In the second activity of this CME Outfitters BriefCase series, expert faculty will explore strategies to enhance mental health care for underserved populations. Focus will be placed on understanding and mitigating the impact of social drivers of health (SDoH), integrating holistic treatment strategies, and employing team-based approaches. Learners will gain tools to improve diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for racial, ethnic, and LGBTQIA+ groups, fostering equitable mental health care delivery.
Rakesh Jain, MD, MPH, is a Clinical Professor in the department of Psychiatry at the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center School of Medicine – Permian Basin in Midland, Texas and in private practice in Austin, Texas. Dr. Jain attended medical school at the University of Calcutta in India. He received his Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston, where he was awarded a National Institute/Center for Disease Control Competitive Traineeship. His research thesis focused on the impact of substance abuse.
Dr. Jain completed his residency in psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in research psychiatry at the University of Texas Mental Sciences Institute in Houston. He was awarded the National Research Service Award in support of his postdoctoral fellowship.
Dr. Jain has been involved in over 100 research projects studying the effects of medications on short-term and long-term treatment of depression, anxiety, pain/mood overlap disorders, ADHD, and psychosis in adult and child/adolescent populations. He has presented at the World Psychiatric Congress held in Prague, and at Depression and Pain Forum meetings internationally. He is the author of 55 articles published in various journals and magazines, such as the Journal of Psychiatric Research and Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, among others, and has presented over 25 original research posters at meetings such as the American Psychological Association (APA), the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), the U.S. Psychiatric Congress, and more. He has co-authored six books that range from patient education to cutting-edge neurobiologic findings in psychiatry and mental health. He serves on several advisory boards focusing on drug development and disease state education. He was also recently the Chair of the U.S. Psychiatric Congress, and for several years, has served as a member of the Steering Committee for U.S. Psychiatric Annual Congress. He is a recipient of the Public Citizen of the Year award from the National Association of Social Workers, Gulf Coast Chapter, in recognition of his community and peer education, and championing of mental health issues.
In the first activity of this CME Outfitters BriefCase series, expert faculty will discuss actionable strategies to enhance health equity in the management of cardiovascular disorders. The focus will be on identifying and addressing social drivers of health (SDoH) that contribute to disparities, integrating holistic treatment approaches, and employing team-based strategies to ensure equitable care. Learners will gain tools to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term management of hypertension and other cardiovascular conditions, particularly in high-risk, underserved populations.
In this CMEO “BriefCase,” expert faculty will walk learners through a real-world case and review unmet needs that persist for patients and caregivers. By identifying the impact of DEEs on patients and using real-world evidence to individualize treatment plans for patients with LGS, a collaborative and multidisciplinary approach to therapeutic decision-making can be realized.
Dr. Dixon-Salazar is a neuroscientist, geneticist, and patient advocate. Her desire to get her PhD was inspired by her daughter who developed Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS) at the age of 2. She completed her PhD and postdoctoral work at UC, San Diego, where she studied the mechanisms of brain development and synaptic plasticity, identified genetic causes of rare disorders in children, and researched precision therapeutics in stem cell and animal models of pediatric disease. During her research tenure, and after 16 years of watching daily, unrelenting seizures in her child, she uncovered the driver of her daughter’s illness and identified a novel precision therapy that improved her child’s life.
Dr. Dixon-Salazar left academia after 15 years in the lab with a drive to decrease the amount of time it would take for patients to benefit from lab discoveries in epilepsy precision medicine. She worked as Associate Research Director at CURE Epilepsy helping to move funding forward for novel translational research in genomic medicine for patients with severe forms of pediatric-onset epilepsy. She then transitioned to the Director of Research and Strategy at the Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS) Foundation where she worked directly with patients to access precision therapies and partnered with researchers, clinicians, regulators, policymakers, therapy developers, and other advocacy groups to build a sustainable precision medicine infrastructure for all patients with epilepsy. Currently, Dr. Dixon- Salazar serves as the Executive Director of the LGS Foundation, where the mission is to improve the lives of individuals impacted by LGS through advancing research, awareness, education, and family support
In the third activity of this CME Outfitters BriefCase series, expert faculty will explore strategies to improve health equity in gastrointestinal care. The focus will be on understanding upstream, midstream, and downstream drivers of health inequities, such as socioeconomic status, immigration status, and lack of social support. Learners will gain actionable strategies, including utilizing case managers, interpreter services, culturally aligned dieticians, and community support workers to address social drivers of health. These strategies aim to improve diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for underserved populations, fostering equitable gastrointestinal care delivery.
Neilanjan Nandi, FACG, AGAF, FACP, is Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Nandi’s practice focuses on the management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (e.g., Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis) and recurrent Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection via fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT). Dr. Nandi serves on the executive council of the Philadelphia Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation (CCF) and on the medical advisory board of the United Ostomy Associates of America (UOAA), coordinates outreach on the American College of Gastroenterology Patient Care Committee, and is a founding board member of the South Asian IBD Alliance (SAIA). He also regularly peer reviews research publications and serves on the social media editorial board for the premier journals Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and Crohn’s & Colitis 360. His research has focused on studying conditions co-morbid to IBD quality of care, namely the diagnosis and management of refractory C. difficile infection and the application of FMT in C. difficile; also, characterizing the management and consequences of iron deficiency anemia and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in patients with IBD. Dr. Nandi has authored numerous book chapters on the diagnosis and management of various viral, parasitic, mycobacterial, and bacterial infections of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
Dr. Nandi’s fervor for clinical education has been recognized with multiple teaching awards. He was honored as the 2019 Physician Hero by the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation at their annual Take Steps for Crohn’s & Colitis event, and wields digital and social media platforms to amplify education, outreach, and advocacy in IBD to clinicians and patients. He was also awarded the Philadelphia CCF’s Chairman’s Citation in 2022. He is the regular host of the academic podcast GI Insights: IBD Crosstalk, which features high-yield, evidence-based medicine discussions with guests from different interdisciplinary fields critical to providing comprehensive IBD care. Dr. Nandi’s passions include fitness, cooking, virtual reality gaming, reading, and dancing. Follow him on social @fitwitmd.
In the third activity of this CME Outfitters BriefCase series, expert faculty utilize case-based learning to instruct learners on incorporating efficacy and safety data for biologics indicated for PsO and PsA in patients as part of treatment decision-making.
Melodie Young has more than 30 years in dermatology as a nurse practitioner and has focused her career on immune-mediated skin disease. She has been the Principal Investigator or Sub-Investigator in more than 80 clinical trials and has more than 40 scholarly publications. She is the former Director of the Baylor Psoriasis Center, National Psoriasis Tissue Bank, and a former member of the Medical Advisory Board of the National Psoriasis Foundation. Young is a founding member of the International Psoriasis Council.
In the second activity of this CME Outfitters BriefCase series, expert faculty use case-based learning to demonstrate for learners how best to utilize guideline-based management strategies for patients with PsA.
