OVERVIEW

Dr. Anna María Nápoles was recently appointed scientific director of NIMHD’s Division of Intramural Research (DIR), making her the first Latina named to the position at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Nápoles joins NIMHD from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) where she served as a professor and behavioral epidemiologist in the Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine since 2001.

Dr. Nápoles brings nearly 30 years of experience in research on patient- clinician communication, cancer control health disparities, psycho- oncology, and community-based models of research in racially and ethnically diverse populations, as well as socioeconomically diverse groups. She has served as a scientific advisor to numerous NIH and non-NIH funded research projects, advising on the use of advanced qualitative and quantitative methods for studying complex socio-behavioral processes that affect the health of disparity populations.

In her new role Dr. Nápoles will focus on population health with an emphasis on social, behavioral, and clinical research while utilizing the robust basic science environment at NIH. She will also oversee the executive direction and scientific leadership for the entire intramural research program at NIMHD.

Dr. Nápoles received her master’s and doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College in Claremont, California. She has published over 75 journal articles. In 2003 and 2005, Dr. Nápoles received the Rising Star in Cancer Research Award from the Redes En Acción Network, and is a 2016 Susan G. Komen Scholar.