Kemar V. Prussien PhD
Kemar Prussien (she/her/hers) is a faculty member at PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), a licensed clinical psychologist within the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at CHOP and the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center at CHOP, and an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Prussien’s work focuses on utilizing biopsychosocial research methods to improve health equity for children, adolescents and young adults with sickle cell disease (SCD). She investigates how neighborhood inequities influence health disparities in SCD through their impact on patient physiological stress response and behaviors. Dr. Prussien also examines how systems of power and inequity influences biobehavioral factors among adolescents and young adults (AYA) with SCD during the transition to adult care using both qualitative and quantitative methods. She aims to utilize findings from this research program to guide policy and community-based efforts to intervene upon social factors with the greatest impact on the health and wellbeing of people with SCD.
In addition to her professional role at CHOP and Penn, Dr. Prussien serves as the board chair for the Crescent Foundation, a community-based organization serving young adults with SCD in the greater Philadelphia area.
Dr. Prussien received her PhD in Clinical Science in Psychology from Vanderbilt University. She completed her predoctoral clinical internship on the pediatric psychology track at CHOP and her postdoctoral research fellowship in behavioral hematology at CHOP as well.