Humza
Rashid

MD/MBA Candidate | Redesigning Healthcare Delivery through Strategy & Systems Thinking

I'm an MD/MBA candidate at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and Emory University's Goizueta Business School.I focus on redesigning healthcare systems through strategy, data, and equity-driven innovation.My work bridges clinical insight with business execution. I lead interdisciplinary projects in oncology, cardiology, transplant services, and environmental health, targeting operational efficiency, access to care, and value-based outcomes.I specialize in aligning teams around data-informed solutions and tackling structural challenges in healthcare. Whether mapping cancer care delays, improving transplant workflows, or quantifying the cost of inaction in public health, I strive to drive measurable and meaningful change.

💬 Why I Built This

I’m here to build something real.No performance. No fluff. Just practical work that moves the needle for patients, for systems, and for the people often left behind.I’m building solutions where they’re most needed. If that resonates with you, let’s talk.

Systems Optimization Projects at Emory Hospital

1. ♻️ Transplant Workflow Optimization
Focus: Transplant Services | Access & Throughput
• Mapping the full referral-to-listing pathway using Epic timestamps and stratify delays by race, insurance, and co-morbidities
• Building a predictive model to flag high-risk patients for waitlist removal and streamline access through workflow redesigns

2. 💩 GI Procedure Utilization Review
Focus: GI Systems | Operational Efficiencya. Bowel Prep Cancellations
• Quantifying financial and operational losses from colonoscopy cancellations due to poor prep
• Identifying high-risk groups by language, insurance, and referral source and proposing embedded scheduling flags and salvage protocolsb. Biologic Dosing in IBD
• Revealing that patients can hit drug level “targets” but still flare, exposing a gap in real-world effectiveness
• Redesigning dosing strategy using outcome-based metrics to reduce waste and elevate precision care

3. 🧬 Redesigning Oncology Operations
Focus: Cancer Care | Workflow Drop-Offsa. Time-to-Treatment Initiation (TTI)
• Using Epic data to measure delays from diagnosis to first treatment (chemo, radiation, or surgery) and identify root causes like insurance or scheduling gaps
• Stratifying delays by tumor type, race, insurance, and ADI to uncover disparities and guide system-level improvementsb. Myeloma Treatment Readiness Pathway
• Track diagnostic and clearance steps (e.g., biopsy, imaging, labs, pharmacy) to pinpoint delays before treatment
• Analyze financial and operational impacts of readiness delays tied to insurance, pharmacy, and SDOH using Epic and PowerBI

Strategic Equity & Cost-Effectiveness Projects

⚖️ Surgical Prioritization & Access Equity
Focus: Surgical Services | Resource Fairnessa. The Invisible Queue
• Mapping hidden pre-operative delays across common surgical pathways (e.g., referral to consult, imaging bottlenecks, OR clearance)
• Using Epic data to reconstruct timelines and propose workflow redesigns that improve throughput and reduce disparities

🫀Cardiovascular Biomarker Cost Analysis
Focus: Cardiology | Value-Based Care
• Linking biomarker-based risk scores to outcomes like 30-day readmissions, RVUs, hospital charges, and length of stay
• Assessing whether precision risk stratification is cost-effective and scalable for value-based care models using Emory biobank and billing data

Policy & Public Health Projects

📈 UFP Mortality Risk Analysis
Focus: Environmental Health | Exposure Risk Stratification
• Leading a scoping review of 21 studies evaluating mortality risk from ultrafine particle (UFP) exposure, highlighting stronger associations with respiratory deaths and socioeconomic disparities
• Identifying consistent exposure misclassification due to poor spatial resolution and lack of personal monitoring, reinforcing the need for updated regulatory frameworks and high-resolution models

🏛️ UFP Cost-of-Illness: The Economic Burden of Failing to Regulate Ultrafine Particles
Focus: Public Health Policy | Cost of Inaction
• Estimating the healthcare, productivity, and mortality costs of long-term UFP exposure using cost-of-illness models (VSL, QALY, public payer burden)
• Integrating legal analysis to examine EPA regulatory gaps and propose actionable pathways for federal or state-level UFP regulation

Publications & Posters

Publication
Effect of HEPA Filtration Air Purifiers on Blood Pressure
Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), 2025
Co-authored a multi-institutional study evaluating how in-home HEPA filtration impacts blood pressure in individuals living near high-traffic roadways. The randomized crossover trial compared HEPA vs. sham filtration, measuring cardiovascular outcomes across both phases.• Found a statistically significant 3 mm Hg reduction in systolic BP among participants with elevated baseline BP (≥120 mm Hg)
• Demonstrated clinical relevance of environmental interventions in urban health settings
• Contributed to participant screening, medication reconciliation, and protocol adherence during field data collection
🔗 Read Publication
📣 NBC News Coverage of the Publication!

Poster Presentation
Toxoplasma MNK-L1 Kinase and Cell Division
Poster abstract presented at ToxoXVI, the 16th International Congress on Toxoplasmosis, 2022
Co-author on a research poster examining MNK-L1, a novel kinase in Toxoplasma gondii critical for regulating cell division via endodyogeny.• Employed BioID tagging, gene knockout techniques, and CRISPR/Cas9-based synthetic lethality screening
• Investigated cell cycle signaling pathways underlying parasite proliferation defects
• Contributed to molecular biology workflows and figure generation for abstract submission
📄 View Poster Abstract (ToxoXVI 2022)

Past Research Experiences

Undergraduate Researcher
University of Connecticut (Dr. Simon White) | Sept 2018 – May 2019
Performed SELEX-based RNA aptamer selection and ELISA assays to identify antibodies for drug development targeting EV71, the virus behind hand, foot, and mouth disease.

Undergraduate Researcher
Boston College Biology Department | Sept 2020 – May 2022
Mentored by Dr. Marc-Jan GubbelsConducted genetic and cellular research on Toxoplasma gondii using gene knockout, cloning, and microscopy. Supported gene set identification, GSEA pipelines, and functional annotation of parasitic genes for potential drug targets.