Nationwide Children’s Hospital Names Ahna Pai, PhD, Director of Center for Biobehavioral Health

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) - Nationwide Children's Hospital welcomes Ahna Pai, PhD, as the hospital's director of the Center for Biobehavioral Health.

Dr. Pai, a pediatric psychologist, was named director of the Center for Biobehavioral Health effective May 1. The Center for Biobehavioral Health seeks to improve the health and health care of children, adolescents and their families through behavioral research on vulnerable individuals and populations, using a multidisciplinary and biopsychosocial approach. As the new center director, Dr. Pai aims to further Nationwide Children's mission and promote the health and quality of life of children and their families.

"Dr. Pai is an exemplary researcher focused on how providers and families can maximize treatment adherence. Her dedication to developing and improving interventions supports Nationwide Children's mission of improving outcomes for children everywhere," said Dennis Durbin, MD, MSCE, President of the Abigail Wexner Research Institute (AWRI). "We are pleased to have her join us as a center director where she will join an exceptional faculty making a real difference in biobehavioral health research and care."

Dr. Pai is familiar with Nationwide Children's Hospital having served a predoctoral internship in Pediatric Psychology in the early 2000's. Her research has focused on treatment and medication adherence specifically related to pediatric oncology and transplantation. She has received numerous awards and honors, most recently being named a fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. She is also a member of several professional organizations including the Children's Oncology Group, the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, and the International Psychosocial Oncology Society.

Dr. Pai is currently a PI or co-PI on $3.1 million in grant funding, authored over 125 peer-reviewed publications and is currently an editorial board member for the Journal of Pediatric Psychology. To date, she has mentored more than 40 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in various capacities during her career.

About The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital
Named to the Top 10 Honor Roll on U.S. News & World Report's 2023-24 list of "Best Children's Hospitals," Nationwide Children's Hospital is one of America's largest not-for-profit free-standing pediatric health care systems providing unique expertise in pediatric population health, behavioral health, genomics and health equity as the next frontiers in pediatric medicine, leading to best outcomes for the health of the whole child. Integrated clinical and research programs are part of what allows Nationwide Children's to advance its unique model of care. As home to the Department of Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children's faculty train the next generation of pediatricians, scientists and pediatric specialists. The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital is one of the Top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded free-standing pediatric research facilities in the U.S., supporting basic, clinical, translational, behavioral and population health research. The AWRI is comprised of multidisciplinary Centers of Emphasis paired with advanced infrastructure supporting capabilities such as technology commercialization for discoveries; gene- and cell-based therapies; and genome sequencing and analysis. More information is available at NationwideChildrens.org/Research.

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