Research Investigators and Staff

Irène P. Mathieu, M.D., MPH, FAAP
Associate Professor, General Pediatrics
Associate Director of the Program in Health Humanities

Dr. Irène Mathieu is a board-certified, practicing primary care pediatrician. Her research experience includes mixed methods and community-engaged work in the United States and abroad. Her previous research has included work on access to essential medications in Guatemala; parental perceptions of early childhood development and gender disparities in tuberculosis care in the Dominican Republic; intimate partner violence among Latinx immigrants, childhood obesity prevention, and disparities in gestational diabetes follow-up in Nashville, TN. Previous support includes the iTHRIV Scholars Program, Fulbright Foundation, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Center for Global Health, Arnold P. Gold Foundation, and Vanderbilt Medical Scholars Program.

In addition to her research portfolio, Dr. Mathieu sees patients and teaches students and residents at UVA’s Birdsong Clinic. She is also a core faculty at UVA’s Center for Health Humanities and Ethics, where she serves as an Associate Director of the Program in Health Humanities. At the Center, Dr. Mathieu helps to develop and implement innovative programming and curricula utilizing narrative medicine to teach about compassionate care delivery and health equity. Dr. Mathieu attended the College of William & Mary, where she obtained a BA in International Relations; Vanderbilt University, where she obtained her MD; and completed her residency in general pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She received a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The award-winning author of four poetry collections, Dr. Mathieu brings a critical linguistic perspective to qualitative data analysis. Her child health equity work extends to media appearances and advocacy writing in local, regional, and national publications on immigration policy, climate change, early childhood education, and more. Her writing and advocacy work have been featured in the Washington Post, LA Times, Richmond Magazine, National Public Radio, and more.

Katie is a Clinical Research Coordinator in General Pediatrics at UVA. She has nearly a decade of experience in clinical research, with a focus on social-behavioral research. She has experience with both quantitative and qualitative methods, and an interest in Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) approaches.

Jessica is a Mellon-funded postdoctoral researcher in UVA’s School of Education and Human Development. Jessica’s research interests are centered in action-oriented methodology, community engagement, and equitable advancements in mathematics education. Additionally, she explores equity and justice through youth participatory action research and mentoring networks.

Angela is born and brought up in India and comes from a family of engineers, encouraging her to think technically. She completed her medical school in Rangaraya medical college in 2019 and was actively involved in academic and volunteer work in her medical school as well as in the Hospital she worked for three years. Her interest in science and the scope of technology in medicine piqued her interest to further delve into research involving AI and medicine. Coming from a place where stigma is the reason people don’t go to the doctors for conditions related to mental health appealed to her humanitarian side as well. She enjoys nature, reading, writing short stories in a blogging website and graphic designing. She aspires to be a pediatric clinical researcher in the days to come.

Tanvi (pronunciation: th-un-vee) is interested in understanding how environment, context, and everyday interactions influence the trajectories of symptoms anxiety, depression, and suicidality in the real-world. She is motivated by a desire to increase intervention efficacy through personalized and adaptive interventions, as well as to increase access to interventions for diverse populations of adults and adolescents within existing care settings and systems, to maximize their reach. Her recent work engages youth in qualitative research and co-design to develop research methods and interventions for loneliness and suicidality.

Elo is a medical student at UVA School of Medicine who is passionate about mental health, healthcare disparities, and medical humanities. With 4 years of experience in behavioral neuroscience research, she is excited to apply her skills in the setting of adolescent mental health disparities as she prepares for a potential future in child & adolescent psychiatry.

Pati is a recent graduate from the University of Virginia, and presently a Clinical Research Coordinator with the UVA Health Department of Anesthesiology. With an intention of pursuing a degree in clinical psychology, Pati is eager to intersect the studies of neuroscience with well being, creativity, self expression, and mindfulness. In her spare time, she enjoys nature, running, making art, and going to concerts.

• Elana Brown
• Farah Contractor
• Kirstin Griffin
• Liz Nigro
• Cece Rogers