The Staff

Prior to MJHS, Ms. Bakallbashi worked at Healthfirst, where she spent four years in Clinical Operations and managed an 85-person team in the Medicare and Commercial Utilization Management department. In addition, she managed the strategy, reporting and process improvement team for their clinical operations. Prior to Healthfirst, she spent eight years at VNSNY on the Performance and Innovation team, which served as an internal consultancy to the organization. She worked on strategy mapping and execution as well as restructuring and process improvement efforts across VNSNY CHOICE, their CHHA, LHCSA and Hospice teams, while leading the Innovation practice.

Dr. Dhingra is nationally known and has chaired the Pain and Disparities Special Interest Group for the American Pain Society and the Pain Special Interest Group for the Society of Behavioral Medicine. She has served as Associate Editor for the journal Ethnicity and Health, and is currently Associate Editor of the journal Pain Medicine. She has published widely and is the recipient of multiple grants, including a research grant from the NIH Health Disparities Loan Repayment Program.

During the past few years, she has directed two studies focused on the underserved Chinese-American community (“Development of an Evidence-based Toolkit to Improve ACP for Underserved Chinese-American Immigrants,” funded by The New York Community Trust, and a 5-year American Cancer Society Research Scholar Grant, “Quality Improvement for Symptom Control in Underserved Chinese Patients”). She led a OneCity Health Innovations Award-funded project to improve access to palliative care (“Achieving Best Practices in Advance Care Planning and Hospice Referral: A Novel Nurse-Mediated Collaborative Practice Approach for Primary Care”), and is Co-Principal Investigator of a national project to create a new model of palliative care for patients with cystic fibrosis (“Pragmatic Implementation Trial of a Cystic Fibrosis Primary Palliative Care Intervention,” a multi-site study supported by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation). Current studies also include: “Race/ethnicity and Pressure Ulcers in Nursing Homes” funded by the Donaghue Medical Research Foundation, and “Understanding Causes of Hospice Utilization in New York State,” funded by the MJHS Foundation.

Dr. DiFiglia has engaged in research and administrative roles, as well as teaching appointments at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She is also a yoga and meditation teacher and coach, using research knowledge and training of mind-body techniques to optimize individuals’ quality of life.

Dr. DiFiglia received the 2013 John R. Hayes Award for best article in the Journal of Writing Research over the preceding two years, a Research Support Grant from the Fordham Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 2015, and the Mather LifeWays Institute on Aging’s Innovative Research on Aging Award in 2018.

“Working to improve the care and lives of those with chronic illnesses through impactful research at the MJHS Institute for Innovation in Palliative Care provides a deep sense of meaning to the work we do each day. I am grateful to be part of a community with such a strong commitment to service.”

–Stephanie DiFiglia, PhD

A Fulbright Scholar, Myra holds both a master’s and a doctorate in Social Work from Columbia University. At MJHS, Myra manages the Social Work Internship, Physician Fellowship, and Interprofessional Training. She is an Assistant Professor of Family and Social Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where she teaches Introduction to Clinical Medicine for first- and second-year medical students.

Myra is dedicated to improving psychosocial adjustment and quality of life for people facing serious and advanced illness and to advancing interprofessional education, training, and research in oncology, caregiver burden, communication, and palliative care. She has been recognized with numerous awards and her work has been disseminated through publications and presentations. In 2022, she was awarded then Hyman J. Weiner Award by the Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care for scholarship and excellence in her field. She is a frequent presenter at local, regional, and national scientific meetings, a grant and journal reviewer, and a prolific author.

Prior to joining the MJHS Institute, Myra served as Director of the Institute for Education and Training at Mount Sinai Beth Israel. During this time, she created the family caregiver initiative to improve the well-being of caregivers facing advanced illness. She led the research team that validated the Brief Assessment Scale for Caregivers (BASC) in English and Chinese, published bilingual handbooks and designed an award-winning online resource. In addition, Dr. Glajchen was Associate Director of two accredited fellowships; oversaw electives; and participated in development of continuing medical education conferences.

Dr. Richards currently heads the Business Analytics and e-Learning Web Operations internships whereby MJHS hosts talented graduate interns preparing to enter the workforce. This program supports their professional growth in the development of critical thinking, real world problem-solving skills, and professionalism.

Dr. Richards holds an appointment as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Rutgers University’s School of Health Professions, Dept. of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions, where she works in instructional design and development. Her educational specialist postmaster’s degree and doctoral degree in computer technology in education are both from Nova Southeastern University, Florida.