Shreya Kangovi, MD, MS is the founding Executive Director of the Penn Center for Community Health Workers, and an Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. She is a leading expert on improving population health through evidence-based community health worker programs. Dr. Kangovi led the team that designed IMPaCT. IMPaCT is a standardized, scalable program that partners with community health workers—trusted individuals from communities—to improve health. IMPaCT has been tested in three randomized controlled trials and improves chronic disease control, mental health, and quality of care while reducing total hospital days by 65%. IMPaCT has been delivered to over 15,000 high-risk patients in the Philadelphia region. In the last three years, IMPaCT has become the most widely disseminated community health worker program in the United States. It is being replicated by community, health care, and public health organizations across 20 different states. Dr. Kangovi has led policy efforts along with a coalition of over 30 organizations including NAACP, APHA, SGIM, and the American Diabetes Association. She has worked with the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to produce bipartisan, bicameral letters in support of community health workers, and helped Senator Casey’s office to draft legislation that would create an optional Medicaid benefit for community health worker supports. President Biden included her policy proposals and referenced her studies in his caregiving economy campaign platform.
Dr. Kangovi founded the Penn Center for Community Health Workers, a national center of excellence dedicated to advancing health equity through effective community health worker programs. Dr. Kangovi has authored numerous scientific publications and received over $30M in funding, including federal grants from the NIH and PCORI. She is the recipient of the AcademyHealth Research Impact Award and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Equity Award. She is an elected member of the American College of Physicians and a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity.
