Nova Fortis
Clinical Research LLC
Nova Fortis
Clinical Research LLC
Our investigators collectively bring more than 40 years of experience delivering patient care within community health centers across Louisiana, serving both as primary care providers and healthcare executives. Nova Fortis Clinical Research integrates the trusted, patient-centered relationships of community-based care with high-quality clinical trial execution, creating a research environment capable of delivering reliable results while expanding access to innovative therapies for underserved populations.
Our Team of Investigators
Dr. Lea Gray-Winfrey, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, is the co-founder and Sub-Investigator at Nova Fortis Clinical Research, LLC, a community-based clinical research organization dedicated to expanding equitable access to clinical trials in New Orleans.
Dr. Gray-Winfrey is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner with more than 30 years of clinical practice experience. She currently serves as Associate Medical Director at EXCELth, Inc., where she provides clinical leadership and supports the delivery of high-quality, patient-centered care within the community health center setting.
Dr. Gray-Winfrey retired from the United States Air National Guard with the rank of Major, reflecting a distinguished career of military service and healthcare leadership.
Throughout her career, she has collaborated with multiple healthcare and community organizations across New Orleans to improve chronic disease management and expand access to care. Her work focuses on strengthening community partnerships, improving outcomes for patients with chronic illnesses, and supporting research initiatives that bring innovative therapies to underserved populations.
Dr. Lea Winfrey
Dr. Keith Winfrey, MD, MPH, FACP, is the co-founder and Principal Investigator of Nova Fortis Clinical Research, LLC, a community-based clinical research organization dedicated to expanding equitable access to clinical trials in New Orleans.
Dr. Winfrey is an Internal Medicine physician, Preventive Medicine specialist, and Fellow of the American College of Physicians with more than 24 years of clinical practice experience and over three years of experience serving as a Principal Investigator in clinical research studies.
He also serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Tulane University School of Medicine. Dr. Winfrey has led nationally recognized population health initiatives, including increasing colorectal cancer screening rates at NOELA Community Health Center from 3% to 80%, an achievement that earned the organization the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable’s Grand Prize “80% by 2018 National Achievement Award.”
His work focuses on advancing equitable access to clinical research and improving health outcomes for underserved communities.
Dr. Keith Winfrey
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