Community Medicine Team

Nora Gimpel, M.D., Assistant Professor, Family Medicine, Chief of Division of Community Medicine

Natalia Gutierrez-Chefchis, MD, Community Medicine Fellow

Tiffany Billmeier, CHFP Coordinator

Barbara Foster, Ph.D., Biostatistician

Jay Morrow, DVM, M.S., Faculty Assistant

Jay Ohagi, M.P.H, Research Study Coordinator/ CARE Coordinator

Patti Pagels, PA, Faculty Assistant

Jason J. Wright, B.B.A, Health Education Coordinator-CART Program Coordinator

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Nora Gimpel, M.D.,
Assistant Professor, Family Medicine- Chief of Division of Community Medicine
nora.gimpel@utsouthwestern.edu

Gimpel faculty directory page

Dr. Nora Gimpel is a family physician originally from Argentina with significant experience teaching evidence-based medicine, working with underserved communities, and performing community-based participatory research. Dr. Gimpel is a native Spanish language speaker and is very active in addressing minority health issues in underserved communities.

She teaches community-based research principles, health promotion and prevention, and is interested in global health. Dr. Gimpel facilitates the interface between the CART and the community, especially through the Community Service Core and activities related to the Alternative Community Medicine Research Training Experiences.

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Natalia Gutierrez-Chefchis, M.D., Community Medicine Fellow

Natalia.Gutierrez-Chefchis@UTSouthwestern.edu

Dr. Natalia Gutierrez-Chefchis is a family physician originally from Bogota, Colombia. She loves to work with underserved populations and participate in community outreach.

She completed her family medicine residency at UT Southwestern and currently holds a Community Medicine Fellowship. She participates in group visits for Hispanic diabetic patients and is interested in community-based participatory research.

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Tiffany Billmeier, CHFP Coordinator

tiffany.billmeier@utsouthwestern.edu

Tiffany Billmeier has a background in psychology and plans to finish her MPH in the spring of 2009.  Her interests include health promotion and chronic disease prevention, community-based participatory research, preventive screening, international health and medical education.

She is the coordinator for the Community Health Fellowship Program (CHFP), which introduces first-year medical students to community-based participatory research, and emphasizes the importance of collaboration in addressing community health problems in underserved areas.  

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Barbara Foster, Ph.D., Biostatistician
barbara.foster@utsouthwestern.edu

Dr. Foster is a biostatistician with over 20 years experience participating in the full range of research studies undertaken at an academic health center. She has experience with database development related to data analysis, providing support for peer-reviewed presentations and publications, and providing technical guidance for all matters related to statistical analysis.

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Jay Morrow, DMV, M.S., Faculty Associate

Jay.morrow@utsouthwestern.edu

Dr. Jay Morrow is a research faculty member in the Department of Family and Community Medicine.  His research focuses on improving outcomes in diabetes patients using personal health records (PHRs), using electronic health records (EHRs) to enhance doctor-patient communication, and developing screening tools for colon cancer and diabetes.  He is currently finishing up a Master of Public Health degree in the UT School of Public Health with a concentration in epidemiology.

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Jay Ohagi, MS, MPH, CARE Coordinator/Research Study Coordinator

Jay.ohagi@utsouthwestern.edu

Jay Ohagi has a background in the social sciences (sociology/demography), as well as training in health management and informatics. His interests range from population health research and community development, to health information management. He is the coordinator of the Community Action Research Experience (CARE) program, which is designed to train family medicine residents in community action research and care for underserved populations.

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Patti Pagels, MPAS, PA-C, Assistant Professor

Patti.pagels@utsouthwestern.edu

Patti Pagels has been a physician assistant (PA) in academic medicine for 12 years. Besides her training as a PA she has a degree in anthropology. Her expertise lies in cultural competency education for health care providers. She has lectured nationally on topics related to pediatrics, including childhood obesity and its relationship to ethnicity and health care disparities. In addition, she is interested in health literacy from both the perspective of the health care provider and the patient.

Every year for the last 13 years she has traveled to Central America to provide health care and health education to rural communities in countries such as Guatemala, Honduras and, most recently, Nicaragua. Prior to that, she helped initiate community interest in domestic violence shelters and family planning clinics in the squatter communities outside of Lima, Peru. She currently serves as director-at-large for the national organization American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA), representing the interests of over 60,000 PAs across the nation.

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Jason J. Wright, BBA, CART Coordinator/Health Education Coordinator

Jason.wright@utsouthwestern.edu 

Jason has been working in public and community health for the past several years, implementing behavioral interventions for high-risk and underserved populations; developing individual, group and community-level programming; and participating in several community-based research projects.  His expertise is in program development and management, with emphasis in assessment, implementation and evaluation.  He also has experience developing health promotion collateral and activities, and a strong interest in social marketing for hard-to-reach populations and communities of color at risk for infectious and chronic diseases.

While in the New England area, he co-founded a community resource and wellness center aimed at providing prevention and support services to individuals at high risk for HIV/AIDS. Jason has a continued interest in working with those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, and with individuals dealing with behavioral, substance use and social justice issues.  He is a strong believer that overall health is more than just the absence of disease; it is a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being.

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