Mahalakshmi Parakala (She/Her) Email & Phone Number

California, United States

- Spearheading research project investigating how healthcare centers meet the needs of diverse populations by conducting qualitative interviews of health centers with a DEI focus.- Manuscript in progress on the quantitative and qualitative exploration of DEI initiatives within a learning health network- Abstract accepted at a renowned conference and.

Fall 2022:- Co-created and co-presented a plenary session with Dr. Sandra Kim on a preliminary findings from qualitative and quantitative exploration of health outcome disparities among racial and ethnic minorities, the current state of DEI initiatives across the learning health network, and what factors can empower effective care for diverse populations..

Project Leader/Researcher, Steering Committee Member, and Patient Representative on the ImproveCareNow DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) Committee (July 2021 - Present)Patient Representative on the ImproveCareNow Research Committee (Jan 2021- Jan 2023)

The patient advisory council (PAC) is a group of pediatric and young adult inflammatory bowel disease patients who create direct patient care resources on various topics relevant to pediatric patients that get distributed at care centers around the country. We also advocate and raise awareness for IBD through digital media and presentations at annual.

- Coordinating a cross-sectional, survey-based, learning health network-wide study, investigating provider perceptions and processes underlying Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) screening- Utilizing REDCap software and knowledge of EPIC to design and administer survey- Gained familiarity with the IRB process

- Help run virtual support group meetings for diasporic South Asian IBD patients to provide a safe space for compassionate support and community.- Coordinate South Asian-specific patient and caregiver education, programming, and digital resources. Occasionally serve as a patient panelist at education events.- Collaborating with a multidisciplinary team to.

- Serve as a patient advisor to the adult-IBD focused learning health network created through the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation- Creating network-wide patient engagement solutions and providing input on QI projects- Current projects include implementing Treat-to-Target methodology at Qorus care centers, using QI to improve prior authorization processes.

Over the past couple years, I have built up a repertoire of multiple speaking engagements at biotech companies, non-profit organizations, and at medical conferences.Recent speaking engagements include: - Co-presenting and serving on a panel at UCSF Benioff Children's about how to successfully navigate college as a pediatric IBD patient- Serving on an.

San Francisco Bay Area

- Worked alongside the clinical operations team to gain insight into how clinical development is faciliated and how clinical trials are devised and managed through both clinical and regulatory aspects.- Conducted informational interviews with various members from different departments to gain a complete understanding of how novel drug development works.

- Studying adverse drug effects by using real world clinical EMR documents. - Assistant on an FDA sponsored NLP project. Responsibilities include using labeling software to provide ‘gold standard’ labels to capture biologic related adverse effects from de-identified UCSF EHR clinic notes.- Gained substantial knowledge in the field of gastroenterology and.

Public Health And Molecular And Cell Biology, Pre-Medicine/Pre-Medical Studies

High School Diploma

Activities and Societies: Tutor at Hope Solutions, Actor for Peter Pan Foundation, Performing arts (Training: 11 yrs in violin, 11 yrs in.