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College of Pharmacy

College of Pharmacy

Faculty Profile

Ekere James EssienEkere James Essien

Professor of Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes and Policy
Director, Institute of Community Health
Department of Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes and Policy

Office: 
University of Houston College of Pharmacy
Health 2, Room 4054
4349 Martin Luther King Boulevard
Houston, TX 77204-5039

Contact: ejessien@uh.edu - 832-842-8393

Research:

  • HIV/AIDS Prevention among Minority Populations
  • Patient-centered Health Outcomes Research
  • Social and Ecological Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic
  • Drug Use and Abuse in Minority Populations
  • Dr.PH, University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston, Texas, U.S.A. Dissertation: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Fear of HIV Disease and AIDS in Health Care Workers, 1994.
  • MPH, University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston, Texas, U.S.A. Thesis: Circannual Rhythms in Human Mortality, 1990.
  • M.D., University of Calabar College of Medicine, Calabar, Nigeria. Major: Medicine and Surgery, 1985.

Google Scholar Profile
  • Essien EJ, Ogungbade GO, Ward D, Ekong E, Ross MW, Holmes L (2007): Influence of Educational Status and other Variables on HIV Risk Perception among Military Personnel: A Large Cohort Finding. Military Medicine, 172: 11: 1177 1181.
  • Essien EJ, Monjok E, Chen H, Abughosh S, Ekong E, Peters R, Holmes L, Holstad M, Mgbere O (2010): Correlates of HIV knowledge and sexual risk behaviors among Female Military Personnel. AIDS and Behavior, 14: 6: 1401 1414.
  • Essien EJ, Monjok E, Ekong E, Holstad M, Kalichman SC, Mgbere O (2011): Effectiveness of a Video-based Motivational skills Building HIV Risk Reduction Intervention for Female Military Personnel. Social Science and Medicine, 72: 1: 63-71
  • Holstad MM, Essien EJ, Ekong E, Higgins M, Teplinskiy L (2012): Motivational Groups Support Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy and use of Risk Reduction Behaviors in HIV+ Nigerian Women: A Pilot Study. African Journal of Reproductive Health, 16: 3: 14-27.
  • Mgbere O, Monjok E, Abughosh S, Ekong E, Holstad M, Essien EJ (2013): Modeling Covariates of Self-Perceived and Epidemiologic Notions of Risk for Acquiring STIs/HIV among Military Personnel: A Comparative Analysis. AIDS and Behavior, 17: 3: 1159 1175.
  • Athamneh L, El-Mughrani M, Athamneh M, Essien EJ, Abughosh S (2014): Parents' Knowledge, Attitudes and Beliefs of Childhood Fever Management in Jordan. Journal of Applied Research on Children, 5: 1:
  • Mgbere O, Khuwaja S, Bell TK, Rodriquez-Barradas MC, Arafat R, Blair JM, Essien EJ, Singh M, Roland E (2015): System and Patient Barriers to Care among people living with HIV/AIDS in Houston, Texas: HIV Medical Care Providers' Perspectives. Journal of the Association of Providers of AIDS Care, 14: 6: 505 - 5
  • Abughosh SM, Wang X, Henges C, Masilamani S, Essien EJ, Chung N, Fleming M (2016): A pharmacist telephone intervention to identify barriers and improve adherence among non-adherent patients with comorbid hypertension and diabetes in a Medicare Advantage plan. Journal of Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy 22:1, 63 - 73.
  • Mgbere O, Khuwaja S, Bell T, Rodriguez-Barradas M, Arafat R, Blair J, Essien EJ (2017): Managing the Personal Side of Health Care among HIV/AIDS Patients: A pilot Study of providers' Perspectives. Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, 16: 149 60.
  • Malik M, Javed D, Hussain A, Essien EJ (2019): Smoking habits and attitude toward smoking cessation interventions among healthcare professionals in Pakistan. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 8: 166 70.
  • Paranjpe R, Johnson M, Essien EJ, Barner J, Serna O, Gallardo E, Majd Z, Fleming M, Ordonez N, Holstad M, Abughosh S (2020): Group-Based Trajectory Modeling to Identify Patterns of Adherence and its Predictors Among Older Adults on Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitors/Angiotensin Receptor Blockers. Patient Preference and Adherence 14: 1935-1947.
  • Vadhariya A, Paranjpa R, Essien EJ, Abughosh S (2021): Patient-reported barriers to statin adherence: Excerpts from a motivational interviewing in older adults. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, 61: (1) 60-67.e1
  • Essien EJ, Mgbere O, Illoanusi S, Abughosh S (2021): COVID-19 Infection among People Living with HIV/AIDS in Africa: Knowledge Gaps, Public Health Preparedness and Research Priorities. International Journal of MCH and AIDS, 10: 1: 113 - 118
  • Avwioro O, Adjekuko O, Egwunyenga A, Mgbere O, Ewomazino O, Iyiola S, Enitan S, Essien EJ (2021): Commercial Sex Work During Novel Coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) Era in the Niger Delta Region: Knowledge Base, Preventive Practice, and Transmission Potential. International Journal of Women's Health, 13: 1 15.
  • Iloanusi S, Mgbere O, Essien EJ (2021): Polypharmacy among COVID-19 Patients: A PRISMA-Based Systematic Review of Available Literature. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japh.2021.05.006

Awards & Honors

  • 2005 - 2010 Member, Behavioral and Social Science Approaches to Preventing HIV (BSPH) Study Section. AIDS and Related Research Integrated Review Group. Center for Scientific Review. National Institutes of Health.
  • 2014 Co-chairman, Special Emphasis Panel (Mobile Health: Technology and Outcomes in Low and Middle Income Countries). Center for Scientific Review. National Institutes of Health. ZRG1 IMST-K (50) S Study Section. June 16-17, 2014.
  • 2015 Co-chairman, Special Emphasis Panel. NIH-PEPFAR Collaboration on Implementation Science for HIV: Towards an AIDS-free Generation. AIDS and Related Research Integrated Review Group. Center for Scientific Review. National Institutes of Health. October 26-27, 2015.
  • 2018 Co-chairman, Special Emphasis Panel (Reducing Stigma to Improve HIV/AIDS Prevention, Treatment and Care in Low and Middle Income Countries.). Center for Scientific Review. National Institutes of Health ZRG1 AARR-N (56) Study Section. March 19, 2018.
  • 2018 Chairman, Special Emphasis Panel (Research on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis to Prevent HIV in Health Disparity Populations). National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. National Institutes of Health. ZMD1 RP (01) S Study Section. June 14, 2018
  • 2020 Co-chairman, Special Emphasis Panel (Reducing Stigma to Improve HIV/AIDS Prevention, Treatment and Care in Low- and Middle- Income Countries). Center for Scientific Review. National Institutes of Health. ZRG1 AARR-N (56) PAR-19-326. March 13, 2020.
  • 2021 Chairman. Special Emphasis Panel. Promoting Viral Suppression among Individuals from Health Disparity Populations Engaged in HIV Care. National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. RFA-MD-21-002. March 26, 2021.