FOCUS
Sarah’s goal is to ensure that the data used to inform and develop health policy represents the lived experiences of impacted communities. Specifically, she studies data quality in electronic health records (EHRs), which are frequently used as observational data sets in clinical and public health research. EHR data, which encodes clinical workflows and institutional practices, is frequently subject to missingness, inconsistencies, inaccuracy, or bias. These data quality issues have serious implications for subsequent research and policy efforts, particularly in the realm of health equity work. Sarah’s research therefore has a two-fold focus: 1) identifying the structural factors that impact EHR data quality, and 2) examining how data quality impacts downstream research and health information technology interventions that target historically disenfranchised populations.
MORE ABOUT SARAH
Sarah is the daughter of Egyptian immigrants to the United States. As an Arab American, she understands how poor data quality poses a barrier to identifying and addressing health inequities. Sarah believes that research can be a tool to achieve social justice, and hopes to apply her interdisciplinary background to achieving a Culture of Health.