معرفی
Dr. Poorna Kushalnagar is a Strategic Research Officer in the Office of Research at Gallaudet University and directs the Center for Deaf Health Equity. She holds a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Houston and has conducted NIH-funded research totaling over $10 million. Her roles include teaching courses in Psychology and Public Health, advising numerous students, and leading interdisciplinary research on health disparities among Deaf and hard-of-hearing populations. Dr. Kushalnagar’s work focuses on patient-reported outcomes, equitable healthcare access, and linguistic validation of health tools in American Sign Language (ASL).
Education:
- B.A. in Psychology, Gallaudet University
- M.A. in Psychology, University of Houston
- Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology, University of Houston
Research Interests: Health equity for Deaf communities, disparities in cancer screening, telehealth accessibility, linguistic validation of health measures, and improving healthcare communication for Deaf patients. Her research highlights systemic barriers faced by Deaf individuals in healthcare settings, including communication gaps, limited access to health information, and inequities in chronic disease management.
Awards:
- Keynote speaker (2020, 2019)
- Invited speaker (2021, 2018)
- Trailblazer Award (2019)
- Influential Women on Campus (2019)
Advising & Grants: Supervised 7+ undergraduate students annually and mentored graduate students in Public Health, Psychology, and Education. Principal investigator of NIH grants addressing Deaf health disparities, including projects on cancer screening, telehealth accessibility, and linguistic validation of health outcomes measures.
Labs & Teams: Leads the Center for Deaf Health Equity, collaborating with interdisciplinary teams to design culturally responsive health interventions. Active in Gallaudet’s Office of Research, promoting community-based participatory research with Deaf stakeholders.
