AAFP Robert Graham Center Names Yalda Jabbarpour as Director

First female leader combines patient care and policy research to effect change

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 11, 2022

Contact:
Rebecca Beeler
(800) 274-2237, Ext. 6052
rbeeler@aafp.org

Washington, D.C. — The American Academy of Family Physicians is pleased to announce that Yalda Jabbarpour, MD, has been named director of the AAFP’s Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies.

“Dr. Jabbarpour has been an integral part of the Robert Graham Center, serving as its medical director. I’m thrilled that she will now be leading the Center,” said Julie Wood, MD, MPH, FAAFP, senior vice president for Research, Science, and Health of the Public for the AAFP. “Yalda’s training and work as a family physician has given her a front-row seat to the impact of policy on primary care. We face significant challenges in our health care system -- particularly in primary care payment and access. The work the Graham Center does is vital to informing policy makers about current issues and the impact of their decisions. Dr. Jabbarpour is the right person to advance our work in this space.”

Jabbarpour is a family physician in Washington, DC. She graduated from the Georgetown University School of Medicine, completed her residency at the Georgetown University/Providence Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program and worked as a family physician for Scripps Health Medical Group in San Diego, California. She returned to Washington, DC, in 2015 to serve as the Robert L. Phillips Health Policy Fellow at the Robert Graham Center, and she most recently served as its medical director.  

“When I was in full-time practice, I saw that it was more than just the patient and the physician that influenced the healthcare one receives, and that motivated me to gain a deeper understanding of the other forces at play” Jabbarpour said. “My work at the Graham Center is the perfect mix for a clinician who wants to advocate for family physicians and their patients. On my clinical day I get to have that one-on-one patient interaction and understand the system level factors that impact patients and their health. Then, I come back to the Graham Center, share what I’ve seen and ask how our research can help address the issues we face in primary care.”

Jabbarpour’s personal research interests include workforce issues such as provider burnout and the delivery and financing of primary health care. She’s aware that her role as the first female leader of the Graham Center gives her an opportunity to research issues with a different lens.

“At the Graham Center, not everyone is a physician, but we all have the same mission. We all believe in primary care and the power of primary care,” Jabbarpour said. “I can bring a different perspective to the work. When you have different voices and different backgrounds contributing, you strengthen the research and the advocacy opportunity.”

Jabbarpour began her role as director of the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies on July 8, 2022. 

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About American Academy of Family Physicians
Founded in 1947, the AAFP represents 127,600 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the largest medical society devoted solely to primary care. Family physicians conduct approximately one in five office visits -- that’s 192 million visits annually or 48 percent more than the next most visited medical specialty. Today, family physicians provide more care for America’s underserved and rural populations than any other medical specialty. Family medicine’s cornerstone is an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care. To learn more about the specialty of family medicine and the AAFP's positions on issues and clinical care, visit www.aafp.org. For information about health care, health conditions and wellness, please visit the AAFP’s consumer website, www.familydoctor.org.

About the Robert Graham Center
The Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care works to improve individual and population health by enhancing the delivery of primary care. The Center staff generates and analyzes evidence that brings a family medicine and primary care perspective to health policy deliberations at local, state, and national levels. Founded in 1999, the Robert Graham Center is an editorially independent research unit within the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). The information and opinions contained in research from the Center do not necessarily reflect the views or policy of the AAFP. Learn more about the Robert Graham Center, www.graham-center.org.