuing a public health degree with emphasis on health promotion and behavioral sciences. Catherine is an advocate for health promotion, chronic disease prevention and management, and reducing health disparities through public health initiatives, clinical and research efforts. Previous projects include improving the quality and delivery of chronic disease management and care within community health centers to improve both patient and provider outcomes. She hopes to inspire others and create a meaningful difference within the progressive world of public health.
Postdoctoral & Surgical Fellows
Andrea Meinders
Surgical Fellow
Andrea Meinders is a general surgery resident at Houston Methodist Hospital and a research fellow in the Texas A&M Academy of Physician Scientists through the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. She received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and her medical degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She is interested in finding ways to decrease the gap in the number of patients waiting for a transplant and the number of available organs by expanding the living and deceased donor pools. She is also interested in studying the factors leading to living donor dropout and ways to intervene. Her goal is to become a transplant surgeon and apply her research in her everyday clinical practice to improve the transplantation process.
Visiting Clinical Scholars
Hannah Bass
Clinical Research Scholar
Hannah Bass is a clinical research scholar at The Patient Engagement Research Lab at the Houston Methodist Hospital’s Academic Institute. Hannah graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelors of Science in Biological Engineering in 2019, worked for a growth strategy business consulting firm in Austin, Texas for 2 years, and is now pursuing a medical degree and Master of Engineering through Texas A&M University's EnMed Program. Her academic interests include improving access to care in underserved communities both locally and abroad and promoting public health initiatives. In her free time, Hannah enjoys hiking, reading and traveling.
Alexandra Farhangui
Clinical Research Scholar
Alexandra Farhangui is a TAMU clinical research scholar in the Patient Engagement Research Lab at the Houston Methodist Hospital’s Academic Institute. She graduated from Cornell University in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology. Currently, Alexandra is in the EnMed program at Texas A&M School of Medicine and is completing a Master of Engineering as well as an MD. This innovation-based background in combination with her medical education positions her optimally in the mission to increase access and improve outcomes for those in need of transplants.
Divek Toprani
Clinical Research Scholar
Divek Toprani is a student in the EnMed Program at the Texas A&M School of Engineering Medicine and a clinical research scholar at Houston Methodist Hospital. He graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering: Biotechnology in 2019. He completed a Masters in Translational Medicine at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, San Francisco in 2021. His current research interests include driving improvements in patient care through engineering innovation, gathering and implementing data based on patient-reported outcomes, and addressing social determinants of health.
Greg Wilson
Clinical Research Scholar
Greg Wilson is a clinical research scholar in The Patient Engagement Research Lab at the Houston Methodist Hospital’s Academic Institute. Greg graduated from UCLA in 2018 with a BS in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology. He is currently a third-year medical student at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, and is interested in pursuing a career in interventional radiology. While attending UCLA, he worked in a research lab dedicated to exploring factors that contribute to racial disparities in healthcare. He hopes to continue to learn more about healthcare disparities and contribute meaningful research to the field of kidney paired donation as a member of The Patient Engagement, Disparities & Research Lab.
Research Interns
Shefali Patel
Research Intern
Shefali Patel graduated from the University of Miami in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences and minors in Computer Science and Public Health. She is passionate about all things data-related, and using computational skills to solve clinical problems. She is a current MS student at the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, studying Biostatistics and Data Science. She is currently working as a Research Intern in the Patient Engagement Research Lab at Houston Methodist’s Academic Institute, where she hopes to use her technical background to analyze EHR data to improve patient outcomes.
Individual Patient & Donor Partners
Marsha Gershun
Donor Partner
Martha Gershun is a donor partner with the Patient Engagement Research Lab at the Houston Methodist Hospital. Ms. Gershun has over 40 years of experience in writing and consulting with various non-profit organizations and serves as a Living Donation Guest Blogger for our lab. As a kidney donor, she writes and advocates for living organ donors by representing the patient voice. She is also part of our Living Donation Storytelling Project. Learn more about Martha.
