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Overview


Rushina Cholera, MD, PhD is a pediatrician and epidemiologist in the Division of General Pediatrics with appointments at the Duke Margolis Center for Health Policy and the Duke Department of Population Health Sciences. Her research and health policy work focus on understanding unmet social needs and identifying optimal approaches for social and health care sector integration to promote health and health equity for children and families. Dr. Cholera aims to design and implement cross-sector, community-engaged, and scalable interventions to improve child health disparities across the clinical practice and health policy levels. She draws on interdisciplinary mixed-methods research approaches leveraging her expertise in epidemiology, community-based participatory research, and implementation science.

Dr. Cholera completed both her MD and PhD in Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She completed her pediatrics residency at UNC Chapel Hill and was then a National Clinician Scholar at Duke University. She is currently the Director of Research and Evaluation for the NC Integrated Care for Kids model, a CMS-funded pilot demonstration project to develop and implement a locally integrated health care service delivery and payment model for Medicaid/CHIP insured children in NC. She also directs the health behaviors and needs research pillar within the Duke Children’s Health & Discovery Initiative.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Assistant Professor of Pediatrics · 2021 - Present Pediatrics, General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health, Pediatrics
Assistant Professor in Population Health Sciences · 2022 - Present Population Health Sciences, Basic Science Departments

Recent Publications


Telehealth Utilization Among Adult Medicaid Beneficiaries in North Carolina with Behavioral Health Conditions During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Journal Article Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · October 2024 ObjectiveWe examined factors associated with telehealth utilization during COVID-19 among adult Medicaid beneficiaries with behavioral health conditions.Data sources and study settingNC Medicaid 2019-2021 beneficiary and claims data.S ... Full text Cite

Integrating community health workers in early childhood well-child care: a statement from the Pediatric Academic Societies Maternal Child Health: First 1,000 days Special Interest Group.

Journal Article BMC Prim Care · September 27, 2024 This statement from the Pediatric Academic Societies Maternal Child Health: First 1,000 Days Special Interest Group provides an overview of the rationale, evidence, and key action steps needed to engage Community Health Workers (CHWs) into team-based well- ... Full text Link to item Cite

Comparing Social Disadvantage Indices in Pediatric Populations.

Journal Article Pediatrics · September 1, 2024 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Place-based social disadvantage indices are increasingly used to promote health equity, but vary in design. We compared associations between 3 commonly used indices (Social Vulnerability Index [SVI], Area Deprivation Index [ADI], ... Full text Link to item Cite
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Recent Grants


An integrated and diverse genomic medicine program for undiagnosed diseases

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2014 - 2028

North Carolina Integrated Care for Kids Model

Public ServicePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services · 2020 - 2026

Meeting NC Families Where They Are: Achieving family-centered SNAP enrollment support

Public ServicePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Share Our Strength · 2023 - 2025

View All Grants

Education, Training & Certifications


University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, School of Medicine · 2016 M.D.