Rada K. Dagher, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Scientific Program Director
Division of Clinical and Health Services Research
rada.dagher@nih.gov
301-451-2187
Dr. Rada Dagher is a scientific program director at NIMHD. She manages a comprehensive portfolio of research, capacity building, and training grants and is a project scientist on several cooperative agreement awards. Dr. Dagher is the NIMHD coordinator for the NIH Research Coordinating Committee on Social Determinants of Health. In addition, she represents NIMHD on multiple NIH-wide committees, including the All of Us Trans-NIH Liaisons Coordinating Team, NIH Coordinating Committee for Maternal Morbidity and Mortality, and the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Collaborators Committee. She is also the lead science coordinator for the Health Services Research seminar series, which is a joint effort of NIMHD and NCI.
Prior to joining NIMHD, Dr. Dagher worked in academia, where she secured grant funding and conducted research in maternal and child health, mental health, occupational health, and health disparities. She also taught health policy and management, and health services research methods graduate courses. Her research focused on the risk and protective factors associated with postpartum depression and the impact of this disorder on health services use.
Her expertise also includes the impact of employment policies and psychosocial work organization on workers’ mental and physical health, and socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities in mental health and mental health services.
Dr. Dagher’s education in public health began at the American University of Beirut, where she received both her Bachelor of Science in environmental health and Master of Public Health degrees. She then obtained a Ph.D. in health services research, policy, and administration from the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Dagher has earned numerous accolades throughout her career, including being inducted in the Delta Omega Honorary Society of Public Health and being selected for the American Association for the Advancement of Science Science and Technology Policy Fellowship. She also received the American Public Health Association’s Young Professional Award for her contributions and leadership in science, program, and policy relating to the health of women, children, and families. Her doctoral advisee received AcademyHealth’s 2016 Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award.
Selected Publications
- Dagher, R. K., & Linares, D.E. (2022). A critical review on the complex interplay between social determinants of health and maternal and infant mortality. Children (Basel), 9(3), 394. doi: 10.3390/children9030394. (Winner of Best Paper Award).
- Dagher, R. K., Pérez-Stable, E. J., & James, R. S. (2021). Socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities in postpartum consultation for mental health concerns among US mothers. Archives of Women's Mental Health, 24(5), 781–791. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-021-01132-5
- Dagher, R. K., Bruckheim, H.E., Colpe, L.J., Edwards, E., & White, D.B. (2020). Perinatal depression: Challenges and opportunities. Journal of Women's Health. Published online November 6, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2020.8862
- Boudreaux, M., Dagher, R. K., & Lorch, S. A. (2018). The association of health reform and infant health: Evidence from Massachusetts. Health Services Research, 53(4), 2406-2425
- Dagher, R. K., McGovern, P. M., Schold, J. D., & Randall, X. J. (2016). Determinants of breastfeeding initiation and cessation among employed mothers. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 16(1), 194.
- Dagher, R. K., & Green, K. M. (2015). Does depression and substance abuse co-morbidity affect socioeconomic status? Evidence from a prospective study of urban African Americans. Psychiatry Research, 225(1-2), 115-121.
- Dagher, R. K., McGovern, P. M., & Dowd, B. E. (2014). Maternity leave duration and postpartum mental and physical health: Implications for leave policies. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 39(2), 369-416.
Page updated Feb. 14, 2025
