Rachel Margolis, Ph.D., L.I.C.S.W., is a social work researcher who is passionate about optimizing the health of children with chronic health conditions, especially those from marginalized communities. After receiving her master’s degree in social work from the National Catholic School of Social Services, she spent six years providing comprehensive psychosocial care to pediatric patients at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (NIH-CC). Her experience at the NIH-CC inspired her to pursue a doctorate in social work from the University of Maryland School of Social Work where she gained an interest in examining and addressing the psychosocial factors that drive health disparities in pediatric asthma, particularly caregiver depression. She is currently the Principal Investigator of the Exhale Study (funded by NIMHD) which aims to determine the effectiveness and implementation of delivering Enhanced Brief Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT-B), an evidence-based maternal depression treatment, in IMPACT DC Asthma Clinic. In addition to her work on the intersection of caregiver mental health and pediatric asthma, she leads a multidisciplinary effort to expand social needs screening for children with asthma across settings at Children's National.
