NCEPCR Research Fellows

Personal Reflections and Projects

Below are personal reflections of a few of our fellows and the projects they have worked on.

Rika Kaneshige, M.P.H.

"As a fellow, the opportunity to learn from Dr. Aimee Eden and others at AHRQ was an invaluable experience. I appreciated the opportunity to build upon, develop, and apply skills I learned during my M.P.H. program."

Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, I received my Bachelors of Science in Neuroscience and Masters in Public Health from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. I am an OMS-II at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, New York, Middletown Campus.

During the summer before my second year, I had the privilege of working as a summer fellow at AHRQ. Under the leadership of Dr. Aimee Eden, I assisted with a primary care research (PCR) grant analysis. Through this study we aimed to determine the distribution of PCR grant types, topics, and approval status. I was fortunate enough to present our findings at the North American Primary Care Research Group Conference in San Francisco, California, in November 2024. The opportunity to share our findings at the conference was a wonderful, and enriching, conclusion to the program. Mahalo (thank you), Dr. Eden and AHRQ for an unforgettable experience.

Caitlyn Bernard, M.P.H.

"I am incredibly grateful for my time at AHRQ and Dr. Aimee Eden's mentorship. It was a truly invaluable experience!"

As a Health Policy Associate with Applied Policy, I perform health policy research and analysis for various healthcare clients with an emphasis on pharmaceutical companies. Born and raised in Northern Virginia, I received a Master of Arts in Biomedical Sciences from Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine at Bluefield College, a Master of Public Health from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from George Mason University.

In Summer 2023, I had the opportunity to work under Dr. Aimee Eden as a Junior Service Fellow with AHRQ's Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement. I worked on an analysis of primary care research (PCR) grants received by AHRQ from 2021-2022. My focus was specifically on delineating the characteristics of PCR grants that received funding within this time frame. I had the opportunity to present these findings at the North American Primary Care Research Group Conference in October 2023. I have developed a report of this analysis that will be posted on the AHRQ website in the near future.

Michelle Rockwell, Ph.D., R.D.

"My dissertation research focused on the assessment of low-value care cascades and several years of experience as a healthcare clinician motivated me to pursue a career transition into health services research. But it was the AHRQ summer fellowship experience in 2020, the summer after completing my Ph.D., that confirmed my commitment to primary care research for the second half of my career."

 Under the mentorship of Elisabeth Kato, M.D., M.R.P., my fellowship experience involved an analysis of AHRQ’s investment in primary care research over the previous 30 years. For this analysis, I combined data from literature searches, funding databases, agency correspondence, and multiple other sources to develop a comprehensive report for the National Center for Excellence in Primary Care Research. An early version of the report was provided as pre-reading for AHRQ’s winter 2020 meeting of primary care research leaders and stakeholders focused on establishing an agenda for primary care research in the U.S. Findings were also presented at the Annual Meeting of the North American Primary Care Research Group in 2020.

I benefited tremendously from many aspects of the AHRQ summer fellow experience and from Dr. Kato’s generous mentorship, but my favorite experience was engaging current and former AHRQ and National Institutes of Health leaders and highly experienced primary care researchers in one-on-one interviews about AHRQ’s history and accomplishments. What a fascinating way to learn about the hard work and commitment that laid the foundation for primary care research in the U.S.! I especially remember my interview with the late David Meyers, M.D. (acting AHRQ Director at the time), particularly his explanation of how far primary care research has come in 30 years and his insights on approaches to facing the challenges ahead of us.

I also appreciated AHRQ’s commitment to providing summer fellows with multiple hands-on experiences. We had the opportunity to present our projects, contribute to meetings, engage in agency events, get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into grant review processes, engage in interagency project work, and considering the timing, AHRQ’s response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. I am so grateful for this too-good-to-be-true start to my primary care research career!