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Chinazo O. Cunningham, M.D., M.S.

Chinazo O. Cunningham, M.D., M.S.

Professor, Department of Medicine (General Internal Medicine)

Professor, Department of Family and Social Medicine

Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Director of Diversity Affairs for the Department of Medicine Department of Medicine

Associate Chief, Department of Medicine Division of General Internal Medicine Director of Research Resources

Director, Department of Medicine General Internal Medicine Fellowship Program

Area of Research: Improving access to care and health outcomes among people who use drugs with or at-risk for HIV; buprenorphine treatment; opioid use and disorder; medical cannabis use; collaborating with community-based organizations

Contact Information

718.920.5971718.944.3841ccunning@montefiore.org

Montefiore Medical Center
3300 Kossuth Avenue, Room 3
Bronx, NY 10467

Research Profiles Einstein Media Expert PubMed Portal

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Professional Interests

Overview

Since 1998, Chinazo Cunningham, MD, MS has been providing care, developing programs, and conducting research focused on marginalized populations including people who use drugs with or at-risk for HIV infection. She has collaborated with community-based organizations to develop unique and innovative programs to deliver health care to these marginalized populations. Parallel with program development, her research has focused on improving access to care, utilization of health care services, and health outcomes. Dr. Cunningham has been the principal investigator on numerous grants funded by the NIH, CDC, HRSA, local and state Departments of Health, and foundations. In addition to her own research, she has mentored scores of trainees to conduct clinical research, resulting in several NIH-funded grants led by her trainees. Dr. Cunningham has served on numerous national advisory committees, including serving as the Chair of NY State Department of Health AIDS Institute’s Substance Abuse Committee; a member of the Opioid Guideline Workgroup of the CDC's Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, 2016; a member of the NIH Office of AIDS Research’s Racial and Ethnic Populations Committee; and a member and Chair of the NIH’s Behavioral and Social Consequences of HIV/AIDS Study Section.

Prior to becoming faculty at Einstein, Dr. Cunningham received her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University, her medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and completed her residency in primary care internal medicine at UCSF and New York University (NYU), followed by a year of chief residency at NYU. While at Einstein, she received her master’s degree in clinical research methods.

Awards

Member, Board of Scientific Counselors, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control of the CDC (2018-2022)

Member, CDC’s National Opioid Prescribing Estimates Workgroup (2018)

Member, Governor Cuomo’s Workgroup to Draft Legislation for Regulated Adult-Use Marijuana Program (2018)

Member, NYC Municipal Drug Strategy Council, Community Services Board Substance Misuse Subcommittee (2018)

Chair, NYS Department of Health AIDS Institute Substance Use Guidelines Commmittee (2016-current)

Chair and member, Behavioral and Social Consequences of HIV/AIDS Study Section at the Center for Scientific Review, NIH (2012-2018)

New York State Department of Health Commissioner’s Special Recognition Award (2017)

Member, Opioid Guideline Workgroup, CDC’s Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, 2016

Clinical Science Mentor of the Year, Albert Einstein College of Medicine (2015)

W. Anderson Spickard, Jr Excellence in Mentorship Award, Association of Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (2015)

Fellow, Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) Program (2014-2015)

Selected Publications

For a comprehensive list of publications, see the PubMed link above. Below is a selection of publications:

Cunningham CO, Kunins HV, Roose RJ,Elam RT, Sohler NL. Barriers to Obtaining Waivers to Prescribe Buprenorphine for Opioid Addiction Treatment Among HIV Physicians. J Gen Intern Med. 2007 Sep;22(9):1325-9. Epub 2007 Jul 10. PMC2219773

Cunningham CO, Sanchez JP, Heller D, Sohler NL. Assessment of a medical outreach program to improve access to HIV care among marginalized individuals. Am J Public Health. 2007 Oct;97(10):1758-61. Epub 2007 Aug 29. PMC1994196

Altice FL, Bruce RD, Lucas GM, Lum PJ, Korthius PT, Flanigan TP, Cunningham CO, et al. HIV treatment outcomes among HIV-infected opioid dependent patients receiving buprenorphine/naloxone treatment in HIV care setting: Results from a multi-site study. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2011 Mar 1;56 Suppl 1:S22-32. PMC3263431

Fiellin DA, Weiss L, Botsko M, Egan JE, Altice FL, Bazerman L, Chaudhry A, Cunningham CO, et al. Drug treatment outcomes among HIV-infected, opioid-dependent patients receiving buprenorphine/naloxone. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2011 Mar 1;56 Suppl 1:S33-8. PMC3863630

Cunningham CO, Giovanniello A, Li X, Kunins HV, Roose RJ, Sohler NL. A comparison of buprenorphine induction strategies: patient-centered home-based inductions versus standard-of-care office-based inductions. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2011 Jun;40(4):349-56. Epub 2011 Feb 18. PMC3081891.

Fox AD, Sohler NL, Ning Y, Starrels JL, Giovanniello A, Cunningham CO. Pain is not associated with worse office-based buprenorphine treatment outcomes. Subst Abus. 2012 Oct;33(4):361-5. PMC3447624

Kunins HV, Sohler NL, Giovanniello A, Thompson D, Cunningham CO. Implementation and evaluation of a buprenorphine education and training program for primary care internal medicine residents. Subst Abus. 2013;34(3):242-7. PMC3799907

Cunningham CO, Buck J, Shaw F, Seigal L, Agins B. Factors associated with returning to HIV care after a gap in New York State. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2014 Aug 1;66(4):419-27. PMC4120656

Bachhuber MA, Saloner B, Cunningham CO, Barry SL. Medical cannabis laws and opioid pain reliever overdose mortality in the United States, 1999-2010. JAMA Intern Med. 2014 Oct 1;174(10):1668-73. PMC4392651

Bachhuber MA, Hennessy S, Cunningham CO, Starrels JA. Increasing benzodiazepine prescriptions and overdose mortality in the United States, 1996-2013. Am J Public Health. 2016 Apr;106(4):686-8. PMC4816010

Felsen UR, Cunningham CO, Heo M, Futterman DC, Weiss JM, Zingman BS. Expanded HIV testing strategy leveraging the electronic medical record uncovers undiagnosed infection among hospitalized patients. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2017 May 1;75(1):27-34. PMC5388580

Norton BL, Fleming J, Bachhuber MA, Steinman M, DeLuca J, Cunningham CO, Johnson N, Laraque F, Litwin AH. High HCV cure rates for people who use drugs treated with direct acting antiviral therapy at an urban primary care clinic. Int J Drug Policy. 2017 Aug 12: (17)30235-9. PMC5822435

In the News

More Media Coverage

America's Health Future (Interview starts at 29:05)

The Washington Post - September 24, 2020

Chinazo Cunningham, M.D., M.S., discusses racial disparities in healthcare and society at large that have contributed to higher rates of COVID-19 mortality for people of color. Dr. Cunningham is associate chief of the division of general internal medicine at Einstein and Montefiore.
Former College Softball Player on Coronavirus Front Lines as Doctor in New York

USA Today - April 20, 2020

Chinazo Cunningham, M.D., M.S., is profiled about her experiences treating patients with COVID-19. Dr. Cunningham is associate chief of the division of general internal medicine at Einstein and Montefiore.

Additional coverage on Dr. Cunningham and COVID-19 includes: The Washington Post

Quick Links

Faculty Profile

Chinazo O. Cunningham, M.D., M.S.

Contact Information

Professional Interests

Selected Publications

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