JAMA Network Names Sixteen Early Career Scholars to 2026-2027 Peer Review Academy

CHICAGO – JAMA and the JAMA Network today announces the selection of 16 early-career clinical and health services researchers for the 2026–2027 JAMA Network Peer Review Academy, a virtual program designed to cultivate excellence in peer reviewing and deepen understanding of editorial decision-making. 

Scholars were chosen based on their demonstrated interest in clinical or health services research and a career in academic medicine, as well as their communication skills, knowledge of medical research and study design, and commitment to scholarly collaboration. This global cohort includes scholars from the Americas, Europe, and Asia.  

Over seven months, scholars will participate in monthly interactive workshops led by JAMA Network editors and complete peer reviews with guidance from a mentor. Upon completing the program, scholars will acquire insight into the editorial and peer review process, along with valuable feedback on their own reviews.   

“We’re very pleased to welcome a larger group of scholars this year,” said JAMA Deputy Editor Tracy Lieu, M.D., M.P.H., who leads the Academy. “Our goal is to help them build skills to produce high-quality peer reviews and strengthen their own clinical research.” 

The 2026–2027 Peer Review Academy scholars are: 

Müge Akinci, Ph.D., M.Sc., is a postdoctoral research scientist at Columbia University. Her research focuses on Alzheimer’s disease risk factors and prevention using multimodal approaches integrating biomarkers, lifestyle, mental health, and cognitive measures. 

Kemal Awol, M.D., M.P.H., is an incoming postdoctoral research fellow at the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. His research focuses on cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic epidemiology, obesity, social determinants of health, and population health. 

Grace Bellinger, Ph.D., M.P.H., is a health services researcher, rehabilitation scientist, and postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She leverages data from electronic health records, claims, and wearables to optimize value of care, predict recovery trajectories and patient outcomes, prevent adverse health outcomes, deliver precision rehabilitation, and address health disparities. 

Johanna Borst, M.D., is a general surgery resident and health services and outcomes research fellow at Northwestern University and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. Her research focuses on pediatric surgery, implementation science, and surgical outcomes.  

Portia Buchongo, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.N., is a health services researcher, registered nurse, and postdoctoral research fellow in general internal medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her research examines health system level strategies to improve access and use of diabetes prevention interventions among patients with prediabetes and elevated cardiovascular risk factors. 

Edith Chow, M.B.Ch.B., is a clinical lecturer with a researcher in the department of medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research focuses on diabetes epidemiology, young-onset hypertension, and primary aldosteronism. 

James Ford, M.D., M.A.S., is an emergency physician and assistant professor at UC San Diego. He leads a precision medicine data science laboratory that employs causal machine learning and target trial emulation to develop clinical decision support tools that personalize care for patients with sepsis and other critical illnesses. 

Ramzi Ibrahim, M.D., is a cardiology fellow and assistant professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic. His research focuses on cardiovascular prevention, cardio-oncology, amyloidosis, and AI-driven risk stratification. He has published extensively and serves as a reviewer for multiple high-impact cardiovascular journals. 

Sanjana Kattera, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., is a pediatric neuro-disability doctor and Wellcome-funded PhD researcher in global child health at the Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust. She serves as an associate editor for Archives of Disease in Childhood. Her research focuses on child nutrition, neurodevelopment, and health equity. 

Piaopiao Li, Ph.D., is a tenure-track instructor at Emory University School of Medicine and a member of the Emory Global Diabetes Research Center. Her research focuses on trial emulation, comparative effectiveness, simulation modeling, cost-effectiveness, and machine learning. 

Luca Mezzadri, M.D., is a physician and infectious disease fellow and PhD candidate at the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy. His research focuses on antimicrobial resistance and causal inference. 

Alan Pan, Ph.D., is a health informaticist at Houston Methodist Hospital with experience supporting research across biomedicine, healthcare, and life science industry. 

Maria Pizarro Penaranda, M.D., is a physician-scientist at Universidad de los Andes in Colombia and a postdoctoral clinical research fellow at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute. Her research focuses on glaucoma, investigating 24-hour intraocular pressure fluctuations using remote tonometry, and identifying novel biomarkers for earlier, minimally invasive disease detection and monitoring. 

Gokhan Uygun, M.D., is a postdoctoral research fellow at The Ohio State University, specializing in medical oncology. His clinical and research background is in GI oncology and cancer epidemiology. 

Yumo Xue, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of biostatistics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. His research focuses on clinical trials, longitudinal data analysis, and statistical methods for public health and biomedical research, with applications in maternal and child health, chronic diseases, and population health. 

Yuzhou Zhang, Ph.D., is research assistant professor in ophthalmology and visual sciences at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. As an ophthalmic data scientist, his research areas focus on big data and population data science, bioinformatics, and randomized controlled trials.