Treatment Adherence

Julia Carmody is a first-year postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Adherence and Self-Management. She completed her PhD at the University of Florida and her residency at Cincinnati Children's. Her research background focused on adjustment and disease self-management in children and adolescents with obesity and inflammatory bowel disease. Her dissertation examined the impacts of condition, individual, and caregiver factors on longitudinal health-related quality of life in adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease. She is continuing her research in the pediatric inflammatory bowel disease population, examining adherence to biologic treatments. Julia is currently involved in grant writing, manuscript preparation, and data collection and analysis in the Hommel and Ramsey labs.

Julia is currently an interventionist on a randomized clinical trial aimed at improving medication adherence and symptom management in children and adolescents with asthma. She is also involved in the development of a web-based self-management portal for children with migraine. Julia conducts assessment and adherence promotion interventions for children on positive airway pressure treatment in the obstructive sleep apnea clinic.

After her postdoctoral fellowship in the Center for Adherence and Self-Management, Julia plans to obtain a position within an academic medical center that would allow her to conduct research and provide clinical services to pediatric populations.

Leslie Favier is a second-year postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Adherence and Self-Management in addition to being a third-year medical fellow in pediatric rheumatology. She completed her undergraduate and medical degree at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and her pediatric residency at the University of Louisville. 

Leslie is currently working under the mentorship of Dr. Modi to study barriers to adherence in juvenile idiopathic arthritis. She has presented this work at several national meetings. Additionally, her fellow independent project is investigating the innovative use of musculoskeletal ultrasound as an adherence intervention tool in adolescents with arthritis.

Leslie plans to pursue an academic research position as a pediatric rheumatologist and is enthusiastic about continuing to use the skills gained as an adherence fellow in her further clinical and research work. Her future research will continue to focus on adherence optimization in the juvenile idiopathic arthritis population.

Giya Harry is a second-year clinical fellow in the Division of Rheumatology at Cincinnati Children's as well as an NIH T32 fellow in the Center for Adherence and Self-Management. She completed her MD training at Wake Forest School of Medicine and residency at Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital. Prior to her medical training, she obtained a master’s in public health at the University of Texas – Houston School of Public Health. Her primary research interest is studying barriers to treatment adherence in patients with childhood-onset Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (cSLE) as an avenue to improve morbidity and mortality.

Studying barriers to treatment adherence in cSLE patients, with the aim of identifying areas for intervention, is Giya’s current research focus. With Drs. Modi and Crosby as primary mentors, she is developing a focus group based study to identify modifiable barriers from the patient or parent perspective with the goal of finding avenues for intervention. Ultimately, the goal is to generalize effective interventions that improve treatment adherence, and as such outcome, nationally.

Following fellowship, Giya hopes to utilize a holistic approach to the care of cSLE patients and continue to build upon research initiated during fellowship training.

Tina Holbein a second-year postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Adherence and Self-Management. She completed her PhD at Loyola University Chicago and her residency at Nemours/A.I. duPont Hospital for Children. Her research interests include adherence and self-management in adolescents and young adults with chronic health conditions, development of innovative technological self-management interventions, psychosocial adjustment in the context of chronic illness, and measure development. She is currently involved in Dr. Hommel’s online adherence intervention for adolescents with migraines, assists with grant writing, and collaborates on projects with other center faculty.

Tina has partnered with the Adult Congenital Heart Program to conduct a study investigating self-management, medication adherence, and psychosocial adjustment in young adults with congenital heart disease (CHD). She has also prepared manuscripts using a large multinational dataset of patient-reported outcomes in CHD. Clinically, Tina has participated in umbrella supervision with an O’Grady resident and completed rotations in epilepsy and the Heart Institute’s neurodevelopmental and educational clinic.

After fellowship, Tina would like to pursue a faculty position in an academic pediatric medical center that will allow her to continue her research and work with youth, young adults, and their families.

Aimee earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Winthrop University and graduated from Kent State University in 2016 with a Doctor of Philosophy in clinical psychology with a concentration in pediatric psychology. She completed her residency at Cincinnati Children's in Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology and joined Dr. Modi’s lab in July 2016 as a postdoctoral fellow. Her research interests include the impact of comorbid conditions on adherence in pediatric illness, academic functioning in pediatric illness, physician communication, and implementation research. Her clinical interests include working with children with illnesses and their families to improve adherence and quality of life and working with populations with epilepsy, TBI, and other neurological concerns.