Our Team

Vikas P. Sukhatme, MD, ScD

Morningside Center Director and Co-founder

Dr. Sukhatme has made outstanding contributions in basic science, translational studies, and clinical research. He has over 200 scientific publications that have been cited more than 50,000 times.

His longstanding interest in cancer currently centers around tumor metabolism, tumor immunology, and outside-of-the-box approaches for treating advanced disease and preventing cancer recurrence.

Former dean of Emory School of Medicine and the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Medicine, Dr. Sukhatme co-founded GlobalCures, Inc., a nonprofit medical research foundation.

Vidula Sukhatme, MS

Morningside Center Co-founder

Mrs. Sukhatme, CEO of GlobalCures, Inc., is a co-founder of the Morningside Center for Innovative and Affordable Medicine. She has 20 years of experience in information systems in health care environments. She holds two master of science degrees: one in mathematics from Northeastern University and a second in epidemiology from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Ravi B. Parikh, MD, MPP, FACP

Advisor

Ravi B. Parikh, MD, MPP, is a board-certified medical oncologist specializing in the treatment of genitourinary cancers. Dr. Parikh is an attending physician practicing at Winship Cancer Institute at Emory Midtown.

Dr. Parikh is an associate professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Emory University School of Medicine. He serves as medical director of the Winship Data and Technology Applications Shared Resource at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. In this role, he is responsible for its overall strategic scientific management and operational oversight. He works closely with leadership to develop and integrate artificial intelligence (AI) applications to improve the care of Winship patients with cancer.

Xin Hu, MS, PhD

Advisor

Xin Hu, PhD, MSPH, is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Health Services Research, Outcomes, and Policy of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine. She is a Visiting Scientist at the American Cancer Society. She received her PhD and master degree in Health Services Research and Health Policy at Emory University, and her bachelor degree in Public Service Administration from Fudan University. Prior to her PhD degree, she conducted research at the Yale Cancer Outcomes, Public Policy and Effectiveness Research Center and the Yale Center for Analytical Sciences.

Dr. Hu's research focuses on cancer outcomes, health care access and quality, and she specializes in leveraging causal inference methods with administrative health records, national survey data, and other secondary data sources to evaluate national health policies and conduct population-based health services research.

Krista Charen, MPH

Director of Research Projects and Operations

Krista Charen, MPH is the Director of Research Programs and Operations at Emory School of Medicine. She has over 20 years of experience in facilitating and conducting clinical research at Emory University. She received her Master of Public Health from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.

Greeshma Kombara, MPH

Manager, Research Projects

Greeshma Kombara, MPH is Manager, Research Projects at Emory School of Medicine. She is a Master of Public Health graduate from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Previously, she was working as Dentist in India before moving to the United States in 2019.

Danielle Boyce, MPH, DPA

Morningside Center Consultant

Danielle Boyce is a data analyst and engineer with nearly 30 years of professional experience.  Her area of expertise is the management and analysis of real world data using electronic health records and patient registries, with a focus on Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) and the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) common data model.  She has faculty appointments at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, and West Chester University College of Business and Public Management.  She is the Education Director of the Biomedical and Health Data Science Collaborative (BHDSC) at Tufts University. She volunteers extensively in the rare disease community and is a retired member of the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute’s (PCORI’s) Advisory Panel on Rare Disease. 

Kawther Al Ksir, DrPH

Research Projects Manager

Kawther Al Ksir, DrPH, is a mixed-methods public health researcher committed to advancing equitable cancer prevention, control, and survivorship. She manages research initiatives in the Health Services, Outcomes, and Policy Research Division of Emory University School of Medicine’s Department of Radiation Oncology, supporting studies that optimize radiation oncology systems and improve patient and population outcomes. Her work integrates quantitative, qualitative, and epidemiologic methods to examine environmental and behavioral risk factors—including radon exposure, air pollution, and tobacco use—and their effects on cancer outcomes, particularly in rural and underserved communities.

Michael Lowe, MD, MA

Dr. Lowe is an Associate Professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology of the Department of Surgery at Emory University School of Medicine. A board certified surgical oncologist, Dr. Lowe's primary focus is in cutaneous oncology and specializes in the treatment of cutaneous malignancies including melanoma, basal cell carcinoma and Merkel cell carcinoma. He joined Emory after completing a fellowship in Complex General Surgical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY.

Dr. Lowe holds memberships with American Society of Clinical Oncology, Association of Academic Surgery, Society of Surgical Oncology and American College of Surgeons.

David A. Frank, MD, PhD, FACP

Dr. Frank is the director of the Division of Hematology and a professor in Emory University School of Medicine's Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology. He also serves as director of the Winship Innovation Initiative and as an advisor to the Morningside Center for Innovative and Affordable Medicine within the Woodruff Health Sciences Center. Board certified in medical oncology, he cares for patients with hematologic malignancies, specializing in leukemia. He is actively involved in training the next generation of clinical oncologists and cancer scientists.

Dr. Frank is a member of the Discovery and Developmental Therapeutics Research Program at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. He is a Fellow of American College of Physicians. He holds professional memberships with American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Association of Cancer Research, American Society of Hematology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and American Society for Microbiology. He serves as chair for the Medical Sciences Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Prior to joining Emory, Dr. Frank was the chief quality officer for Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, having previously served as chair of Quality Improvement for Medical Oncology, chair of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, and medical director of patient safety.

Lisa M Carlson, MPH, MCHES

Lisa M. Carlson, MPH, MCHES is senior executive administrator, research administration, at Emory University School of Medicine, directing research initiatives across the School's core missions, and working at the intersection of health sciences, research administration, and practice. She has served more than 20 years at Emory in the School of Medicine and the Rollins School of Public Health. Carlson teaches in the Rollins Executive MPH program and was the recipient of the 2015 Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring Adjunct Faculty Award and the 2021 Rollins Distinguished Achievement Award. She is past president of the American Public Health Association (APHA), past chair of APHA's Executive Board, and a past president and honorary lifetime member of the Georgia Public Health Association.

Selvi S. Ramalingam, MS, MBA

Selvi S Ramalingam is a biomedical consultant with master's in molecular biology and business administration. She has over eight years of experience in the field of bioinformatics, and has had the opportunity to serve in India and the United States. She has been working as a consultant at Morningside center for Innovative and Affordable Medicine since 2019. Her interest lies in bridging the gap between research and clinical applications. She aspires to leverage her unique background in bioinformatics, technology and business to generate innovative data driven insights that could transform patient care and outcomes.  She also serves as a scientific advisor for GlobalCures.