Trauma & Prehospital
Equity Research LabNIH · National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities · R01MD018177

Why this work matters

Where a patient lives should not determine whether help arrives in time. Yet our research shows that it does. The prehospital continuum begins long before the ambulance arrives: it begins with whether an ambulance can reach you at all. We study how structural determinants (historical redlining, residential segregation, and area deprivation) shape access to emergency medical services at every step of that continuum, from the availability of EMS coverage in a neighborhood, to the moment a 911 call is placed, to transport and arrival at a trauma center.

Cherisse Berry, MD, FACS

Principal Investigator · Vice Chair, Academic Affairs · Professor of Surgery · Director of Research, Eric Muñoz Trauma Center

In the United States, where you live determines whether an ambulance reaches you in time — and whether it takes you to the care that can save your life. Dr. Cherisse Berry is the trauma surgeon and physician-scientist building the national infrastructure to measure those inequities, hold systems accountable, and eliminate them. She trained at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, and has held faculty appointments at New York University Grossman School of Medicine and Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, where she now serves as Vice Chair of Academic Affairs and Director of Research.

As Principal Investigator on an NIH R01 (NIMHD R01MD018177), she leads a six-institution investigative team building the first national infrastructure to measure, report, and act on prehospital health inequities. Her work has appeared in JAMA Surgery, JAMA Network Open, Annals of Surgery, and the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, and she has been recognized by the American College of Surgeons, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, and the Student National Medical Association. She is an elected fellow of the American Surgical Association and a 2026 matriculant at Yale School of Management as a Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellow.

Four scientific themes

Each working group is led by a Summer Student Research Program (SSRP) student and produces both a manuscript track and a policy translation track. Project leads within each group own specific manuscript pipelines.

Multi-site investigative team

Our R01 brings together six collaborating institutions, integrating geospatial science, EMS data infrastructure, neighborhood epidemiology, biostatistics, and health data engineering to address inequities across the prehospital continuum.

Recognition & impact

Since the lab's launch through the NIH R01 award, our research has produced national-scale evidence on prehospital inequities, advanced policy through the American College of Surgeons, and built sustainable pipelines for trainees and partner institutions.

• NIH R01MD018177 (NIMHD): Active multi-site grant with five subaward institutions and one industry partner
• New R01 submitted June 2026: Prehospital Quality Measurement Framework (PQMF), submitted to NIMHD June 2026

Translating research into health policy that reaches the population is central to the lab's mission. We work to carry our findings beyond the literature and into the guidelines, standards, and decisions that shape how emergency trauma care is delivered, so that documenting a disparity becomes the first step toward closing it.

• Six invited publications in JAMA Surgery and JAMA Network Open (five invited commentaries and one viewpoint), establishing the lab as a recognized voice in national trauma surgery policy
• Spotlight Discussion at the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma Annual Meeting

• "Keep Going Towards Success" · NJMS Pulse Magazine, Spring/Summer 2026 · Profile feature on Dr. Cherisse Berry Read →

Selected presentations and invitations: Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST) · American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) · Society of Black Academic Surgeons (SBAS) · Academic Surgical Congress (ASC) · Western Surgical Association (WSA) · Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons · Society of Asian Academic Surgeons / Latino Surgical Society Joint Meeting (SAAS/LSS).

• 25 active lab members across four working groups and three core leadership roles; seven SSRP-funded medical students in named leadership roles; one Berry Lab Research Scholar; two NERA MedPrep Scholars
• NJMS resident surgeon-scientist research year established beginning July 2026 (Stephen Beswick-Bozier, MD, PGY-3)
• Berry Lab Research Scholar designation established 2026, recognizing medical students contributing to the lab in a sustained, substantive capacity (Anju Felix, MS2, WG2 Lead)
• NERA MedPrep Scholars pipeline established 2025 in partnership with Dean Maria Soto-Greene, two undergraduate scholars hosted annually through the Northeast Regional Alliance federally funded pre-medical enrichment program, providing structured research mentorship to students on the road to medical school (2026 cohort: Selah Anderson, Spelman College; Cristy Sarmiento Anaya, Columbia University)
• Trainees as first or presenting authors at national conferences including the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, the Academic Surgical Congress, the Society of Black Academic Surgeons, and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons

Selected work

Peer-reviewed manuscripts, invited commentaries, and viewpoints from the lab's R01-funded research program. Filter by working group below.

In the news

Coverage, commentary, and announcements from the Berry Lab and the Trauma and Prehospital Equity Research program.

Cherisse Berry, MD, FACS, is a trauma surgeon-scientist, Professor of Surgery and Vice Chair of Academic Affairs at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, and Director of Research at the Eric Muñoz Trauma Center at University Hospital in Newark, NJ. Her work centers on equity in prehospital and trauma care.

Lab in action

Moments from award ceremonies, presentations, conferences, and life in the Berry Lab.

Work with us

We welcome medical students, graduate students, residents, fellows, and faculty with interests in health equity, emergency medicine, data science, or health policy. Summer positions are available annually through the Summer Student Research Program (SSRP), with applications due each May. Year-round opportunities exist across all four working groups, and collaboration inquiries from peer researchers are welcomed.

Cherisse Berry, MD, FACS
Vice Chair, Academic Affairs · Professor of Surgery
Director of Research, Eric Muñoz Trauma Center
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Eric Muñoz Trauma Center · University Hospital · 150 Bergen Street · Newark, NJ 07103
Email: cherisse.berry@rutgers.edu  ·  Office: 973-972-7200

Give

Where a patient lives should not determine whether help arrives in time. Philanthropic support lets us move faster than any single grant allows: training the next generation of surgeon-scientists, getting trainees to the national meetings where this work reaches the field, and generating the pilot data that turns an idea into federally funded research. Every gift goes directly to the people and projects advancing equity in prehospital and trauma care.

To direct your gift to the Berry Lab and the Eric Muñoz Trauma Center, or to discuss a major or planned gift, contact cherisse.berry@rutgers.edu.
Gifts are made through the Rutgers University Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) organization, and are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.