Announcing the 2025-2026 CHERISH Pilot Grant Recipients
CHERISH pilot grant recipients receive funds to identify opportunities and challenges in delivering substance use and HCV/HIV care to rural and high-risk populations.
The CHERISH Pilot Grant & Training Core is pleased to support five early-career researchers in their academic journey leading pilot investigations on healthcare utilization, health outcomes, and health-related behaviors related to the care of people who use substances.
The funded projects respond to CHERISH’s overall mission and topics of special interest in the call for proposals, which included examining the challenges and opportunities of delivering substance use and HCV/HIV care to people in rural settings and providing long-acting injectable medications for HIV prevention, HIV treatment, and/or opioid use disorder treatment. The grantees also plan to focus on understudied populations at high-risk for an overdose including youths in the foster care system, pregnant and postpartum women, and people who are recently incarcerated.
During the funding period, the grantees will receive training and mentorship from CHERISH leadership and colleagues who will provide tailored guidance on methodologies, research dissemination, career development, and future grant applications.
Learn more about this year’s cohort from Weill Cornell Medicine, University of Minnesota, Thomas Jefferson University, and Stanford University.
Sarah Gutkind, PhD, MSPH
Sarah Gutkind is an epidemiologist and postdoctoral associate in the Division of Health Policy and Economics at Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM). Starting the second year of her postdoctoral training, she is studying how social determinants of health and health policies affect treatment utilization among people with substance use disorders (SUDs). The CHERISH pilot grant is an opportunity for Gutkind to build on her doctoral training in epidemiology and understand whether Medicaid policies impact SUD screening and treatment among adolescents and young adults.
Gutkind’s pilot investigation, “Influence of State Medicaid Section 1115 Waivers on Adolescent and Young Adult Substance Use Disorder Screening and Treatment,” will be the first to examine the association between Section 1115 waiver youth provisions and SUD treatment utilization among adolescents and at-risk youths in the foster care system. Findings from her pilot study can inform future amendments to existing Section 1115 waivers that offer states the flexibility to adopt innovative approaches to expand SUD treatment. Gutkind will also use the funding period to explore new econometric methods and gain experience working with Medicaid claims data.
When reviewing behavioral health-related Section 1115 Waivers across states, several states identified adolescents and young adults as an important target population for SUD screening and treatment and expanded access of existing services to this population. This piqued my interest and inspired my pilot study.
Sarah Gutkind, PhD, MSPH
Based in New York City, Gutkind’s perfect day involves venturing to the outer boroughs to explore different cultures and their diverse food scenes, including eating Chinese dumplings in Flushing, Tibetan Momos in Jackson Heights, and Sri Lankan dishes in Staten Island.
Ruth Jeminiwa, PhD
Dr. Ruth Jeminiwa is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at Thomas Jefferson University. Her research expertise centers on health outcomes, with a specialized focus on pharmacoeconomics and digital health. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, she seeks to advance patient-centered care and inform healthcare decision making using real-world evidence and innovative digital tools—particularly to improve outcomes for individuals living with substance use disorders.
Dr. Jeminiwa’s pilot project, “Informing Value Assessment and Digital Health Interventions: Eliciting Utility Weights, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Assessing Digital Health Needs in Pregnant and Postpartum Women with OUD,” aims to generate preliminary data on utility weights and digital health preferences among pregnant and postpartum women with opioid use disorder (OUD). This study will provide critical estimates of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs)—a foundational metric in cost-effectiveness and value-based healthcare assessments. By capturing health-related quality of life and digital health needs in this population, the project can enhance the precision and relevance of future economic evaluations in maternal addiction care.
In addition, Dr. Jeminiwa looks forward to gaining valuable experience in large-scale, multi-site patient recruitment and engagement, which is necessary to achieve her research objectives and ensure accurate assessment of quality of life and patient preferences in this vulnerable population.
In the course of evaluating comparative treatment strategies for pregnant individuals with OUD, we identified a significant methodological gap: the absence of published health state utility values specific to this population. This limitation impedes the accurate estimation of quality-adjusted life years.
Ruth Jeminiwa, PhD
Dr. Jeminiwa is based in Philadelphia, where her ideal day is spent enjoying the train ride to campus, engaging with her students, catching up on emails, and making meaningful progress on research that matters.
Zongbo Li, MPH
Zongbo Li is a PhD student at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. He helped to develop the Prevention and Rescue of Fentanyl and Other Opioid Overdoses Using Optimized Naloxone Distribution Strategies (PROFOUND) model, a simulation model that has been used to project the optimization and expansion of naloxone distribution in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New York City. Through the CHERISH pilot grant, he will adapt PROFOUND to examine carceral settings in California.
In California, the prevalence of OUD among California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s population is as high as 30%, underscoring the urgent need for targeted interventions to reduce overdose risk.
Zongbo Li, MPH
Li’s pilot project, “Cost-effectiveness of providing long-acting extended-release buprenorphine in California carceral settings: a simulation modeling study,” will evaluate the health and economic impacts of providing extended-release buprenorphine to incarcerated populations. Findings from this study will inform corrections-based implementation of opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment policies and promote the health of people involved in the criminal legal system. He looks forward to using the protected time provided through the pilot grant to gain experience adapting simulation models to new contexts and further his understanding of the health needs of incarcerated populations.
Li is based in Minneapolis, where his ideal day includes a walk around the Mississippi River and Stone Arch Bridge and watching the Minnesota Timberwolves play at night.
Babasoji E. Oyemakinde, PhD, MSc
Babasoji E. Oyemakinde is an economist and postdoctoral associate in the Division of Comparative Effectiveness and Outcomes Research at Weill Cornell Medicine. Oyemakinde is training under the guidance of CHERISH Methodology Core Co-director Sean M. Murphy and building his experience conducting economic evaluations alongside clinical trials and cohort studies. He applied for the CHERISH pilot grant to advance his commitment to address health disparities among individuals with OUD in underserved rural communities.
Although effective medications for OUD exist, access remains uneven due to provider shortages, transportation barriers, limited internet access, and stigma. Medicaid covers a large share of individuals with OUD, yet little is known about how access varies by rurality.
Babasoji E. Oyemakinde, PhD, MSc
His pilot study, “Understanding and Addressing Rural Disparities in Medication for Opioid Use Disorder: A Nationwide Analysis of Treatment Access and Initiation Patterns,” will examine how access and initiation to medications for OUD (MOUD) vary across levels of rurality among Medicaid beneficiaries. Findings from this project will inform policies allocating public resources to improve the uptake of and access to MOUD in rural communities and address geographic differences in OUD care. During the pilot period, Oyemakinde also plans to strengthen his expertise using large administrative datasets to evaluate health services for individuals with OUD.
Based in New Jersey, a day well spent includes getting in a good workout, spending quality time with family and friends, and watching a soccer game.
Ziping (Leaf) Ye, PhD
Leaf Ye is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Health Policy at Stanford University. She specializes in the development of decision making simulation models to inform disease prevention programs. Expanding her expertise in addressing HIV, hepatitis C, and substance use, she plans to use the CHERISH pilot grant to strengthen her simulation modeling skills, gather important preliminary data, and evaluate interventions effectively.
Her pilot investigation, “Evaluating the Cost-Effectiveness of Scaling Long-Acting Injectable PrEP Among PWID: The Role of Uptake and Population Characteristics,” aims to assess the health and economic outcomes of scaling up long-acting injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis (LAI-PrEP) among people who inject drugs (PWID). The project builds upon a previous agent-based network model developed at the Stanford Prevention Policy Modeling Lab and will focus on the uptake, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of LAI-PrEP for PWID, a population disproportionately affected by new HIV infections.
I applied for the CHERISH pilot grant because it aligns directly with my research on simulation models. The [pilot] program's support also strengthens my efforts to address health disparities among marginalized groups, such as people who inject drugs, a commitment shaped by my experiences growing up in a low-income community.
Leaf Ye, PhD
Based in sunny Palo Alto, California, a perfect day for Ye begins with a refreshing morning run through the Stanford Dish trails, followed by a relaxing coffee at Green Library Coupa with a friend. She would browse the local market in the afternoon, experiment with fresh ingredients for dinner, and wind down with family conversations and a captivating book in her hand.
About the CHERISH Pilot Grants
Since 2015, the CHERISH pilot grants program has supported researchers at the early stage of their careers. We are proud to have seen former grantees publish their pilot findings in journals, present at national conferences, leverage their pilot investigations to receive additional grant funding, and step into the next stage of their career development.