Dr. Radhika Sundararajan joins WashU Medicine’s Department of Emergency Medicine as Associate Professor as of October 2026
Dr. Sundararajan joins us from Weill Cornell Medical College where she focused on using Implementation Science approaches to design and evaluate healthcare interventions in low resource settings to improve public health outcomes. Her research uses community-engaged, qualitative and mixed-method approaches to understand social and structural drivers of healthcare and design interventions that fit the communities in need.
Globally, she has partnered with lay persons to strengthen screening programs in under-resourced settings. She is principal investigator on two NIH clinical trials, one in Uganda which trains traditional healers to facilitate HIV self-testing and linkage to HIV care, and another in India where community health workers deliver gestational and postpartum diabetes in slum communities.
Domestically, her work focuses on improving delivery of evidence-based care in both community and clinical spaces, including in the Emergency Department. As part of a grant from the American Heart Association, she is developing strategies to improve adherence to dual antiplatelet administration for ED patients presenting with minor stroke or TIA. She is also leading research to improve ED discharge among populations with limited English proficiency.
Dr. Sundararajan has had continuous NIH funding since 2017. She was a recipient of a K23 Career Development award from the National Institute of Mental Health to improve HIV testing uptake among communities who use informal healthcare resources in southwestern Uganda. Currently she is the Principal Investigator on R01MH132440, A hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial of lay person support to improve HIV viral suppression in rural communities, is Co-PI on R01HD112141, A type 2 hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial of Community Health Workers to improve screening for postpartum diabetes in urban slums of India and is Co-Investigator on several other NIH awards. She has served as primary mentor for more than 30 trainees from United States and African countries, across all career stages. She also serves as Associate Editor for PLOS Global Public Health and Implementation Science Communications.
In addition to Radhika’s departmental role, she will also have an institutional charge to help develop a Center for Implementation Research in Acute and Emergency Care (CIRCA) working with the Institute of Clinical & Translational Sciences (ICTS). Radhika brings valuable expertise and we look forward to the opportunities for collaboration and innovation that her appointment will bring to our department.