PUBLIC HEALTH - Key Persons

Brittany A. Shelton, DrPH, MPH (pronouns: she/her/hers), is a health disparities researcher who earned her MPH (2014) in health policy and DrPH (2022) in health policy and organization from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). While at UAB, Dr. Shelton began her research career studying chronic diseases, particularly end-stage organ disease and the need for transplantation. As a health disparities researcher, Dr. Shelton's work has examined access to both kidney and liver transplantation for people with HIV and for African American and Black individuals. Dr. Shelton's HIV research has subsequently informed national policy, specifically the HOPE Act which permitted organ donation from people with HIV for the first time in United States history. Similarly, her research examining disparities in liver transplantation and in pediatric transplantation have resulted in modifications to the liver and kidney organ allocation systems. She intends to continue her health disparities work by examining knowledge of and barriers to organ donation among LGBTQ+ young adults and by assessing access to the kidney transplant waitlist for people with HIV. Dr. Shelton has experience with big data and enjoys employing econometric methods such as cost-effectiveness, interrupted time series, regression discontinuity, and fixed effects analyses. She has served as a data analyst on three NIH-funded R01's and multiple industry and societal awards. Coming from a clinical research setting, Dr. Shelton enjoys team science having worked with undergraduate students, medical students, professional students, epidemiologists, clinicians, health economists, ethicists, and economists on singular projects. The diversity of perspectives and expertise provides robust discussion around study design, data collection, interpretation, and how best to implement study findings. She is excited to expand her network of collaborators. In her free time, she enjoys reading both fiction and non-fiction, attending Lady Vols sporting events with her partner, cuddling her two cats and two dogs, and spending as much time outdoors as possible.

Job Titles:

• Associate Professor

Biography Chika C. Okafor, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVPM is a Pre-harvest Food Safety Epidemiologist. His research is primarily focused on identifying patterns of antimicrobial use/resistance in veterinary medicine. He has utilized his expertise in both qualitative and quantitative epidemiological methods as well as statistical analysis of large datasets to understand/prevent animal diseases (e.g., bovine anaplasmosis) and pre-harvest food safety issues (colibacillosis, salmonellosis) associated with use of antibiotics. He has published extensively in respected referred journals on antimicrobial use practices in livestock and on diseases that drive the increased use of antimicrobials in cattle. His long-term goal is to improve stewardship of antimicrobial use in food animals and veterinary medicine. Before joining UT, Dr. Okafor received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Nigeria, his Master of Science in Food Safety and PhD in Epidemiology both from Michigan State University, and did a post-doctoral fellowship in Nutritional Epidemiology at the University of Guelph, Canada. He is a diplomat of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and also has a specialty board certification in Epidemiology from the same college.

Job Titles:

• Lecturer and Undergraduate Program Director

Julie Grubaugh, MPH, MCHES®teaches the Introduction to Public Health (PUBH 201) course at the University of Tennessee, a course that serves more than 1,000 undergraduates annually. Her students create a Public Service Announcement (PSA) video on a pressing public health issue of their choosing and have a tradition of winning the Tennessee Public Health Association's (TPHA) annual Student Video Challenge. From 2011-2020, Julie managed all of UT's Master of Public Health student internships. Nearly half of all students received paid internships, more than 30% were direct hires upon graduation and most others received job offers from contacts or skills developed during their internships. To make this happen, Julie established workshops, networking, and other opportunities in collaboration with other faculty and the Center for Career Development and Academic Exploration to connect MPH students with potential employers and alumni of the program; and she set up a private LinkedIn Group comprised of more than a hundred MPH program alumni where students can "connect" with potential mentors and employers. Julie also connects students with networking, skill, and resume building experiences at Knox County Health Department (KCHD) as part of UT's Academic Health Department (AHD). From 2011 through 2018, Julie worked in a joint position with Knox County Health Department and UT Department of Public Health, which has resulted in student learning experiences, workforce development, and other mutually beneficial activities that support health department accreditation (PHAB). So Julie is a connector. Even before her career in Public Health, she once spent a summer on a farm in Spain so she could learn Spanish and connect with Spanish-speaking peoples. In high school, because of an experience competing on her school's Rock Climbing team against a team from the Tennessee School for the Deaf, she began to study American Sign Language so she could connect with this entirely new group of people. She pursued these studies in her undergraduate program and graduated to work as a nationally certified sign language interpreter for the University of Tennessee. Julie's colleagues at Knox County Health Department voted her the team member with the most "Pep," like a Winnie-the-Pooh's Tigger ("…cheerful, outgoing, competitive in a friendly way, with complete confidence in herself and others.") She has volunteered teaching yoga to co-workers and regularly exercises with colleagues during lunch to build fitness and comradery. And she is adventurous. For one summer experience during her undergraduate program, she flew to Vancouver, British Columbia on a student work visa with no job, and no place to stay. By the end of the first day, she found an eight-bedroom house with seven international people looking for a roommate; and she was hired on for two part time jobs to make up a forty-hour week. She attributes some of her self-confidence to early childhood experiences in martial arts. Her current adventures include playing acoustic guitar, song-writing and raising her two young children.

Job Titles:

• Scholarship

Job Titles:

• Assistant Professor - Currently Accepting PhD Students
• Health Economist
• Senior Analyst for the Texas Health Institute

Biography Kenneth D. Smith, PhD is a health economist and public health practitioner. He received his doctorate from The Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he studied economic demography and health economics. His post graduate research focused on risk adjustment, healthcare financing, pharmacoeconomic evaluation, provider practice behavior, health professional supply and demand, and the evaluation of large national healthcare demonstration projects for persons with chronic disease. Dr. Smith became a public health practitioner after he was appointed the Director of Chronic Disease Prevention, Philadelphia Department of Public Health. There, he oversaw the City's Tobacco Control Program; helped implement the City's Clean Indoor Air Act and trans fats ban; and drafted a plan to improve access to fresh, affordable produce. As a result of Dr. Smith's efforts, and with the assistance of community stakeholders, Philadelphia passed the nation's most comprehensive menu labeling ordinance. Dr. Smith was the Lead Analyst for Chronic Disease and Environmental Health at the National Association of City and County Health Officials, where he built a national-level portfolio of projects around Health Impact Assessment, Health in All Policies, and community health assessment and planning. This work helped diffuse policy, systems, and environmental change strategies to prevent chronic disease among local health departments across the nation. As Interim Director for the Center to Eliminate Health Disparities at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Dr. Smith led an 1115 Waiver project (the Race Ethnicity and Language [REAL] Data project) to collect and connect REAL data with the patient medical record, identify health disparities, develop plans, and implement activities to address those disparities. The project led to new partnerships among clinical academic departments and the community to address disparities in diabetes, low birthweight, and cardiovascular disease. More recently, as a senior analyst for the Texas Health Institute, Dr. Smith conducted a cost analysis comparing the estimated costs with the potential cost offsets associated with a bill offering Medicaid preventative dental benefit for adults with disabilities. A key component of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities' advocacy efforts, the research supported the successful passage of the bill in the 87 th Texas legislature. As Assistant Professor for Public Health in the UTK School of Education, Health and Human Sciences, Dr. Smith uses action research to uncover and address the structural determinants of health inequities at the local, national, and global levels. His teaching responsibilities include Healthcare Organizations: Behavior and Management and Global Public Health. He currently is the board chair for Common Market Texas, an aggregator/distributor of local produce from farmers using sustainable agriculture techniques. He also is an advisor to Wellness for Greatness Kenya where he is co-chairing a global technical advisory group for health promotion.

Job Titles:

• Department of Public Health College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences

Laurie L. Meschke, MS, PhD conducts community engaged research and service to enhance the adolescent and women's health. Currently, Meschke has two primary projects. With awards from HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration), Meschke and her colleagues serve to reduce the impact of opioid use disorder (OUD) in rural East Tennessee (see https://tnopioid.utk.edu/) by providing training to increase the quantity and quality of providers associated with the treatment and prevention of OUD. With a contract with the Tennessee Department of Health, Meschke and her evaluation team conduct the statewide evaluation and support related to rape prevention in Tennessee. This effort is funded through the CDC and focuses primarily on adolescents.

Job Titles:

• Coordinator for the Department

Peyton Prothero (she/her/hers) is the Applied Practice Experience (APEx) Coordinator for the Department of Public Health. Peyton lives in Knoxville, Tennessee with her partner and two exotic pets, but she also calls the Pacific Northwest home as she grew up near Seattle, Washington and spent several years after college in Oregon working. Before moving to Tennessee, Peyton worked as a health education coordinator where she facilitated workshops on various health topics to undergraduate students and oversaw a peer health education program. Her public health interests include college health, reproductive and sexual health, and violence prevention. During her free time, Peyton enjoys hiking, stand-up paddleboarding, attending concerts and comedy shows, watching documentaries, and volunteering. Education Peyton received her B.S. in Public Health, Health Promotion and Health Behavior from Oregon State University in 2014. After spending time working in healthcare and student affairs, she returned to school and received her Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in Community Health Education with a minor in Epidemiology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2022. She is also a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES).

Job Titles:

• Assistant Professor - Currently Accepting PhD Students

Biography Phoebe Tran, PhD, MS is a cardiovascular disease epidemiologist. She believes in an epidemiological approach that combines the power of large datasets with input from community stakeholders. Her research focuses on improving secondary cardiovascular disease prevention in medically underserved US populations. She is especially interested in identifying ways to improve access to care and quality of life among individuals with cardiovascular disease living in rural Tennessee. She has received funding from the National Institute on Aging to conduct research examining the influence of air pollution on stroke outcomes, trends in antihypertensive medication use in rural stroke survivors, cardiac rehabilitation use in rural heart survivors, and heart attack symptoms recognition in older adults with cognitive impairment. This research has provided her with opportunities to work with national survey data and administrative claims data. Aside from her cardiovascular disease research, Dr. Tran has also published studies that identify disparities in chronic disease screening and management for conditions such as diabetes, HIV, and cancer among people with a disability and those living in rural areas. Phoebe received her PhD in Chronic Disease Epidemiology from Yale University, MS in Epidemiology form Harvard University, and BA in Biology from Emory University. Having grown up in Knoxville, she is excited to return to her roots and reexplore the natural wonders of Tennessee.

Job Titles:

• Associate Professor - Currently Accepting PhD Students

Biography Samantha F. Ehrlich, PhD, MPH is a reproductive and perinatal epidemiologist whose research focuses on pregnancy exposures, behaviors, and outcomes related to diabetes and obesity in pregnant people and their children. Dr. Ehrlich received her MPH in Maternal and Child Health and doctoral degree in Epidemiology from the University of California Berkeley. Prior to coming to UT, she was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Women's and Children's Health Section at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. Dr. Ehrlich serves on the Editorial Boards for PLOS One and BMC Pregnancy And Childbirth, and is currently the Communications Director for the American Diabetes Association's Pregnancy & Reproductive Health Interest Group. She teaches Biostatistics and Epidemiology III.

Job Titles:

• Department Head - Currently Accepting PhD Students

Biography Thankam S. Sunil, PhD, MPH received his PhD from the University of North Texas and MPH from the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center. His research focuses in the areas of health disparities at the local and global levels. His on-going research in these areas span from countries in South America to countries in South and South East Asia.