Jagriti 'Jackie' Bhattarai and Kavya Bhattiprolu Unveiling Racial Disparities in Multiple Sclerosis Care
Within the complex landscape of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) care, Jagriti 'Jackie' Bhattarai, PhD, and research assistant Kavya Bhattiprolu from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity (CHE) are working to unravel the threads of racial disparities, with the goal of shedding light on the paths towards equitable healthcare. The team’s research represents a paradigm shift in the field of MS care.
“MS research to date has reported largely on racial disparities related to neurologic outcomes,” Bhattarai says. “We are examining how factors such as neighborhood and income can affect the quality of MS care a person receives, especially those from historically underserved groups.”
Bhattarai and Bhattiprolu’s study focuses on social determinants of health (SDOH) to help them identify barriers that contribute to racial disparities in MS care.
“We hope that by identifying modifiable factors, including barriers that underserved populations face in accessing and receiving healthcare…we can intervene to reduce disparities and promote health equity in the MS and other neurologic patient populations,” Bhattarai says.
By exploring the influence of SDOH (such as race, neighborhood and built environment, and access to care) on MS care, Bhattarai and Bhattiprolu hope to uncover actionable insights that pave the way toward health equity. “Modifiable factors such as the social determinants of health (such as place or income) have only recently started being examined in the field of MS,” Bhattarai says.
“We hope that by identifying modifiable factors, including barriers that underserved populations face in accessing and receiving healthcare…we can intervene to reduce disparities and promote health equity in the MS and other neurologic patient populations." - Jagriti 'Jackie' Bhattarai, PhD
However, their aspirations extend far beyond the confines of academia. As trailblazers in the fight against health disparities, Bhattarai and her protégé envision a future where widespread equitable health care is a reality.
"My research aims to bridge the racial gap in care received by individuals with MS," Bhattarai says. "In the long-term, however, I strive to promote health equity across all neurologic patient populations."
As a CHE trainee, Bhattiprolu’s experience working on this study has been pivotal. A highlight for Bhattiprolu came when she had the opportunity to attend the Rehabilitation Psychology Conference in 2023.
“I was able to present my poster exploring the time difference from the onset of symptoms to the diagnosis date of MS between Black and White individuals. This experience allowed me to examine diagnostic disparities in MS and present our findings to others in the research community,” says Bhattiprolu.
Some of Dr. Bhattarai’s recent publications in this research include:
Racial Disparities in Modifiable Factors of Multiple Sclerosis Care
K Harrison, V Levasseur, A Conway, K Bhattiprolu, K Fitzgerald, M Jones, et al.
Multiple Sclerosis Journal 29
Sleep disturbance and fatigue in multiple sclerosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis
JJ Bhattarai, KS Patel, KM Dunn, A Brown, B Opelt, AJ Hughes
Multiple Sclerosis Journal–Experimental, Translational and Clinical 9 (3)