Dr. Deena Chisolm
Deena Chisolm, PhD
Director of the Center for
Child Health Equity and Outcomes Research and Vice-President for Health
Services Research
Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s
Hospital
Dr.
Deena Chisolm is the Director of the Center for Child Health Equity and
Outcomes Research and Vice-President for Health Services Research in the
Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She is
also the Nationwide Foundation Endowed Chair in Health Equity Research and
Professor of Pediatrics and Public Health at The Ohio State University.
Dr.
Chisolm’s research focuses on improving health and healthcare for children and
families with over 100 peer-reviewed publications on pediatric health services,
outcomes, and equity. Her current projects explore how healthcare delivery
systems, health policy, and social factors influence the health of at-risk
children and families. Her research is funded by the National Institutes of
Health, the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and the Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality. She also serves as project director for the
Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) award, a $16 million demonstration project,
funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, designed to improve
care for youth at risk of out of home placement. She is also the principal
investigator on a five-year research project, funded by the National Institute
on Child Health and Human Development, exploring the role of structural racism
in birth outcome equity in the Linden neighborhood of Columbus.
Dr.
Chisolm serves as the Vice Chairman of the Board for the Health Policy
Institute of Ohio and past Board Chair for the Ohio Commission on Minority Health. In 2020, she was
appointed to the Governor’s COVID-19 Minority Health Strike Force and the Ohio
Department of Health’s COVID-19 Health Equity Advisory Group. The impact of her
work has been recognized with awards, including the YWCA Women of Achievement
and the Bishop Medal for Outstanding Service to Humanity.
In
2022, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (LHD) from Miami
University, her undergraduate alma mater. She earned her B.S. in Biological
Science Education from Miami University and her M.S. in Preventive Medicine and
Doctorate in Public Health from The Ohio State University.
Dr.
Chisolm is actively involved in community service through her membership in
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and she is a member St. Philip Lutheran
Church in the King-Lincoln district. She and her husband, Jerard, reside in
northeast Columbus.