About Renee Pekmezaris, PhD. As an applied research psychologist and Senior Vice President for Strategic Grants Acquisition at Northwell Health, Dr. Pekmezaris has extensive experience carrying out patient-centered, community-based research investigations aimed at improving quality of life for patients with chronic illness. She has served as Principal Investigator for a number of studies aimed at improving care for patients with chronic illness, funded by state and federal health agencies as well as private foundations, including several applied technology telehealth projects. She presently serves as PI on a health disparities research study funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study telehealth self-management tool adaptation and efficacy for underserved Latino patients with diabetes. She has also recently served as PI on a multimethod health disparities research study funded by PCORI to study telehealth self-management tool adaptation and efficacy for African-American and Latino patients from disparity communities with heart failure. Dr. Pekmezaris has recently served on numerous review and roundtable committees for NIH, AHRQ and NSF. She has authored over 130 peer-reviewed publications and has been awarded over $25 million in grant funding since joining Northwell in 2005.