SOM Faculty Profile : Elizabeth Pradhan

Elizabeth Pradhan

Elizabeth Pradhan Ph.D., M.P.H.

Academic Title: Assistant Professor

Primary Appointment: Family & Community Medicine

epradhan@compmed.umm.edu

Location: Kernan Hospital, 2200 Kernan Drive, Baltimore, MD 21207-6697

Phone: (410) 448-6871

Cell: (410) 448-6875

Personal History

Elizabeth Kimbrough Pradhan, MPH, PhD is an assistant professor of family medicine at the Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine. She was co-investigator of a recent randomized, waitlist-controlled trial of the effect of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program in reducing psychological and physical symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis patients, conducted here. In 2004 and 2005, Dr. Pradhan was a fellow at the Mind and Life Summer Research Institute focused on the scientific investigation of meditation in medicine and neuroscience, and her doctoral work was awarded a George Family Foundation Young Researcher Award. Previously, she was on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health as an investigator on several large-scale, randomized, controlled community trials in Nepal that assessed the efficacy of vitamin and micronutrient supplementation on reducing child and maternal mortality. Currently, Dr. Pradhan is co-investigator of an international research collaboration between the Center for Integrative Medicine and the Chinese University of Hong Kong that is funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at NIH, and a co-principal investigator of one of the grant’s projects.

Academic and Professional Activities

Institution: The Hunger Project, New York, NY
Position: International program volunteer
Dates: September 1981-August 1984
Conducted briefings on world hunger in order to call forth public grassroots action. Coordinated enrollment projects with volunteers in Belgium and Peru. Co-managed international conferences for the Hunger Project in New York City.

Institution: International Baccalaureate North America, New York, NY
Position: School services officer
Dates: September 1984-November 1987
Directed data management for the North American office of this UNESCO-designed secondary school international education program headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Institution: The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Position: Research Coordinator
Dates: January 1, 1989-April 1997
Data manager (1989-94) of a 38,000-child community trial investigating the effect of high-dose supplementation of vitamin A in reducing under-5 year old child mortality in Nepal. Principal responsibilities were data management, supervision, staff training, data quality control.
Co-investigator (1994-97) of a 45,000-woman randomized, placebo-controlled, community trial in Nepal, investigating the effect of maternal supplementation with vitamin A or beta-carotene on reducing maternal mortality and morbidity. Principal responsibilities were field study implementation and conduct, data management, data analysis and results dissemination.

Institution: The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Position: Research Associate (faculty)
Dates: April 1997-December 31, 2001
Co-investigator (1997-2000) of a 5000-woman study in Nepal to assess the efficacy of daily maternal micronutrient supplementation on infant birth weight and survival. Principal responsibilities were field team management, study implementation and conduct, data management and data analysis.
Trained staff and consulted on data collection (2000-01) for a trial in Bangladesh investigating the impact of vitamin A and beta carotene in reducing maternal mortality, and for another in Nepal to investigate the impact of daily zinc and iron supplementation on under-3 year old child mortality.

Institution: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Position: Pre-Doctoral NIH Fellow
Dates: January 1, 2002-January 22, 2005
Planned and implemented a randomized, controlled trial of the effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction on psychological and physical symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Institution: Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Position: Graduate Research Assistant
Dates: January 23, 2005 - present
Completed, analyzed and disseminated results of a randomized, controlled trial of the effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction on psychological and physical symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Institution: Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Position: Assistant Professor of Family Medicine (tenure track)
Dates: February 22, 2006 - present
Co-investigator on a center grant funded by NIH-NCCAM to establish an international research collaboration between Center for Integrative Medicine and the Chinese University of Hong Kong to investigate the effect and mechanism of Traditional Chinese Medicine on functional bowel disorders, and co-principal investigator of the project's clinical trial. Co-investigator on pilots studies evaluating the impact of mindfulness meditation on reducing physical and psychological symptoms in various patient populations.

Fellowships and Awards

April 2003: University of Wisconsin Health Emotions Research Institute Travel Award Recipient
March 2004: Mind and Life Summer Research Institute 2004 Research Fellow
March 2005: Mind and Life Summer Research Institute 2005 Research Fellow
March 2006: Mind and Life Summer Research Institute 2006 Senior Investigator
Feb 2006: George Family Foundation Young Researcher Award

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

West KP Jr, Pokhrel RP, Katz J, LeClerq SC, Khatry SK, Shrestha SR, Pradhan EK, Tielsch JM, Pandey MR, Sommer A. Efficacy of vitamin A in reducing preschool child mortality in Nepal. Lancet 1991;338:67-71.

West KP, Khatry SK, LeClerq SC, Adhikari R, See L, Katz J, Shrestha SR, Pradhan EK, Pokhrel RP, Sommer A: Tolerance of young infants to a single, large dose of vitamin A: a randomized community trial in Nepal. Bull WHO 1992;70(6):733-739.

Pradhan EK, Katz J, LeClerq SC, West KP Jr. Data management for large community trials in Nepal. Control Clin Trials 1994;15:220-234.

Katz J, Khatry SK, West KP Jr, Humphrey JH, LeClerq SC, Pradhan EK, Pokhrel RP, Sommer A. Night blindness is prevalent during pregnancy and lactation in rural Nepal. J Nutr 1995;125:2122-2127.

West KP Jr, Katz J, Shrestha SR, LeClerq SC, Khatry SK, Pradhan EK, Adhikari R, Wu LS, Pokhrel RP, Sommer A. Mortality of infants <6 mo of age supplemented with vitamin A: a randomized, double-masked trial in Nepal. Am J Clin Nutr 1995;62:143-148.

Khatry SK, West KP Jr, Katz J, LeClerq SC, Pradhan EK, Wu LS, Thapa MD, Pokhrel RP. Epidemiology of xerophthalmia in Nepal: a pattern of household poverty, childhood illness and mortality. Arch Ophthalmol 1995;113:425-429.

Katz J, West KP Jr, Khatry SK, Thapa MD, LeClerq SC, Pradhan EK, Pokhrel RP, Sommer A. Impact of vitamin A supplementation on prevalence and incidence of xerophthalmia in Nepal. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sc 1995;36:2577-2583.

Katz J, West KP, Khatry SK, LeClerq SC, Pradhan EK, Thapa MD, Taylor HR. Prevalence and risk factors for trachoma in Sarlahi district, Nepal. Br J Ophthalmol 1996;80:1037-1041.

West KP Jr, LeClerq SC, Shrestha SR, Wu LS-F, Pradhan EK, Khatry SK, Katz J, Adhikari R, Sommer A. Effects of vitamin A on growth of vitamin A-deficient children: field studies in Nepal. J Nutr 1997;127:1957-1965.

Shankar AV, Gittelsohn J, Pradhan EK, Dhungel C, West KP Jr. Home gardening and animal access among xerophthalmic households in rural Nepal. Food Nutr Bull 1998;19:34-41.

Katz J, West KP Jr, LeClerq SC, Thapa MD, Khatry SK, Pradhan EK, Shrestha SR, Pokhrel RP. Agreement between clinical examination and parental morbidity histories for children in Nepal. J Trop Pediatr 1998;44:225-229.

Christian P, West KP Jr, Khatry SK, Katz J, Shrestha SR, Pradhan EK, LeClerq SC, Pokhrel RP. Night blindness of pregnancy in rural Nepal - nutritional and health risks. Int J Epidemiol 1998;27:231-237.

Christian P, Thorne-Lyman AL, West KP Jr, Bentley ME, Khatry SK, Pradhan EK, LeClerq SC, Shrestha SR. Working after the sun goes down: exploring how night blindness impairs women's work activities in rural Nepal. Eur J Clin Nutr 1998 Jul;52(7):519-2.

Christian P, West KP Jr, Khatry SK, Katz J, LeClerq S, Pradhan EK, Shrestha SR. Vitamin A or beta-carotene supplementation reduces but does not eliminate maternal night blindness in Nepal. J Nutr 1998 Sep;128(9):1458-63.

Gittelsohn J, Shankar AV, West KP Jr, Faroukh F, Gyawali T, Pradhan EK. Child feeding and care behaviors are associated with xerophthalmia in rural Nepal. Soc Sci Med 1998;00:1-10.

West KP Jr, Katz J, Khatry SK, LeClerq SC, Pradhan EK, Shrestha SR, Connor PB, Dali SM, Pokhrel RP, Sommer A, and the NNIPS-2 Study Group. Low-dose Vitamin A or beta-carotene supplementation reduces pregnancy-related mortality: a double-masked, randomized, controlled community trial in Nepal. BMJ 1999; 328: 570-575

Katz J, West KP Jr, Khatry SK, Pradhan EK, LeClerq SC, Christian P, Wu LSF, Adhikari RK, Shrestha SR, Sommer A. Low-dose vitamin A or beta-carotene supplementation has no effect on fetal loss and early infant mortality: a randomized cluster trial in Nepal. Am J Clin Nutr 2000; 71:1570-1576.

Dreyfuss ML, Stoltzfus RJ, Shrestha JB, Pradhan EK, LeClerq SC, Khatry SK, Shrestha SR, Katz J, Albonico M, West KP Jr. Hookworms, malaria and viatmain A deficiency contribute to anemia and iron deficiency among pregnant women in the plains of Nepal. J Nutr. 2000; 130: 2527-2536.

Christian P, West KP Jr, Khatry SK, Kimbrough-Pradhan E, LeClerq SC, Katz J, Shrestha SR, Dali SM, Sommer A. Night blindness during pregnancy and subsequent mortality among women in Nepal: effects of vitamin A and B-carotene supplementation. Am J Epi 2000; 152: 542-547.

Christian P, West KP Jr, Khatry SK, Katz J, LeClerq SC, Kimbrough-Pradhan E, Dali SM, Shrestha SR. Vitamin A or beta-carotene supplementation reduces symptoms of illness in pregnant and lactating Nepali women. J Nutr. 2000 Nov;130(11):2675-82.

Christian P, West KP Jr., Khatry SK, LeClerq SC, Kimbrough-Pradhan E, Katz J, Shrestha SR. Maternal night blindness increases risk of infant mortality in the first 6 months of life in Nepal. J Nutr. 2001; 131: 1510-1512.

Katz J, West KP Jr, Khatry SK, LeClerq SC, Christian P, Kimbrough-Pradhan E, Shrestha SR. Twinning rates and survival of twins in rural Nepal. Int J Epidemiol 2001; 30:802-807

Christian P, Khatry SK, Yamini S, Stallings R, LeClerq SC, Shrestha SR, Pradhan EK, West KP Jr. Zinc supplementation might potentiate the effect of vitamin A in restoring night vision in pregnant Nepalese women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2001 Jun;73(6):1045-51.

Katz J, West KP, Kimbrough-Pradhan E, LeClerq C, Shakya TR, Khatry SK, Shrestha SR. Impact of providing a small income on women's nutritional status and household food expenditures in rural Nepal. Food Nutr Bull 2001; 22:13-18.

Katz J, West KP Jr, Wu L, Khatry SK, Pradhan EK, Christian P, LeClerq SC, Shrestha SR: What makes a successful supplement distributor? Sight and Life Newsletter 2002;March:51-53.

Katz J, West KP Jr, Wu L, Khatry SK, Pradhan EK, Christian P, LeClerq SC, Shrestha SR. Determinants of maternal vitamin A and beta-carotene supplementation coverage among village based women distributors in Nepal. Am J Pub Health 2002;92:1105-1107.

Pradhan EK, West KP, Katz J, Christian P, Khatry SK, LeClerq SC, Dali SM, Shrestha SR. Risk of death following pregnancy in rural Nepal. WHO Bull 2002;80(11):887-891.

Christian P, Khatry SK, Katz J, Pradhan EK, LeClerq SC, Shrestha SR, Adhikari RK, Sommer A, West KP Jr: Effects of alternative maternal micronutrient supplements on low birth weight in rural Nepal; a double-masked randomized community trial. BMJ 2003 Mar 15;326(7389):571.

Katz J, West KP Jr, Khatry SK, Christian P, LeClerq SC, Pradhan EK, Shrestha SR. Risk factors for early infant mortality in Sarlahi district, Nepal. WHO Bull, 2003: 81 (10) 717-725.

Khatry SK, Lewis AD, Schein OD, Thapa MD, Pradhan EK, Katz J. The epidemiology of ocular trauma in rural Nepal. Br J Ophthalmol 2004 Apr; 88(4):456-60.

Christian P, West KP Jr, Katz J, Kimbrough-Pradhan E, LeClerq SC, Khatry SK, Shrestha SR. Cigarette smoking during pregnancy in rural Nepal: Risk factors and effects of beta-carotene and vitamin A supplementation. Eur J Clin Nutr 2004 Feb; 58(2):204-11.

Katz J, Khatry SK, Thapa MD, Schein OD, Kimbrough Pradhan E, Leclerq SC, West KP Jr. A randomised trial of povidone-iodine to reduce visual impairment from corneal ulcers in rural Nepal. Br J Ophthalmol. 2004 Dec; 88(12):1487-92.

Whitcomb BW, Pradhan EK, Pittas AG, Roghmann MC, Perencevish E. Impact of admission hyperglycemia on hospital mortality in various intensive care unit populations. Crit Care Med 2005; 33:2772-2777.

Pradhan EK, West KP Jr, Katz J, LeClerq SC, Khatry SK, Shrestha SR. Flood-related mortality in Nepal. Disasters (in press).

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