Dr. Khambaty is a clinical psychologist and researcher in the field of cardiovascular behavioral medicine, which is concerned with the interrelations among biopsychosocial factors and cardiometabolic health and disease. Within this larger area, she conducts research at the interface of cardiometabolic disease (e.g., diabetes, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome) risk, aging, cognition, psychosocial and biobehavioral risk factors and mechanisms, and health disparities. Her primary interests lie in using multidisciplinary approaches to examine (1) psychosocial (e.g., depression and anxiety symptoms, subtypes and disorders, socioeconomic status) and cognitive risk factors for the development of diabetes-related processes and outcomes, (2) biobehavioral mechanisms that underlie these associations; and (3) psychosocial factors that contribute to racial/ethnic disparities in cardiometabolic disease, focusing on Hispanic/Latino and African American populations. Not surprisingly, much of her research questions are explored among older adults, minorities, individuals of lower socioeconomic status, and other at-risk populations. To pursue these interdisciplinary interests, Dr. Khambaty works with a range of research partners, including physicians, sociologists, and epidemiologists at UMBC, University of Maryland School of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, other research institutions.
