Karey M. Sutton

Karey M. Sutton, Ph.D. is the scientific director for health equity research at the MedStar Health Research Institute (MHRI).

As the scientific director, Dr. Sutton is responsible for advancing the overall strategy and growth of the system’s health equity research initiatives which seek to investigate health disparities, structural inequities, and social determinants of health in patient safety, patient engagement, digital health, diagnostics, and chronic disease management, and leading the growth of the MHRI Center for Health Equity Research.

Prior to joining MHRI, Dr. Sutton served as the Director of Health Equity Research Workforce and Director of Research at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Center for Health Justice. For 9.5 years, she helped build AAMC member institutions’ capacity to conduct solutions-focused health equity research.

Dr. Sutton has numerous awards and recognition for her work including being recognized as one of the 2020 National Minority Quality Forum’s 40 under 40 leaders in Minority Health. Additionally, she serves on the CMS Technical Expert Panel for the maternal morbidity electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) and the Prince George's County Healthcare Action Coalition.

She received undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Classical Civilization from Howard University and her Ph.D. in Science and Technology Policy from Virginia Tech and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Genomics in Society at UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine. Her research investigated the challenges and opportunities for engaging underrepresented communities in genomics research, emphasizing minority participation in population-based biobanking.

Research Interests:

Dr. Sutton’s research interests include the following:

• Health Equity Research
• Minority Health
• Maternal Health Equity
• Community Participatory Research Studies
• Clinical Trial Diversity

Throughout her investigator career, Dr. Sutton has already studied:

• Challenges and opportunities for engaging underrepresented communities in genomics research
• Emphasizing minority participation in population-based biobanking

View Dr. Sutton’s publications on PubMed.