The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) announced the appointment of Kelvin Choi, Ph.D., M.P.H., as the new scientific director of its Division of Intramural Research (DIR), effective November 17, 2024. Dr. Choi has served as acting scientific director since March 2023, following the retirement of former scientific director, Anna M. Nápoles, Ph.D.
Dr. Choi received his Master of Public Health in Community Health Promotion (2007) and a doctorate in Social and Behavioral Epidemiology (2010) at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.
“I am grateful for Dr. Choi’s dedication as acting scientific director over the past 20 months. He has displayed exceptional leadership, guiding tenure-track investigators, fostering a supportive environment, and advancing the DIR’s research priorities. I look forward to his continued leadership and contributions to the DIR as well as NIMHD in his permanent role,” said NIMHD Director Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, M.D.
As the third permanent scientific director, Dr. Choi will oversee the executive direction and scientific leadership for NIMHD’s intramural research program. The division conducts studies focused on social and behavioral sciences, population and community health sciences, and epidemiology and genetics. It also has a robust mentoring and training program hosting over 20 trainees and fellows, which reflects a commitment to build and sustain a diverse biomedical research workforce.
Dr. Choi joined NIMHD’s DIR in 2013 as a Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator, the third cohort of 10 investigators recruited through this NIH-wide program. He successfully obtained tenure at NIH and was promoted to senior investigator in 2019. Before joining NIMHD DIR, he was an assistant professor at the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota School of Public Health.
He is an accomplished researcher in commercial tobacco use disparities and control. He has over 150 publications in peer-reviewed journals, and his research has been presented over 270 times in international, national, state, and local conferences.
Dr. Choi is also a distinguished mentor, earning the 2021 NIH Director’s Ruth L. Kirschstein Mentoring Award for guiding trainees who received prestigious NIH fellowships and awards.
As a recognized expert in nicotine and tobacco research, he has earned the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) Jarvik-Russell Award (2019), SRNT Fellowship (2022), and Reviewer of the Year honors from Tobacco Control and Nicotine & Tobacco Research, the top two journals in tobacco-related research. He serves on several editorial boards and advises California Tobacco Prevention Program Evaluation Task Force.
Go here to see a version of this press release that appeared on NIMHD’s website on December 9, 2024.
