James Guevara

James Guevara, MD, MPH, is a Professor of Pediatrics & Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and an attending physician at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). He co-founded PolicyLab, a center focused on translating research into policy to reduce health inequities in early childhood. His work bridges early child development, behavioral health, and health disparities through community partnerships and policy-relevant research.

Education:

• M.D., Northwestern University (1990)
• M.P.H., University of Washington (1999)
• M.C.S., New College Berkeley (1985)
• B.S., University of California, Davis (1984)

Research Interests: Dr. Guevara’s research focuses on addressing disparities in early childhood development through interventions like family navigation for developmental disabilities, social media-based parenting programs for postpartum depression, and behavioral economics approaches to literacy promotion. He emphasizes partnerships with community organizations and government agencies to ensure policy-relevant outcomes.

Grants & Awards: He has secured funding from the NIH, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), CDC, Maternal Child Health Bureau, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Notable grants include R01MD011598 (family navigation RCT) and R61/R33MH118405 (social media parenting program).

Roles & Leadership:

• Co-Director of the graduate-level course on health disparities (EPID 584)
• Member of the NIH Healthcare and Health Disparities (HHD) study section
• Executive committee member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on Early Childhood
• Associate Editor at Academic Pediatrics

Current Projects: Includes randomized controlled trials of interventions targeting developmental disabilities, postpartum depression, and parent-child reading promotion. He also leads efforts to refine sleep clinical decision support tools in primary care.

PolicyLab: As a co-founder, he drives evidence-based policy initiatives to improve early childhood outcomes, particularly for underserved populations.