Nakiya N. Showell, MD, MPH, MHS

Dr. Showell is the Medical Director of the Harriet Lane Clinic (HLC), Associate Program Director of the Pediatrics Residency Program, General Pediatrician, and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is dedicated to a clinical, educational, and research career focused on addressing pediatric socioeconomic and racial/ethnic health disparities among marginalized and minoritized populations, with a particular focus on obesity and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. In 2020. Dr. Showell was appointed as the Associate Medical  Director of the HLC and subsequently appointed as Medical Director in 2021. She is the first African American faculty member at Johns Hopkins to be named to either position.

Dr. Showell graduated from Bryn Mawr College with a B.A. in Chemistry. She then received her MD from the Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (c/o 2007), where she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) National Medical Honor Society. In 2010, Dr. Showell completed her pediatrics residency at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). After completing her training, Dr. Showell committed to a career in academic medicine by first earning a Masters in Public Health degree at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH) and subsequently completing a Fellowship in General Academic Pediatrics and Comparative Effectiveness Research at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2013. Upon completion of her Fellowship, Dr. Showell transitioned into a tenure-track faculty position at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine during which she completed a second Masters degree in Clinical Investigation from JHSPH in 2015. Presently, she serves as core faculty in the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity and has served on several Johns Hopkins Health System committees and workgroups including the COVID Vaccination Executive Committee, and Primary Care Steering Committee.

In recognition of her leadership experience, scholarship and commitment to health disparities research, Dr. Showell was selected as a 2022 National Minority Quality Forum 40 under 40 Leader in Health, 2019-2020 Doris Duke Clinician Investigator Scholar and served as the 2019-2023 elected Co-Chairman of the Academic Pediatric Association Obesity Special Interest Group. She has led several projects dedicated to addressing pediatric obesity and cardiovascular disease disparities and understanding the role of the COVID-19 pandemic on exacerbating health and social inequities among disenfranchised communities. Presently Dr. Showell serves as a Principal Investigator (PI) of two multisite collaborative projects. She is the Site PI of a project examining the impact of an interfaith community-based food delivery program on food insecurity and other health-related outcomes among Baltimoreans. She is also a Co-PI on a Johnson and Johnson Foundation funded project centered on the development and implementation of a family collaborative care intervention to address complex medical and social needs among children and families seen in primary care settings.

In her roles as Medical Director and Associate Residency Program Director, Dr. Showell has focused on enhancing clinical operations, overseeing primary care education for over 100 pediatric residents, expanding access to clinical care and testing for pediatric patients with COVID-19 like symptoms, spearheading COVID-19 vaccination efforts and increasing engagement amongst patients and community members in East Baltimore. Additionally, Dr. Showell has promoted expansion of charitable routine and specialty care for uninsurable patients through the Johns Hopkins The Access Partnership (TAP) Program and has led the Harriet Lane Clinic’s participation in a national multisite collaborative addressing racially just trauma informed pediatric care.