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Faculty Profile

Ekere James EssienEkere James Essien

Professor of Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes and Policy
Director, Institute of Community Health
Department of Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes and Policy

Office: 
University of Houston College of Pharmacy
Health 2, Room 4054
4349 Martin Luther King Boulevard
Houston, TX 77204-5039

Contact: ejessien@uh.edu - 832-842-8393

Research:

  • HIV/AIDS Prevention among Minority Populations
  • Patient-centered Health Outcomes Research
  • Social and Ecological Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic
  • Drug Use and Abuse in Minority Populations
  • Dr.PH, University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston, Texas, U.S.A. Dissertation: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Fear of HIV Disease and AIDS in Health Care Workers, 1994.
  • MPH, University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston, Texas, U.S.A. Thesis: Circannual Rhythms in Human Mortality, 1990.
  • M.D., University of Calabar College of Medicine, Calabar, Nigeria. Major: Medicine and Surgery, 1985.

Google Scholar Profile
  • Essien EJ, Ogungbade GO, Ward D, Ekong E, Ross MW, Holmes L (2007): Influence of Educational Status and other Variables on HIV Risk Perception among Military Personnel: A Large Cohort Finding. Military Medicine, 172: 11: 1177 1181.
  • Essien EJ, Monjok E, Chen H, Abughosh S, Ekong E, Peters R, Holmes L, Holstad M, Mgbere O (2010): Correlates of HIV knowledge and sexual risk behaviors among Female Military Personnel. AIDS and Behavior, 14: 6: 1401 1414.
  • Essien EJ, Monjok E, Ekong E, Holstad M, Kalichman SC, Mgbere O (2011): Effectiveness of a Video-based Motivational skills Building HIV Risk Reduction Intervention for Female Military Personnel. Social Science and Medicine, 72: 1: 63-71
  • Holstad MM, Essien EJ, Ekong E, Higgins M, Teplinskiy L (2012): Motivational Groups Support Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy and use of Risk Reduction Behaviors in HIV+ Nigerian Women: A Pilot Study. African Journal of Reproductive Health, 16: 3: 14-27.
  • Mgbere O, Monjok E, Abughosh S, Ekong E, Holstad M, Essien EJ (2013): Modeling Covariates of Self-Perceived and Epidemiologic Notions of Risk for Acquiring STIs/HIV among Military Personnel: A Comparative Analysis. AIDS and Behavior, 17: 3: 1159 1175.
  • Athamneh L, El-Mughrani M, Athamneh M, Essien EJ, Abughosh S (2014): Parents' Knowledge, Attitudes and Beliefs of Childhood Fever Management in Jordan. Journal of Applied Research on Children, 5: 1:
  • Mgbere O, Khuwaja S, Bell TK, Rodriquez-Barradas MC, Arafat R, Blair JM, Essien EJ, Singh M, Roland E (2015): System and Patient Barriers to Care among people living with HIV/AIDS in Houston, Texas: HIV Medical Care Providers' Perspectives. Journal of the Association of Providers of AIDS Care, 14: 6: 505 - 5
  • Abughosh SM, Wang X, Henges C, Masilamani S, Essien EJ, Chung N, Fleming M (2016): A pharmacist telephone intervention to identify barriers and improve adherence among non-adherent patients with comorbid hypertension and diabetes in a Medicare Advantage plan. Journal of Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy 22:1, 63 - 73.
  • Mgbere O, Khuwaja S, Bell T, Rodriguez-Barradas M, Arafat R, Blair J, Essien EJ (2017): Managing the Personal Side of Health Care among HIV/AIDS Patients: A pilot Study of providers' Perspectives. Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, 16: 149 60.
  • Malik M, Javed D, Hussain A, Essien EJ (2019): Smoking habits and attitude toward smoking cessation interventions among healthcare professionals in Pakistan. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 8: 166 70.
  • Paranjpe R, Johnson M, Essien EJ, Barner J, Serna O, Gallardo E, Majd Z, Fleming M, Ordonez N, Holstad M, Abughosh S (2020): Group-Based Trajectory Modeling to Identify Patterns of Adherence and its Predictors Among Older Adults on Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitors/Angiotensin Receptor Blockers. Patient Preference and Adherence 14: 1935-1947.
  • Vadhariya A, Paranjpa R, Essien EJ, Abughosh S (2021): Patient-reported barriers to statin adherence: Excerpts from a motivational interviewing in older adults. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, 61: (1) 60-67.e1
  • Essien EJ, Mgbere O, Illoanusi S, Abughosh S (2021): COVID-19 Infection among People Living with HIV/AIDS in Africa: Knowledge Gaps, Public Health Preparedness and Research Priorities. International Journal of MCH and AIDS, 10: 1: 113 - 118
  • Avwioro O, Adjekuko O, Egwunyenga A, Mgbere O, Ewomazino O, Iyiola S, Enitan S, Essien EJ (2021): Commercial Sex Work During Novel Coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) Era in the Niger Delta Region: Knowledge Base, Preventive Practice, and Transmission Potential. International Journal of Women's Health, 13: 1 15.
  • Iloanusi S, Mgbere O, Essien EJ (2021): Polypharmacy among COVID-19 Patients: A PRISMA-Based Systematic Review of Available Literature. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japh.2021.05.006

Awards & Honors

  • 2005 - 2010 Member, Behavioral and Social Science Approaches to Preventing HIV (BSPH) Study Section. AIDS and Related Research Integrated Review Group. Center for Scientific Review. National Institutes of Health.
  • 2014 Co-chairman, Special Emphasis Panel (Mobile Health: Technology and Outcomes in Low and Middle Income Countries). Center for Scientific Review. National Institutes of Health. ZRG1 IMST-K (50) S Study Section. June 16 - 17th, 2014.
  • 2015 Co-chairman, Special Emphasis Panel. NIH-PEPFAR Collaboration on Implementation Science for HIV: Towards an AIDS-free Generation. AIDS and Related Research Integrated Review Group. Center for Scientific Review. National Institutes of Health. October 26 - 27, 2015.
  • 2018 Co-chairman, Special Emphasis Panel (Reducing Stigma to Improve HIV/AIDS Prevention, Treatment and Care in Low and Middle Income Countries.). Center for Scientific Review. National Institutes of Health ZRG1 AARR-N (56) Study Section. March 19, 2018.
  • 2018 Chairman, Special Emphasis Panel (Research on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis to Prevent HIV in Health Disparity Populations). National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. National Institutes of Health. ZMD1 RP (01) S Study Section. June 14th, 2018
  • 2020 Co-chairman, Special Emphasis Panel (Reducing Stigma to Improve HIV/AIDS Prevention, Treatment and Care in Low- and Middle- Income Countries). Center for Scientific Review. National Institutes of Health. ZRG1 AARR-N (56) PAR-19-326. March 13th, 2020.
  • 2021 Chairman. Special Emphasis Panel. Promoting Viral Suppression among Individuals from Health Disparity Populations Engaged in HIV Care. National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. RFA-MD-21-002. March 26, 2021.