Shima is a pediatric resident physician and public health researcher at Harvard Medical School. Her primary responsibilities include the clinical management of acute and chronic pediatric conditions, instruction of medical students, and development of primary scientific literature focusing on childhood obesity, health equity, and the social determinants of health. Her body of research investigates nutritional interventions to mitigate the cardiometabolic complications of obesity, with the goal of guiding clinical practice and public policy. She also serves as a Senior Lead Investigator for the Alabama Department of Public Health COVID-19 Tracing Unit.
Shima is also actively involved with advocacy and service efforts to address social determinants of health impacting vulnerable populations. She holds leadership positions within the American Academy of Pediatrics and has provided expert testimonial in support of state legislation expanding child nutrition access. She is a past AmeriCorps volunteer and executive officer for Equal Access Birmingham (EAB), a medical student run clinic providing free medical and mental health services for uninsured patients in Birmingham, AL. More recently, Shima was selected as an Albert Schweitzer Fellow, where she designed a culturally concordant healthy living program for EAB patients with diabetes and heart disease.
Shima earned her combined MD/PhD degrees through the NIH Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB), where she received a full tuition scholarship, an educational stipend, and salary support for the duration of her training (>$1 million educational package). She graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College, double majoring in Neuroscience and Asian & Middle Eastern Studies. While at Dartmouth, Shima was mentored by then President Jim Yong Kim, who inspired and challenged her to find creative ways to address global public health problems. She hopes to bring this same gusto into her sessions with her The Art of Applying® clients.
Shima is the first woman in her extended family to obtain a doctoral degree and is a long-time mentor and advocate for women of color in science and medicine. In her free time, Shima enjoys rock climbing, salsa dancing, hugging her two main men (her husband and cat), a good Netflix binge, and cultivating/practicing gratitude. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at DrShimaAnwar.
