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Yvonne Commodore-Mensah, PhD, MHS, RN

FAHA, FPCNA, FAAN
Associate Professor
Yvonne Commodore-Mensah
410-614-1519
View Full CV

Specialties and Expertise

  • Cardiovascular
  • Chronic Care
  • Community
  • Disparities
  • Equity
  • Global
  • Health Technology
  • Obesity
  • Public Health
  • Research Design
  • Social Determinants of Health

Overview

Yvonne Commodore-Mensah is a cardiovascular nurse epidemiologist whose current program of research seeks to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease risk among Africans locally (United States) and globally (sub-Saharan Africa) through community-engaged research.  Her research expertise includes immigrant health, global health,  cardiovascular disease epidemiology, and social determinants of health. She is the principal investigator of the ADHINCRA Study, a randomized control trial to address hypertension control in Ghana and the African Immigrant Health Study, which is examining the health of African immigrants in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. She is a fellow of the American Heart Association and was awarded the American Heart Association (AHA) Martha N. Hill New Investigator Award in 2016. She is a fellow and board member of the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association. She serves on the writing committee of the 2019 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Clinical Performance and Quality Measures for Adults with High Blood Pressure. She is chief executive officer of the African Research Academies for Women, a non-profit which seeks to address gender disparities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in Africa.

Additional Resources

Below are selected resources. For more information, please see full CV.

  • Videos
     
       
  • Publications/Research

    Baptiste DL, Turkson-Ocran RA, Ogungbe O, Koirala B, Francis L, Spaulding EM, Dennison Himmelfarb C, Commodore-Mensah Y (2022). Heterogeneity in Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factor Prevalence Among White, African American, African Immigrant, and Afro-Caribbean Adults: Insights From the 2010-2018 National Health Interview Survey. J Am Heart Assoc. Sep 20;11(18):e025235. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.122.025235. Epub 2022 Sep 8. PMID: 36073627.

    Khoong EC, Commodore-Mensah Y, Lyles CR, Fontil V (2022). Use of Self-Measured Blood Pressure Monitoring to Improve Hypertension Equity. Curr Hypertens Rep. Aug 24:1–15. doi: 10.1007/s11906-022-01218-0. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36001268; PMCID: PMC9399977.

    Mensah D, Ogungbe O, Turkson-Ocran RN, Onuoha C, Byiringiro S, Nmezi NA, Mannoh I, Wecker E, Madu EN, Commodore-Mensah Y (2022). The Cardiometabolic Health of African Immigrants in High-Income Countries: A Systematic Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. Jun 29;19(13):7959. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19137959. PMID: 35805618; PMCID: PMC9265760.

    Ogungbe O, Commodore-Mensah Y, Dennison Himmelfarb CR, Ferguson C, Martin K, Davidson PM (2022). COVID-19: Lessons Learned and a Need for Data Driven Decision Making. Heart Lung Circ. 2022 Jul;31(7):905-909. doi: 10.1016/j.hlc.2022.05.004. PMID: 35752453; PMCID: PMC9221316.

    Baptiste, D. , Turkson-Ocran, R. A., Dennison Himmelfarb, C. R., & Han, H. R. CommodoreMensah, Y. (2021). Social Determinants of Emergency Department Visits among Persons diagnosed with Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke: An Analysis of the 2010-2018 National Health Interview Surveys. Ethnicity & Disease. 31(1):41-46; doi:10.18865/ed.31.1.41. PMID: 33519154

    Commodore-Mensah Y, Turkson-Ocran RA, Foti K, Cooper LA, Himmelfarb CD (2021). Associations between Social Determinants and Hypertension, Stage 2 Hypertension and Controlled Blood Pressure among Men and Women in the US. Am J Hypertens. 2021 Jan 11:hpab011. doi: 10.1093/ajh/hpab011. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33428705.

    Oruche U, Liu J, Otey T, Hone A, Okwuchukwu I, Commodore-Mensah Y. (2020). Engaging Communities to Improve Healthcare for Non-communicable Diseases: Notes from the Field in Southeastern Nigeria. Engage! 1(3). https://doi.org/10.18060/24148

    Mobula LM, Heller DJ, Commodore-Mensah Y, Walker Harris V, Cooper LA. (2020). Protecting the vulnerable during COVID-19: Treating and preventing chronic disease disparities. Gates Open Res. Sep 9;4:125. doi: 10.12688/gatesopenres.13181.1. eCollection 2020. PMCID: PMC7578408. PMID: 33117965

    Commodore-Mensah Y, Hill M, Allen J, Cooper LA, Blumenthal R, Agyemang C, Himmelfarb CD. (2016). Sex Differences in Cardiovascular Disease Risk of Ghanaian- and Nigerian-Born West African Immigrants in the United States: The Afro-Cardiac Study. J Am Heart Assoc.;5(2).

    Commodore-Mensah Y, Himmelfarb CD, Agyemang C, Sumner AE. (2015). Cardiometabolic Health in African Immigrants to the United States: A Call to Re-examine Research on African-descent populations. Ethn Dis.;25(3):373-80.

    Commodore-Mensah Y, Sampah M, Berko C, Cudjoe J, Abu-Bonsrah N, Obisesan O, Agyemang C, Adeyemo A, Himmelfarb CD. (2015). The Afro-Cardiac Study: Cardiovascular Disease Risk and Acculturation in West African Immigrants in the United States: Rationale and Study Design. J Immigr Minor Health. 2015 Oct 1. [Epub ahead of print]

    Himmelfarb CR, Commodore-Mensah Y, Hill MN. (2016). Expanding the Role of Nurses to Improve Hypertension Care and Control Globally. Ann Glob Health. 2016 Mar-Apr;82(2):243-53.

    Samuel LJ, Commodore-Mensah Y, Himmelfarb CR. (2014). Developing Behavioral Theory With the Systematic Integration of Community Social Capital Concepts. Health Educ Behav. 2014 Aug;41(4):359-75. Epub 2013 Oct 2.

  • Awards/Honors

    2020  World Heart Federation Salim Yusuf Emerging Leaders Programme

    2019  Fellow, American Academy of Nursing

    2019-present  Fellow, American Heart Association, Council on Cardiovascular Nursing

    2018-present  Fellow, Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association 2019 Miriam E. Brailey Award, The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health

    2018  Nancy Fink Award, The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health

    2016  Martha N. Hill New Investigator Award, American Heart Association

    2015  Dissertation Award—Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing

    2015  Lawrence W. Green Paper of the Year Award—Samuel, L.J, Commodore- Mensah, Y., Himmelfarb, C.R (2013). "Developing behavioral theory with the systematic integration of neighborhood social capital concepts," Health Educ Behavior

    2014  Winning Abstract Award (Data-based Category)—Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association Conference