Catarina Kiefe, Ph.D., M.D., began as a mathematician, earning her doctoral degree at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She then earned her medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco. She specialized in internal medicine, completing her residency at the University of Minnesota Hospitals and Clinics. As the inaugural chair of the Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences (PQHS) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) from 2009 to 2019, she combined the rigor of mathematics with the needs of clinical medicine. She continues to do so currently as the Chief Scientific Officer of PQHS and the Cutler.

Dr. Kiefe draws upon the intellectual curiosity and drive for discovery that marked her early career as an abstract researcher, using it to help her lead an applied research function with the objective of improving healthcare outcomes for individuals and populations. As a mathematician, Dr. Kiefe is straightforward and concise. As a researcher, she explores  data for insight into elements of cause and effect. As a physician-scientist, she “weaves service — a link to practice — into discovery.” And as a leader she has always sought to promote  cohesion among her team and colleagues around a collective vision.

Dr. Kiefe has been continuously funded for 25 years as Principal Investigator  on projects funded by NIH, AHRQ, VA, and PCORI. She has published close to 300 peer-reviewed articles and is  devoting significant   time to mentoring the next generation, as the PI on an NHLBI  T32 institutional training grant and on UMMMs’ NCATS-funded KL2 career development  program for junior faculty. She has served on multiple NIH study sections  and advisory groups and is co-Editor-in-Chief  of Medical Care, one of the premier scientific  journals in  health services research.