Mental / Emotional Health Program
The Mental / Emotional Health Program is housed within the Beatty Liver and Obesity Research Program. The mission of the Program is to improve the quality of life, reduce morbidity and increase function in patients with chronic hepatitis C and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by substantially reducing the prevalence and impact of mental, emotional and cognitive dysfunction (MECD) in people with these chronic liver diseases (CLD).
Quality of life is an important outcome to measure in chronic liver disease (CLD) as it provides the patients’ perspectives on the impact of CLD on their lives. It has been well-documented that individuals with CLD have lower levels of quality of life than individuals without CLD. Mental, emotional, and cognitive dysfunction all negatively impact quality of life. Therefore, it is valuable to study these aspects in order to be able to improve the quality of life of individuals with CLD.
The Mental / Emotional Health Research Program is well resourced with experts and specialties in a variety of fields which include medical research, psychology, and outcomes research. Ali Weinstein, PhD, serves as the Program Lead. In her role she oversees and is responsible for the Program’s research and overall direction. Leyla de Avila serves as the Program Manager. In her capacity, she serves as the project coordinator and oversees the day-to-day operations of the Program. Pegah Golabi, MD, in her Research Fellow role, provides clinical expertise and serves as the physician advisor for the Program. Our program also utilizes the expertise, time, and personnel from the Outcomes Research Team to support and enhance these areas of research (Lynn Gerber, MD (Medical Director of Research) and Carey Escheik (Program Manager)).
Enrolling Studies
- Pilot Investigation of Cognitive Performance in Individuals with Type II Diabetes and/or Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (see flyer for more information
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If you are interested, you or your patients can contact:
Meet our Team
Ali Weinstein, PhD
Ali Weinstein, PhD, associate professor and director of CCID, brings experience as an investigator examining bio-behavioral aspects of chronic illness and is collaborating on studies evaluating the relationship between psychological symptoms, function and adherence in patients with chronic liver disease.
Pegah Golabi, MD
Pegah Golabi is a research fellow at the Beatty Liver and Obesity Research Program at Inova. Dr. Golabi earned her medical degree from Marmara University School of Medicine in Turkey (2005), and completed her residency in infectious disease and clinical microbiology at Marmara University Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey (2011). Dr. Golabi is currently working with the ME Health Program as the physician advisor. She is excited to be part of the new innovations in Hepatology. She has published many articles in respectable journals and provides clinical expertise to the research team. Pegah can be contacted at pegah.golabi@inova.org.
Leyla de Avila, BS
Leyla de Avila serves as the research study coordinator for the Mental Emotional Health program and provides both administrative and clinical support to its active protocols. Leyla is a recent graduate from American University with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Health. She enjoys working with research subjects and being a part of establishing the ME Health program. Leyla can be contacted at leyla.deavila@inova.org.