Nápoles Named NIMHD Scientific Director
Dr. Anna María Nápoles is the new scientific director at the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. She is the first Latina named to the position at NIH.
Nápoles comes from the University of California, San Francisco, where she served as a professor and behavioral epidemiologist in the division of general internal medicine, department of medicine since 2001. She has been at the forefront of developing methods for community-engaged, translational research to improve the health of disparity populations.
She brings more than 30 years of experience in research on patient-clinician communication, cancer control health disparities, psycho-oncology and community-based models of research in racially, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse populations. She has served as a scientific advisor to numerous NIH and non-NIH funded research projects, consulting on methods for studying complex socio-behavioral processes that affect the health of disparity populations.
In her new role, she will focus on population health with an emphasis on social, behavioral and clinical research. She will also offer scientific leadership of NIMHD’s intramural research program.
“Dr. Nápoles will provide NIMHD with a unique insight as the first Latina scientific director,” said NIMHD director Dr. Eliseo Pérez-Stable. “Her breadth of knowledge and notable scientific contributions are exactly what NIMHD needs to meet the challenges of the ever-evolving health disparities environment for all race/ethnic minorities. Her extensive research experience, collaborative nature and expertise within the science community will make her a great addition to the NIMHD team. Anna is the embodiment of one of the NIMHD intramural research program’s major objectives, which is to add to the diversity of individuals and research disciplines in the NIH intramural program.”
Nápoles received her master’s degree and doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College. She has published more than 75 journal articles.
In 2003 and 2005, Nápoles received the Rising Star in Cancer Research Award from the Redes En Acción Network and in 2016 was a Susan G. Komen Scholar.