CHER - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Science Communication Writer
Abby Arcuri is currently an undergraduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She majors in Health Policy and Management with a minor in Medical Anthropology. She is currently a Work-Study student assistant for CHER while also participating in various campus organizations. In the future, Arcuri hopes to graduate with her undergraduate degree and pursue a Master's in Public Health with a concentration in health communications. Abby is especially interested in studying the … Read more
Abby Arcuri is currently an undergraduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She majors in Health Policy and Management with a minor in Medical Anthropology. She is currently a Work-Study student assistant for CHER while also participating in various campus organizations. In the future, Arcuri hopes to graduate with her undergraduate degree and pursue a Master's in Public Health with a concentration in health communications. Abby is especially interested in studying the socioeconomic barriers that impact healthcare in communities and what can be done to improve it.
Abhigna Rao is a Student Research Assistant with Abacus Evaluation at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research and is pursuing her MPH in Health Behavior from the Gillings School of Global Public Health. She also serves as a Graduate Research Assistant with the Center for Aging and Health in the UNC School of Medicine studying health disparities in cancer care access among aging populations. Rao earned her Honors Bachelor of Arts in Interpersonal Communication from the University of Delaware. While there, she contributed to multiple evaluation projects at the Center for Research in Education and Social Policy (CRESP at UD) and wrote her undergraduate thesis on student experiences and priorities in settings of higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was later published in the Delaware Journal of Public Health. At a high level, she is passionate about program implementation, evaluation, and qualitative research, and hopes to apply those to areas of health literacy, women's and family health, and cross-cultural inequities.
Abhigna Rao, B.A. August 15, 2023 Abhigna Rao is a Student Research Assistant with Abacus Evaluation at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research and is pursuing her MPH in Health Behavior from the Gillings School of Global Public Health. She also serves as a Graduate … Read more
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate Evaluator
- Evaluation Program Manager
Abisola Osinuga is an Associate Evaluator of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics, Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) program at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She earned her Ph.D. in Occupational and Environmental Health from the University of Iowa. Her research is focused on addressing gender inequalities and maternal health disparities by assessing how the physical, social, and environmental conditions of unpaid domestic work impacts women's health. While in graduate school, Osinuga worked at the Iowa Public Policy Center as a research evaluation intern, collaborating with the Health Policy team by evaluating the impact of health policy initiatives on the cost of, access to, and use of, health care services and systems in the state of Iowa. She is experienced at designing, implementing and evaluating research programs, using behavioral theories and psychometric methodologies to develop surveys, coordinating research projects at home and abroad, and applying exposures assessment tools/methods in uncharted work settings.
Job Titles:
- Social / Clinical Research Assistant
Airianne Posey is a Social/Clinical Research Assistant at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. Posey earned a master's in Social Work with an American Indian/Alaska Native populations concentration from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis in 2017. She graduated with a B.A. in Sociology in 2014 from UNC-Chapel Hill. Her interests are in community-based participatory research, culturally appropriate research methodology, qualitative methods and health equity.
Job Titles:
- Interim Project Coordinator
Alexa Katon works in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research (CHER) as an Interim Project Coordinator for the RADx® Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) initiative. Katon earned her B.S. in Nutrition Science from NC State University and her M.S. in Forensic Psychology from Nova Southeastern University. Her interests lie at the intersection of psychology and public health, and she is particularly passionate about issues concerning people involved in the criminal justice system and people with substance use disorder.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Associate Director of Evaluation Services
Amelia DeFosset leads the Evaluation team in Abacus Evaluation. Previously, she led the Health Equity and Evaluation Lab within the Center for Health Equity Research and was the Chief of Health and Policy Assessment with the Angeles County Department of Public Health. DeFosset earned her MPH from University of California, Los Angeles with a concentration in community health sciences. She has 10 years of experience in using evaluation, organizational learning, and quality improvement to examine and address health disparities. She has used community-engaged and systems-informed approaches to evaluate initiatives within community, clinical, education, and justice system contexts. She is passionate about helping diverse teams collect, integrate, and interpret mixed methods data to solve hard problems, make better decisions, and ultimately improve wellbeing.
Job Titles:
- Associate Project Specialist
- Associate Project Specialist / UNC Center for Health Equity Research / EDUCATION
Ames Lynch (they/she) serves as an Associate Project Specialist in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. They received their degree in Political Science at NC State with a concentration in International Politics which involved open source intelligence, peacekeeping and policy making. Their previous experience includes IT, education and data management. Her interests include community-driven and holistic approaches to health equity (particularly initiatives that include people that are trans … Read more
Ames Lynch (they/she) serves as an Associate Project Specialist in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. They received their degree in Political Science at NC State with a concentration in International Politics which involved open source intelligence, peacekeeping and policy making. Their previous experience includes IT, education and data management. Her interests include community-driven and holistic approaches to health equity (particularly initiatives that include people that are trans, GNC (gender nonconforming), and those that live outside of the gender binary). They also have an interest in ethics, language and communication in research.
Job Titles:
- Community Engagement Specialist
- Community Engagement Specialist / UNC Center for Health Equity Research / EDUCATION
Andrea Mendoza (she/her) is a Community Engagement Specialist for the New IDEAS study in the Center for Health Equity Research. She graduated with her MPH in global health from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health in 2021 and with a B.A. in psychology from Duke University in 2015. Mendoza has a background in community health, health outreach and health education. Her interests include advancing health equity work, especially mental health in the Latinx population, as well as community … Read more
Andrea Mendoza (she/her) is a Community Engagement Specialist for the New IDEAS study in the Center for Health Equity Research. She graduated with her MPH in global health from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health in 2021 and with a B.A. in psychology from Duke University in 2015. Mendoza has a background in community health, health outreach and health education. Her interests include advancing health equity work, especially mental health in the Latinx population, as well as community-centered participatory and qualitative methods.
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- Project Coordinator
Angelique Jennings (she/her/hers) serves as an assistant project coordinator on the RADx-UP (Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics in Underserved Populations). Jennings earned a B.A. in Anthropology and a B.A. in Spanish from Georgia Southern University. She recently earned her Master in Public Health degree from Georgia Southern University, with a concentration in Community Health. She has experience working with diverse communities through research and service. She has worked in rural communities … Read more
Angelique Jennings (she/her/hers) serves as an assistant project coordinator on the RADx-UP (Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics in Underserved Populations). Jennings earned a B.A. in Anthropology and a B.A. in Spanish from Georgia Southern University. She recently earned her Master in Public Health degree from Georgia Southern University, with a concentration in Community Health.
She has experience working with diverse communities through research and service. She has worked in rural communities in coastal Georgia that lack resources to address their healthcare needs.
Jennings has research interests in the mental health of families of children/adolescents with disabilities, as well as this community's abilities to access these mental health resources. She is invested in learning and growing in the field of health equity and cultural competency to best assist every community she serves.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Principal Investigator of the NC Research Team
Anissa I. Vines, MS, PhD is a research faculty member in the department of epidemiology and co-lead of the Health Equity, Social Justice, and Human Rights MPH degree concentration in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Dr. Vines serves as the director of the Inclusive Science Program in the NC TraCS Institute. She is also an assistant professor in the department of epidemiology within the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She is a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Dr. Vines's research focuses on the psychosocial determinants of women's health disparities and cancer, from prevention to survivorship in African Americans. She prioritizes using both epidemiological and community-engaged research principles and methods to frame her work. She studies an array of stressors, including the racism, and psychosocial resources guided by life course theory and frameworks. Dr. Vines has developed the Telephone-administered Perceived Racism measure for use by phone in epidemiological studies. She is currently examining the stress of racism over the life course and other stressors on the risk of uterine fibroids in African American women.
Dr. Vines has a long track record of community engagement. Her cancer disparities research employs community-engaged principles and the use of peer support. Dr. Vines leads the Outreach Core of the NCCU/UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Disparities Partnership.
Currently, Dr. Vines currently serves as multiple principal investigator of the NC research team, one of 11 research teams in 11 states that are part of the NIH Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities.
Ashleigh Rich, Ph.D., MPH is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She is a social epidemiologist with a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia School of Population and Public Health. Her research focuses on sex/gender, health inequities and sexual and gender minority populations, with particular attention to HIV and transgender health. Her dissertation research investigated the epidemiology of chronic illness for transgender people living with and without H … Read more
Ashleigh Rich, Ph.D., MPH is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She is a social epidemiologist with a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia School of Population and Public Health. Her research focuses on sex/gender, health inequities and sexual and gender minority populations, with particular attention to HIV and transgender health. Her dissertation research investigated the epidemiology of chronic illness for transgender people living with and without HIV in the US and Canada. Broadly, her areas of interest include minority stress, structural stigma, HIV comorbidities and methods and measurement issues in sexual and gender minority health research.
Bernard Coles IV is a passionate and data-driven research scientist with a background in network analysis and visualization, specializing in the intersection of race, health and networks. With over eight years of experience in statistical analysis, he uses social networks and historical patterns to develop tailored, innovative solutions to data problems.
Job Titles:
- Evaluation Research Scientist
Bianka Reese, Ph.D., MSPH, is an Evaluation Research Scientist with Abacus Evaluation in the Center for Health Equity Research where she supports the evaluation activities of the NC Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute (NC TraCS). She has over ten years of experience in leading empirical and qualitative investigations on the social determinants of health, as well as leading culturally responsive and equitable evaluations (CREE) of community-based health promotion, education and workforce development initiatives and programs.
Reese earned her Ph.D. and master's of science in Public Health in maternal and child health from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Her research focuses on health equity, positive youth development, and adolescent and young adult sexual and reproductive health.
Job Titles:
- Research Program Manager at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research
- Research Project Manager
Blen Biru is a Research Program Manager at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research (CHER). She earned her bachelor's degree from Mount Holyoke College, where she studied biology and French and her Master's of Science from the Duke Global Health Institute where she conducted research on the ideal characteristics of caregivers for orphaned and separated children. Prior to joining CHER, Biru worked on breast cancer clinical trials, evaluation research projects and COVID-19 vaccine distribution in the U.S. and globally. She's passionate about equitable healthcare access for all.
Job Titles:
- Research Assistant
- Evaluation Research Assistant
Bola Bilikis Yusuf is an Evaluation Research Assistant with the Abacus Evaluation team at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She earned a medical degree from Nigeria and a Master of Public Health from the University of South Florida. As a graduate student, she worked with the Florida Prevention Research Center where she supported the implementation of a CDC-funded colorectal cancer prevention project. Yusuf also supported the state-wide evaluation of the Florida Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program using mixed methods research. She is interested in program evaluation, health equity, children's health and in reducing maternal morbidity and mortality.
Job Titles:
- Evaluation Research Assistant
Bola Bilikis Yusuf is an Evaluation Research Assistant with the Abacus Evaluation team at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She earned a Medical degree from Nigeria and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of South Florida. As a graduate student, she worked with the Florida Prevention Research Center where she supported the implementation of a CDC-funded colorectal cancer prevention project. Bola also supported the state-wide evaluation of the Florida Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program using mixed methods research. She is interested in program evaluation, health disparities, children's health, and in reducing maternal morbidity and mortality.
Job Titles:
- Project Coordinator
- Project Coordinator With the Co - LEARN Project
Breanna Williams (she/her) is a Project Coordinator with the Co-LEARN Project in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Iowa. Williams' particular areas of interest include: health equity research in vulnerable populations, rural community access to healthcare, program evaluation, program implementation and family systems.
Before joining UNC, Williams worked in research and project management positions related to the treatment and prevention of childhood trauma through a community mental health care center. Her previous professional experience includes: research, evaluation and project management; prevention and treatment of childhood trauma; community mental health; evidence-based practices; perinatal depression and anxiety; maternal mental health and well-being; and virtual reality systems in research.
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant
- Executive Assistant at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research
Carissa Whitehurst is an Executive Assistant at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. A North Carolina native, she graduated from Guilford Technical Community College in 2013 where she earned her Associates of Arts in General Education. She brings years of administrative experience from her previous role as a administrative assistant where she worked with faculty, staff and students.
Job Titles:
- Communications Specialist
Caroline Carter is a recent graduate from North Carolina Central University, where she earned her bachelor's degree in Mass Communications with a focus on Public Relations. She also attended UNC Charlotte from 2017 to 2021, where she studied middle-grade education and learned ways to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve academic success.
Throughout her studies, Carter developed a passion for finding solutions to problems faced by families and communities who lack access to essential information and care. She strongly believes in combating misinformation and providing accurate information to marginalized communities. Carter hopes to use her network at UNC to increase support and trust between the institution, organizations and communities.
Caroline Carter is a recent graduate from North Carolina Central University, where she earned her bachelor's degree in Mass Communications with a focus on Public Relations. She also attended UNC Charlotte from 2017 to 2021, where she studied middle-grade education … Read more
Job Titles:
- Registered Nurse
- Evaluation Research Specialist
- Research Specialist With Abacus Evaluation
Caroline Hays (she/her) is an Evaluation Research Specialist with Abacus Evaluation in the Center for Health Equity Research (CHER).
Hays has a Master of Public Health in Maternal, Child, and Family Health from the Gillings School of Global Public Health, where she was a graduate research fellow through the Center of Excellence in Maternal & Child Health Education, Science, & Practice Training Grant.
Hays is also a Registered Nurse (RN) and holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology. She has over seven years of experience clinical healthcare settings, including obstetrics, primary care and community health. Hays also has public health research and evaluation experience as a member of the UNC Family Medicine Evaluation of Chatham Hospital Maternity Care Center and through a variety of projects with the Center of Excellence in Maternal & Child Health at Carolina.
Her research interests include perinatal health and disparities in health outcomes and access to care.
Caroline Hays (she/her) is an Evaluation Research Specialist with the Abacus Evaluation team at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. Caroline has a Master of Public Health from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as Bachelor's degrees in Biology and Nursing. Caroline has over 9 years of experience in clinical healthcare, public health research, and evaluation. Her interests include maternal and child health and health disparities.
Job Titles:
- Research Assistant
- Evaluation Research Assistant
Caroline Taheri (she/her/hers) is an Evaluation Research Assistant with the Abacus Evaluation team at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. In 2023, she earned her MPH in Health Behavior at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. While completing her graduate degree, she created evaluation tools, evaluated quantitative and qualitative data, and shared findings through presentations and reports. Caroline's research interests include violence prevention, trauma-informed practice and policy, mental health, and health equity.
Chenguang Du serves as a Statistician on the Evaluation Team for CHER and Abacus. He earned his Ph.D. degree in Educational Research and Evaluation at Virginia Tech. His academic focus is on the quantitative methodology in social science research. His substantial research interests are psychology and gerontology.
Job Titles:
- Social / Clinical Research Assistant
Christina Carilli is as a Social/Clinical Research Assistant with the Implementation of EMR-Integrated Referrals to Link Clinical and Community Services to Reduce Health Inequity initiative at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She earned her B.S. in Psychology from High Point University in 2021.
Job Titles:
- Project Coordinator
- Project Coordinator at UNC
Colleen Murphy serves as a Project Coordinator at UNC CHER with the Co-LEARN Project and the RADx-UP Program. Her academic and professional experience includes community-driven and -centered health research, community health worker models for care coordination, community-based participatory research methods and environmental justice all within a social determinants of health conceptual framework.
Murphy's particular interest incorporates political economics of health and its relevance to understanding and addressing health equity. She earned her MPH in Public Health Leadership from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and holds a bachelor's degree in Spanish from Hood College.
Courtney Kelly (she/her) serves as a Project Coordinator on the Engagement Impact Teams (EITs) for the RADx-UP program in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She earned her B.S. in Nutrition from NC State University, M.A. in Human Services Counseling from Liberty University and MPA from North Carolina Central University. Her fellowship studies focused on health policy research and providing support to NC Medicaid health equity projects. Kelly is a Durham, NC native and has experience working in the public sector, serving in non-profit and government roles. Her interests include civic engagement, women's rights and achieving equity in marginalized communities.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Clinical Research Coordinator
- Associate Clinical Research Coordinator for the North Carolina Community Engagement Alliance
Courtney McMillian serves as the Associate Clinical Research Coordinator for the North Carolina Community Engagement Alliance (NC CEAL) in the Center for Health Equity Research (CHER).
With a focus in epidemiology on the infectious disease track, McMillian earned her Masters of Public Health degree from the Gillings School of Global Public Health in May 2023. She earned her B.A. from Winston-Salem State University in December 2019. She majored in sociology and minored in public health. She earned her A.A. in December 2017, majoring in psychology.
McMillian previously worked as a graduate research assistant focusing on content analysis with Covid-19, underserved communities health disparities, Covid-19 impacts on mental health and complications dealing with long Covid.
Courtney McMillian serves as the Associate Clinical Research Coordinator for the North Carolina Community Engagement Alliance (NC CEAL) in the Center for Health Equity Research (CHER). With a focus in epidemiology on the infectious disease track, McMillian earned her Masters … Read more
Job Titles:
- Counselor
- Postdoctoral Research Associate
Craig Waleed is an educator, counselor, certified Restorative Practices group facilitator, author and motivational speaker dedicated to excellence in teaching and scholarship and disrupting the community-to-prison pipeline. Waleed is devoted to educating and motivating others to challenge and overcome many of life's impediments and living a more rewarding experience.
Waleed completed his doctoral studies in Executive Leadership from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY. His career journey includes:
Serving as a substance abuse counselor.
Developing and managing reentry initiatives for post-incarcerated citizens.
Teaching mental health counseling and communication courses at The College at Brockport State University of New York, and Monroe Community College in Rochester, NY.
Waleed's passion has led him to work closely with students on several college campuses and participate in several community panels exploring carceral matters. His accomplishments include:
Guest speaker at TEDx SingSing 2020.
Several podcast guest appearances.
Leading Restorative Practices Training.
D.E.I. (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) consultant for various organizations.
Releasing his autobiography, Prison to Promise: A Chronicle of Healing and Transformation (August 2, 2020).
Waleed is currently a project manager with Disability Rights North Carolina.
Dana Carthron is a 2009 graduate of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Nursing, and the first graduate of the BSN to Ph.D. at UAMS. The focus of her graduate studies was gerontology. Her dissertation and program of research in chronic illness explored self-management of diabetes among African -American care-giving grandmothers. Carthron was on the faculty of Winston-Salem State University, teaching Community/Public Health, Nursing Research and Gerontology. She completed a fellowship with the John A. Hartford Building Geriatric Nursing Capacity program, gaining expertise in mixed methods and longitudinal analysis of trajectories of chronic illness. As a center investigator at Duke University's Adaptive Leadership for Cognitive Affective Symptom Science (ADAPT) Center, she used longitudinal quantitative, qualitative and mixed-method approaches to examine the trajectories of symptoms and symptom sequelae as well as patient adaptations associated with cognitive/affective changes. As a CHER post-doctoral fellow, she gained expertise in Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) to continue her work with African American care-giving grandmothers.
Job Titles:
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Darius Scott received his Ph.D. in Geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research has been supported by the Ford Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the Social Science Research Council. He uses qualitative and historical methods to weigh how health and infrastructural inequities are negotiated by African Americans and the LGBTQ community. In particular, he employs oral history and archival research to understand ways HIV and transportation development inequities lead to race and sexual orientation-based community formations in the US South. His research contributes to debates in human geography and public health regarding how culture and space, as coupled factors, produce differences within populations (e.g. black gay men). He is interested in employing cultural geographic insights to foster nuanced, place-based interventions aimed at improving the well-being of LGBTQ and African American communities.
Scott is currently an assistant professor at Dartmouth.
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant
- Executive Assistant at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research
Elle Howle is an Executive Assistant at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She graduated from UNC Chapel Hill in 2013 where she received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology as well as her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology, with a focus in Native American Studies. Her studies took her to Natchez, Mississippi where she participated in an archaeological excavation and field research.
Erika Redding serves as a Research Program Manager in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She earned her MSPH in 2019 from the Department of Health Behavior in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC; she is currently a doctoral candidate in the same department.
Redding's research interests include understanding the role of structural barriers in facilitating the health disparities experienced by minoritized populations in the United States as well as the implementation of culturally competent interventions to address these disparities. Her dissertation research considers the role of structural racism on public health outcomes for Black survivors of domestic violence. Redding is a fellow with the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center and previous Summer Fellow with the UNC Center for the Study of the American South.
Erika Redding serves as a Research Program Manager in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She earned her MSPH in 2019 from the Department of Health Behavior in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC; she is … Read more
Job Titles:
- Communications Specialist
- Communications Specialist for the Clinical Scholars Program
Gabrielle Diekmann is the Communications Specialist for the Clinical Scholars Program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Gabrielle has over 5 years experience helping small businesses and nonprofits grow through integrated marketing communication strategies. She came to UNC from Southeast Missouri State University, where she served as a Project Coordinator for the Economic and Business Engagement Center's grant-funded research and programming. She received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Marketing with minors in Mass Communications and Professional Selling in 2012 from the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
Job Titles:
- Postdoctoral Research Associate
Gabrielle Harris, Ph.D., R.N. is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She earned her Ph.D. in Nursing from Duke University, where she leveraged quantitative and qualitative approaches to explore how parenting both affects and is affected by the experience of having a stroke among working-age adults. Broadly, her research interests include social determinants of health; structural drivers of inequities in stroke and cardiovascular disease risk, incidence and outcomes; and community-based participatory and mixed methods.
Job Titles:
- Graduate Research Assistant
Gabrielle Schust is a first-year Master of Public Health Student in the Global Health concentration at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. She received her B.A. in International Studies and Spanish from the Croft Institute for International Studies at the University of Mississippi in May of 2020, where she did her senior thesis on the comparative role of nuns as providers of healthcare and social services across time and place. Her research interests include US health law and policy, sexual and reproductive rights and justice, and healthcare inequities for refugee and recent immigrant populations in the US.
Gabrielle Schust, BA December 18, 2020 Gabrielle Schust is a first-year Master of Public Health Student in the Global Health concentration at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. She received her B.A. in International Studies and Spanish from the Croft Institute for International Studies … Read more
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Research Associate Professor
Gaurav Dave is a Research Associate Professor in the School of Medicine and the Associate Director of the Center for Health Equity Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). Dave is an expert in the field of formative and summative evaluation research, specializing in evaluating multi-level, complex initiatives, programs and interventions. He has over 15 years of clinical and public health practice and evaluation experience. His area of research focuses primarily on hypertension and chronic diseases, integrating systems thinking in evaluation research. He is the Director of Evaluation of the NIH-funded North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute (TraCS) at UNC, which aims at to accelerate clinical and translational research from health science to discovery to dissemination to patients and communities. Dave co-directs the Systems Science and Evaluation Lab at UNC to foster the integration systems thinking and evaluation in biomedical, clinical and public health research. He serves as the Evaluation chair for HRSA's Southeast Regional Genetics Network at Emory University to improve health equity and health outcomes in individuals with genetic conditions, reduce morbidity and mortality caused by genetic conditions.
As the principal evaluator and investigator, Dave has worked on various federally and foundation-funded projects all over the U.S., including the Newborn Screening and Sickle Cell Disease Program, Heart Matters and Community Initiative to Eliminate Stroke. Dave has a medical degree from the University of Pune, India and worked as an emergency room physician in Mumbai, before coming to the U.S. in 2004. He attended UNC Greensboro and completed a Masters and a Doctorate in Public Health in 2006 and 2011 respectively, with a concentration in public health, community-based prevention research and evaluation. Dave's research interests include evaluation, systems science, and methods research to reduce disparities associated with chronic diseases and hypertension.
Giselle Corbie, M.D., M.Sc. is a Kenan Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Social Medicine and Medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and is Director of the Center for Health Equity Research. She is also the Director of the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences (NC TraCS) Institute's Community Academic Resources for Engaged Scholarships (CARES) services, and Co-Director of the Program on Health Disparities through the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research.
Corbie is nationally recognized for her scholarly work and has expertise in community-engaged and patient-oriented research. Her empirical work, using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, has focused on the methodological, ethical, and practical issues of research to address racial disparities in health. She has been the principal investigator of grants funded through the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD), and the National Human Genome Research Institute. Since 2004, Corbie has been the PI on grants to support Project GRACE, a community-academic research partnership in Eastern North Carolina that has developed, tested and disseminated interventions to prevent HIV and cardiovascular disease.
Job Titles:
- Project Coordinator for the Community Engagement Core
Hailey Leiva (she, her) serves as a Project Coordinator in the UNC Center for health Equity Research. Her experience includes sexual violence prevention, community engagement and program evaluation. She earned her MSW from the UNC School of Social Work and her B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida. Leiva's research interests include community-based approaches to healthy equity, queer and trans-inclusive sexual health interventions, and social determinants of health.
Job Titles:
- Research Assistant
- Research Assistant at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research
India Rockett is a Research Assistant at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research (CHER) and is currently assisting with the NC CEAL project. She is pursuing an M.S. (2023 candidate) in Population Health Science and a Global Health certificate at Duke University School of Medicine.
Rockett graduated from California State University Long Beach in 2021 with a B.S. in Health Science with an emphasis on Community Education, and a certificate in Healthcare administration. Her interests in research are areas that focus on racial health disparities, health equity, health services, health administration and community engagement.
India Rockett is a Research Assistant at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research (CHER) and is currently assisting with the NC CEAL project. She is pursuing an M.S. (2023 candidate) in Population Health Science and a Global Health certificate … Read more
Dr. Brooks is affiliated with UNC School of Nursing and her multidisciplinary program of community-based health research focuses on reducing health disparities and improving the health of American Indian children, with a particular focus on understanding the psychosocial factors related to family management of childhood asthma. Other areas of interest include epigenetics and health services research.
Dr. Brooks' research program advances knowledge of inflammation as a potential biological pathway linking environmental pollutant exposure and psychosocial factors to cardiovascular disease in American Indian women. Her research program is designed to inform low-cost and culturally based psychosocial interventions that seek to reduce American Indian women's susceptibility to environmental pollutants. The goal of this work is to promote environmental health equity among American Indian women.
Job Titles:
- Project Coordinator
- Evaluation Project Coordinator
- Project Coordinator for Abacus Evaluation
Jade Hollars (she/her/hers) is an Evaluation Project Coordinator for Abacus. She graduated with her MPH in Maternal, Child and Family Health from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill. Her interest areas surround health advocacy, family planning, and access to education. She is passionate for improving community outreach and education while addressing gaps between programs and community engagement, especially within rural and underserved communities and populations. Her current role includes operational support, employee engagement, and data visualization.
Jade also has a Bachelor's in Biology from Western Carolina University where she participated in 4 years of cell culture research focusing on the regenerative effects of keratin on human embryonic kidney cells exposed to hypoxic environments. Her goal is to integrate these physical science skills into her public health research and efforts in the improvement of the health and well-being of families and communities.
Job Titles:
- Project Coordinator
- Evaluation Operations Manager
- Evaluation Project Coordinator
Jaimee Zeyzus serves as an Evaluation Project Coordinator for the Abacus Evaluation Team at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She transitioned to the School of Social Medicine from the School of Nursing, where she operated as a Project Manager. She earned her M.A. in Forensic Psychology from the University of Denver and worked as a clinician specializing in the treatment and evaluation of forensic populations. She also has 12 years of experience working in law enforcement, most recently as a Special Agent with the NCSBI conducting criminal investigations.
Jeffrey Mathew has over 15 years of experience in nationally ranked healthcare and academic institutions. He oversees all components of implementation and execution of the RADx-UP program objectives in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research (CHER). Responsibilities include providing strategic oversight with partnering institutions Duke and CCPH, regulatory oversight, and management of personnel responsible for project support across numerous sites and locations in the United States.
Mathew worked in Texas Health Resources, an award-winning system and one of the largest faith-based/non-profit systems in the nation. He led system-wide initiatives through project design, deployment, coordinating stakeholder engagement and completion of action items. His work supported the integration and improvement of operations across the enterprise to reach strategic goals. Mathew worked as the Program Manager of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center (SCCC). He managed multiple projects driven by the center's strategic goals, operations improvement objectives and regulatory compliance requirements. Mathew oversaw capital expansion projects in the SCCC, including opening two satellite clinics. Mathew graduated from one of the top 50 business schools in the nation. He is certified as a project management professional, internal auditor and a yellow belt.
Jeffrey Mathew has over 15 years of experience in nationally ranked healthcare and academic institutions. He oversees all components of implementation and execution of the RADx-UP program objectives in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research (CHER). Responsibilities include providing … Read more
Jenni Detwiler earned her B.S. from East Carolina University. She began her research career at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center, where she worked on several state-wide early education evaluation studies. She has been actively engaged with stakeholders across all phases of social research. She contributes to the RADx-UP program as a Project Coordinator working with the Community Engagement Core supporting Working Groups and the Engagement Resource Center. She has a longtime interest in family health and support systems.
Jenni Detwiler earned her B.S. from East Carolina University. She began her research career at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center, where she worked on several state-wide early education evaluation studies. She has been actively engaged with stakeholders across all phases of social research. She contributes to the RADx-UP program as a Project Coordinator working with the Community Engagement Core supporting Working Groups and the Engagement Resource Center. She has a longtime interest in family health and support systems.
Job Titles:
- Education and Training Coordinator With the NC Community Engagement Alliance
Jess Roe(she/her) serves as an Education and Training Coordinator with the NC Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research (CHER).
Roe earned her MPH in Health Equity, Social Justice, & Human Rights from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health in May 2023. She served as a graduate assistant and temporary project manager for the Gillings Inclusive Excellence unit.
Prior to graduate school, Roe worked as a high school science teacher in Weldon, NC. She also worked as an indoor environmental professional and research coordinator for an indoor testing and research company. Roe earned a dual-degree B.A. in Biology and Spanish at the University of San Diego.
Jess Roe(she/her) serves as an Education and Training Coordinator with the NC Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research (CHER). Roe earned her MPH in Health Equity, Social Justice, & Human Rights from the UNC … Read more
Jonathan Smith (he/him/his) is an MPH practicum student working with the CRx-CKD Team in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Biology from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2018. He completed one year of coursework at UNC Greensboro as he prepared to attend medical school, and he is now working toward his M.D. at UNC Chapel Hill. Smith decided to pursue the M.D./MPH dual degree and is currently a Gillings student in the Population Health for Clinicians Concentration preparing to graduate from the program in May.
Smith has conducted research related to vascular disease and gender disparities with the UNC Department of Vascular Surgery. He also has interest in mentoring and supporting students, and this academic school year, he was motivated to work in the UNC Learning Center to improve outcomes through academic coaching. Smith is passionate about reducing barriers and helping others overcome obstacles to living successful lives, and this has compelled him to learn more about health equity and combating structural racism. He plans to use knowledge acquired from the MPH curriculum and his experience at CHER to provide more holistic care to patients living with vascular and chronic diseases when he becomes a physician.
Karar "Zunaid" Ahsan has worked in the fields of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and research in the health sector for over 15 years. Most recently he worked at MEASURE Evaluation at UNC, where he was Senior Research Associate and served as the M&E Advisor to the Program Management and Monitoring Unit (PMMU) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in Bangladesh. Previously, he worked for the World Bank's South Asia Health, Nutrition and Population Sector and the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) where he was involved in developing knowledge products and strategic analytical tasks on demographic and epidemiological transitions, health equity and health systems strengthening. He has authored more than 40 technical reports/book chapters and had 16 articles published in peer-reviewed journals. He has also presented in various international symposiums and conferences on issues related to policy and programs for health systems strengthening, monitoring and evaluation, and epidemiological and demographic transitions. He graduated in Applied Statistics from the University of Dhaka and earned a Master of International Public Health from the University of Sydney. He recently earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Maternal and Child Health in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC.
Ahsan is currently an assistant professor in the Gillings School of Global Public Health.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Michigan
Katrina R. Ellis earned her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan School of Public Health (Health Behavior and Health Education). Her research interests include family health interventions; cancer survivorship; racial and ethnic disparities in cancer; and, program evaluation. Katrina's future program of research includes the design and implementation of interventions to support the quality of life and healthy lifestyle and coping behaviors of cancer survivors, caregivers and family members. Her postdoctoral fellowship was completed with the Center for Health Equity Research in conjunction with the Cancer Health Disparities Training Program (UNC School of Public Health).
Ellis is currently an Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Michigan.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Washington University School of Medicine
Kia Davis worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Cancer Health Disparities Training Program in the Gillings School of Public Health. Her dissertation explored the associations between socioeconomic status, chronic stress, smoking and BMI using latent variable analytic techniques. Davis' research interests include the social determinants of health and health inequities, health communication and chronic disease prevention.
Davis wants to become an independent investigator with a focus on (1) increasing our understanding of the complex and multifactorial relationships between social-contextual stressors and chronic disease risk factors; (2) developing scalable community-based interventions to reduce the burden of chronic disease risk factors in communities of color; and (3) providing data to inform policies that seek to ameliorate health disparities. She earned her Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from the St. Louis University School of Public health in 2007. After time working at the National Institutes of Health, she earned her Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degree from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in 2015.
Dr. Davis is currently an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Calancie's research interests include community engagement, childhood obesity prevention, food systems, gene-environment interactions, systems science, multilevel interventions, public health workforce capacity-building, hunger alleviation, social entrepreneurship and health equity. Her dissertation focused on understanding and evaluating food policy councils. Calancie engaged with community members and public health practitioners to build capacity to develop and implement policy, systems and environmental-level interventions to promote health and prevent chronic disease. Her experience includes working with Child Nutrition Staff to strengthen their school meals programs, developing web-based nutrition intervention and evaluation materials, and studying whether genes associated with bitter taste perception influence participants' responses to a dietary change intervention.
As a post-doctoral fellow, Calancie gained training in participatory and computational systems science methods and applying these novel methods to promote health equity.
Dr. Calancie is currently a Research Assistant Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.
Laura Florick (she/her) is a Project Coordinator supporting the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She earned her B.A. from the University of Kansas in Sociocultural Anthropology, earned a graduate certificate in Technical Writing and Public Rhetorics from the University of Arkansas, and earned a Master of Public Service degree with a focus on food policy from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service.
Before coming to UNC, Florick worked in community leadership, research and project management positions all over the world, including archaeological and ethnographic field work, international education, arts field trip program evaluation and research on local food economies during COVID-19, while supporting museums, K12 schools, higher ed institutions, community grassroots initiatives and nonprofits. Her research interests include community-engaged research, community resiliency, program evaluation, community food sovereignty and equitable food systems.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Post Doctoral Research Associate
Laura Villa Torres joined CHER in 2018. Her current research interests rely on the health disparities lived by immigrants from Mexico in the United States, particularly among those living with limited documentation status. Villa Torres' methodological strengths are qualitative research and community-based participatory methods. As part of her postdoctoral experience, Villa Torres expanded both her population focus and her methodological expertise.
Villa Torres is currently an assistant professor in the Gillings School of Global Public Health.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director
- Associate Professor
Leah Frerichs is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at UNC-Chapel Hill and the Associate Director of the Center for Health Equity Research at UNC. Frerichs is an expert in research focused on the intersection of community-based participatory research and systems science to address health inequities. Her work has spanned practice and research with an overarching goal to develop, implement and evaluate programs and policies that are grounded in community needs and values.
She has worked with a diverse range of communities on a multitude of topics including adolescent health, cancer screening, cardiovascular disease prevention, substance abuse and mental health. As a principal investigator, Frerichs has led grants funded through Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Lia Kaz (she/her) serves as a Project Coordinator in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She earned her Masters in Social Work (MSW) from UNC Chapel Hill with a concentration in Community, Management, and Policy Practice in 2019, and her bachelor's in Social Work from Warren Wilson College in 2015. Her previous professional experience includes conflict transformation and restorative justice, post-incarceration case management, rural civic engagement, antiracist education and community mental health. Kaz's research interests are eclectic, though all centrally relate to the question, "How can we build systems of well-being together?"
Lori Hoggard earned her Ph.D. in Personality & Social Contexts Psychology from the University of Michigan. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and the Center for Health Equity Research at UNC. Hoggard joined the faculty at Rutgers University-New Brunswick in the fall of 2017, where she is a member of the Social Psychology area as well as an affiliate of the Health Psychology program.
Hoggard's research focuses on racial discrimination as a chronic psychosocial stressor that heightens African Americans' risk for physical (e.g. cardiovascular disease) and mental (e.g. depression and anxiety) health concerns. She focuses on: (1) elucidating whether racial discrimination is a distinct stressor for African Americans with physiological and psychological consequences that exceed those of non-race-related stressors, (2) explicating the mechanisms that underlie the associations between racial discrimination experiences and deleterious outcomes and (3) identifying person-related characteristics that serve as potential protective or vulnerability factors (e.g. racial identity) in the context of racial discrimination. Her interests include structural racism and the development and implementation of interventions that alleviate the impacts of racism.
Dr. Hoggard is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Rutgers University.
Job Titles:
- Postdoctoral Research Associate
Malcolm Bevel received his Ph.D. in Epidemiology and was a Grace Jordan McFadden Professors Program scholar at the University of South Carolina. He uses quantitative and qualitative methods to promote healthy lifestyle interventions in the African American community. Specifically, his interests are environmental and social determinants of health (e.g. residential racial segregation, food deserts/swamps) and how they impact the ability of the community to access resources for living a healthy lifestyle. His research includes the community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to combating various chronic disease outcomes (e.g. CVD, cancer). He is interested in utilizing the CBPR approach to implement pragmatic clinical trials involving gardening (personal or community) in order to improve the quality of life of African Americans in the Southeast and nationwide. Dr. Bevel is also a proud member of Omega Psi Phi, Fraternity Inc.
Bevel is currently an assistant professor at Augusta University.
Job Titles:
- Data Analyst
- Research Assistant
- Evaluation Research Assistant - Data
Marlena Kuhn is an Evaluation Research Assistant within the UNC Center for Health Equity Research for the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics-Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) program. She earned her MPH from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health in 2021 and her B.S. in Neuroscience from Trinity University in 2019. Her interests revolve around leveraging data analytics techniques to support projects promoting health equity.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Evaluation
- Evaluation Research Scientist
Mary Ryan Hawkins is a mixed-methods evaluator with over 14 years of experience. She is the Associate Director of Evaluation for the NC Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute (NC TraCS) where she implements and manages multi-level evaluation plans focused on monitoring progress and assessing impact of the institute and its programs.
Hawkins graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a double major in political science and philosophy. She earned her M.A. in International Security from the University of Kentucky's Patterson School for Diplomacy and International Commerce.
Post-graduation, Hawkins worked as a Research Analyst at the Institute for Defense Analysis where she supported evaluation and assessment of various Department of Defense (DoD) initiatives aimed at improving human socio-cultural knowledge and proficiency in the military.
After five years with the DoD, she changed directions, moving to the Triangle and working at Duke University's Social Science Research Institute and Duke's Sociology Department where she spent six years honing her data collection, management and analysis skills.
Before coming to Carolina, Hawkins supported monitoring and evaluation for a nationally implemented, evidence-based program, Family Connects International, that provides nurse in-home clinical care and connections to local support resources for newborns and their family members.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Associate Director of Research Innovation and Development
- Senior Research Scientist, UNC Center for Health Equity Research
Mary Wolfe McKinley, M.Sc., Ph.D., is the Associate Director of Research Innovation and Development at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She earned her Ph.D. in City & Regional Planning from UNC-Chapel Hill, where she investigated transportation access to health care and innovative mobility solutions to barriers to care.
Before coming to Carolina, McKinley was a Fulbright scholar at the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research studying impacts of green space on chronic disease outcomes. Her research focuses on connections between built environments and health to understand and address disparities.
Matthew Palmer (he/him/his) serves as a Research Assistant in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. He earned his MPH in Health Behavior from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health in 2023. He was an Interprofessional Education and Practice Distinguished Scholar while at UNC Gillings and earned a graduate certificate in Innovation for the Public Good.
Palmer has a diverse professional background ranging from the biomedical sciences to social systems knowledge to clinical work. He is most interested in reimagining existing health systems to ensure equitable access to healthcare and working to attenuate unmet social needs through advocacy, research and innovation.
His most recent work includes community-based participatory research with the Montagnard community, social/clinical research in the hospital emergency department related to unmet social needs of patients and the evaluation of barriers to enrollment in medical financial assistance programs in central and eastern North Carolina.
Matthew Palmer (he/him/his) serves as a Research Assistant in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. He earned his MPH in Health Behavior from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health in 2023. He was an Interprofessional Education and … Read more
Maura Drewry (she/her/hers) serves as a Project Coordinator in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She earned her MPH in Health Behavior from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health in 2020, and she earned her B.S. in Health Sciences from Furman University in 2017. Her prior work experience includes a variety of community-engaged efforts focused on chronic disease prevention, mental health, anti-racism and Adverse Childhood Experiences. Her research interests include racial equity, social determinants of health, systems-level public health solutions, holistic health promotion and community-based participatory methods.
Maura Drewry (she/her/hers) serves as a Project Coordinator in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She earned her MPH in Health Behavior from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health in 2020, and she earned her B.S. in … Read more
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director for Communication and Recruitment for the Clinical Scholars Program
Melissa is the Deputy Director for Communication and Recruitment for the Clinical Scholars Program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and is affiliated with CHER. Melissa's experience includes 15 years managing research intervention studies in community settings using principles of community-based participatory research with and for African American and Latino populations. Her research interests include health disparities across the cancer continuum, peer support interventions, disease prevention, and factors that influence participation in health research. She received her Masters of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health in Health Behavior and Health Education.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Associate Director of Data Science & Analytics / Operations
- Associate Director of Data Science & Analytics in Abacus Evaluation
- Associate Director of Data Science & Analytics of Abacus Evaluation
- Data Analytics Team Lead
Michelle Song is the Associate Director of Data Science & Analytics of Abacus Evaluation in the Center for Health Equity Research (CHER).
Michelle Song is the Associate Director of Data Science & Analytics in Abacus Evaluation, within the UNC Center for Health Equity Research (CHER). Michelle leads the data management, analysis, visualization and overall data system design solutions for Abacus projects and contributes to the infrastructure of data needs for projects within CHER. Prior to UNC-Chapel Hill, Michelle was a Technical Advisor with the Data Science, Impact, and Learning team at Jhpiego, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University and a leading global health organization. She has over 12 years of experience in data systems and use across domestic and international health systems and public health programs to improve health outcomes. She has designed and implemented economic and program evaluations for health systems, advocacy strategies, and improvement of internal operations. Michelle earned her MSPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and executive education Certificates in Business Communication and Management Development from the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. Her health and non-health sector experience create a unique perspective from which to understand complex systems, how to make data work for the people who collect and manage it, and how to communicate clear messages data can contain. Her current work focuses on bringing data analytics and visualization to research and evaluation that is furthering the goal of improving health outcomes and equity.
Job Titles:
- Portfolio Manager
- Project Coordinator
Miranda Rain Wenhold is an Evaluation Portfolio Manager with the Abacus Evaluation team in UNC's Center for Health Equity Research. Wenhold is also a licensed therapist and provides professional counseling services in the Triangle area. Wenhold earned her M.S.Ed. in School and Mental Health Counseling from the University of Pennsylvania and is a certified counselor in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. She has also served as Research Project Manager and Evaluation Project Coordinator for various grant-funded and privately funded initiatives at UNC and the University of Pennsylvania. Wenhold's foremost areas of interest are mental health, developmental psychology, maternal and child health, and public policy.
Monica M. Taylor, Ph.D., MPH is a Research Scientist in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She earned her Ph.D. in Planning and Public Policy from the Bloustein School at Rutgers University where she investigated disparities in breast cancer mortality from a social justice perspective. Her research focuses on the inequitable distribution of the social determinants of health in vulnerable populations (geographic, economic and racial), using political theory and community-engaged approaches to eliminate health disparities in chronic and infectious diseases.
Nader Mehri holds a bachelor's degree in sociology, a master's degree in demography and a Ph.D. in Social Gerontology. He is an applied statistician and demographer who provides high-quality analyses and guidance to researchers in CHER and Abacus Evaluation.
Mehri's research uses advanced statistical and demographic methods to understand complex processes that influence health and mortality disparities in the United States and abroad. He developed a flexible, valid and user-friendly Stata program to estimate multistate life table quantities including healthy life expectancy and variability around them. The Stata program facilitates testing hypotheses while accounting for complex survey designs. In addition to expertise in Stata, Mehri is a fluent R programmer in a variety of statistical methods such as structural equation modeling, spatial analysis and meta-analysis.
Nader Mehri has a background in social science and demography which provides excellent context by which to apply the technical skills in statistical analysis and programming later earned through his PhD and postdoc experiences. Bringing a wide breadth of statistical and demographic expertise as well as data visualization and project management skills, Nader provides high-quality analysis and guidance to the whole Abacus team.
Naomi Baumann-Carbrey (she/her) serves as a Project Coordinator at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. Baumann-Carbrey earned her B.A. in Global Studies from UNC Chapel Hill in 2015 and her Master of Public Health (MPH) from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health's Health Equity concentration in 2021. Baumann-Carbrey comes from a background in labor and community organizing and has been a part of various movements for workers' rights and racial justice in North Carolina. She is passionate about advancing health equity through systems thinking and community-based methods.
Nisha Baral earned her M.S. in Modeling and Simulation and her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Central Florida. Her interest is in modeling complex adaptive systems using an agent-based modeling approach and data modeling techniques. She has experience building mis/information diffusion models and analyzing social media datasets from several platforms like GitHub, Reddit, YouTube and Twitter. Nisha has experience analyzing several behavioral factors like cognition, social influence, influence disparities, information overload and sentiments along with analyzing the social networks. Her research focus was studying emotion contagion due to social influence and its effect on users' information processing capacity using information diffusion models. Her goal at Abacus is to apply her simulation and modeling and data science skills and other experience on behavioral study and social network analysis to community-based research or any other public health-related issues.
Job Titles:
- Health Equity Research Week
Job Titles:
- Associate Director for Education and Engagement
Rachel Berthiaume is the inaugural Associate Director of Education & Engagement for CHER. In this role, she will design, supervise and evaluate engagement and education programs, consistent with the mission and strategic vision of CHER. She also serves as the Deputy Director of Continuous Education for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Clinical Scholars, a comprehensive leadership development program for healthcare providers from diverse fields across the U.S. Her career in public health began with Peace Corps service (Madagascar 2004-2006), and then continued with HIV/AIDS/STI prevention and treatment programs at health clinics in sub-Saharan Africa. She earned her Masters of Public Health in Health Behavior/Education from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health in 2012. She previously managed health projects in Philadelphia, PA and Michigan, that examined intersections between communities and public agencies to improve maternal and child health service delivery, particularly in addressing equity and inclusion issues. Her extensive professional experience on designing and delivering high-quality programming promoting health equity and leadership, as well as personal experience working within community organizations where she gained a ground-level view of community organizing operationalization, contribute to her commitment to health equity, innovation and authentic engagement.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director of Operations
- Associate Director of Operations for the UNC Center for Health Equity Research
Rachel Quinto serves as the Associate Director of Operations for the UNC Center for Health Equity Research and has been with the center for over five years. Her experience at the UNC School of Medicine includes coordination of the medical school LCME accreditation, as well as four years of recruitment, pre-health advising and pipeline programming through the Office of Special Programs (now the Office of Scholastic Enrichment and Equity). She is the executive producer for the "A Different Kind of Leader" podcast hosted by Giselle Corbie which captures insights from diverse leaders so organizations are in a stronger position to grow, innovate and meet the challenges of the day. Quinto earned her B.A. in Sociology in 2010 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Job Titles:
- Communications Manager
- Designer
Hebert brings a wide range of interests to their work, including graphic, web and instructional design, website management, communications and marketing, research interests in early modern England and the history of books/reading/information, data management, data visualization, and technical writing (documentation, editing, etc.).
Hebert grew up in central Florida and earned their bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. They earned their master's in English at the University of Rochester (NY) and their MSLS from UNC Chapel Hill.
Hebert's pronoun is they and they're committed to providing accessible content as part of their support for creating diverse, equitable and inclusive environments and experiences for communities.
In addition to their work in higher ed, Hebert has volunteered with the American Marketing Association's Triangle chapter and supports Retraction Watch, a project of the Center for Scientific Integrity.
Job Titles:
- Research Assistant
- Evaluation Research Assistant
- Evaluation Research Specialist
- Research Specialist With Abacus Evaluation
Rossana Roberts (she/her) is an Evaluation Research Assistant at Abacus where she primarily works on the RADx-UP (Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics, Under-served Populations) program. She graduated from UNC's dual degree program in 2020 with an MPH concentrating in maternal, child and family health from the Gillings School of Global Public Health, and an MSW with a concentration in Community, Management, and Policy Practice. Roberts' prior work experience includes project coordination and program evaluation on a variety of projects ranging from inclusive health education for adolescents, rural health and maternal health promotion.
Roberts' research interests include addressing health disparities among underserved populations, specifically promoting positive health outcomes among mothers and their babies.
Job Titles:
- Evaluation Research Specialist II
Samantha Hoelzer has over five years of combined experience in research evaluation and clinical trials. Prior to working at CHER, she managed research projects that explored how digital health interventions can be used to decrease health disparities between rural and urban populations.
Hoelzer has both a Masters in Public Health and a Bachelors of Science from from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before her master's program, she worked with genitourinary cancer clinical trial research at UNC Lineberger. Her research interests include global health policy, digital health, community-based participatory research, family planning, and maternal and child health.
Job Titles:
- Research Assistant
- Advanced Research Assistant
Sara O'Brien (she/her/hers) is an Undergraduate Research Assistant for the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She is currently studying to get her BSPH in Biostatistics and B.A. in Hispanic Literatures and Cultures from UNC Chapel Hill. O'Brien has worked with CHER since September 2020, primarily focusing on the CRx-CVD and MAPSCorps projects. Her research interests are at the intersection of data analytics and visualization and health equity, particularly within Latine communities. Post-graduation she intends to pursue an MPH in Epidemiology.
Job Titles:
- Research Scientist
- Evaluation Research Scientist
Shelly Maras is an Evaluation Research Scientist in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research where she works on a variety of projects in the Abacus Evaluation portfolio, including RADx-UP and ECHO. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology at NC State University in 2022.
As a graduate student, she studied intimate partner violence survivors' experiences navigating the health care system. Her current research interests include health disparities in underserved communities, community-engaged research and women's health. Maras is experienced in designing and implementing qualitative and mixed-methods research studies to help understand and improve health equity.
Shikira Thomas is a Research Program Manager in the Center for Health Equity Research for the New IDEAS study, under the supervision of Peggye Dilworth-Anderson, Ph.D.
Shikira Thomas is a Research Program Manager in the Center for Health Equity Research for the New IDEAS study, under the supervision of Peggye Dilworth-Anderson, Ph.D.
Job Titles:
- Research Program Manager at Abacus Evaluation
- Research Program Manager of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics
Tara Carr is a Research Program Manager at Abacus Evaluation. She provides evaluation management for Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics - Underserved Populations (RADx-UP), NIH HEAL Initiative®| Heal Connections, and the Clinical Scholars national leadership program.
She earned her MPH and PhD degrees in Nutrition from the Gillings School of Global Public Health, UNC-Chapel Hill, with an emphasis in nutrition intervention and policy. Prior to joining Abacus, she was a Graduate Research Assistant with the Children's Healthy Weight Research Group at the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, working on evaluation for federally-funded, multi-level intervention studies in the early care and education setting. As an Early Care and Education Research Scholar, supported by the Office of Planning, Evaluation, & Research (OPRE), US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), her doctoral research used mixed-methods to better understand predictors of child care teachers' feeding styles, which have been implicated in the development of childhood obesity. While a doctoral student, she was also a member of the Evaluation Team for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded 100 Million Healthier Lives Campaign - Spreading Community Accelerators through Learning and Evaluation (SCALE) 2.0 initiative.
Her research interests include community-based participatory research and evaluation of complex interventions that address health and well-being disparities.
Job Titles:
- Research Assistant
- Evaluation Research Assistant
Taylor Baldwin is an Evaluation Research Assistant with Abacus Evaluation at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. In 2022, she earned her B.S. in Information Science with a minor in Cognitive Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to working here, Taylor worked for UNC Rural where she created a comprehensive database of UNC partnerships operating in rural parts of North Carolina based on survey data. Her interests include data analytics, data visualization, and health equity.
Job Titles:
- Evaluation Research Specialist
Thomas McKinley (he/him/his) is an Evaluation Research Specialist with the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute (NC TraCS) where he supports the tracking and evaluation of their programs. He has over 7 years of experience working in evaluation and brings this experience to his collaborations with program managers across NC TraCS. Thomas is currently enrolled in the Informatics and Analytics graduate program at UNC Greensboro. His interests include data visualization, predictive analytics, and bibliometrics.
Tiffany Young earned her Ph.D. at the University of South Florida (USF) School of Aging Studies. During her tenure at USF, Young also earned a cognate in Evaluation from the Department of Educational Measurement & Research. While at USF, her research focused on developing and evaluating community programs for older adults. Her dissertation research used mixed methods and the community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to develop, implement and evaluate an inter-generational physical activity program for kinship families. She was awarded the USF Graduate Community Scholars Grant for this research. Her current interest is in utilizing CBPR as a framework for engaging community stakeholders in the design, implementation and evaluation of programs to address broad community health issues. She recently was awarded a Diversity Research Supplement by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute which will support her work using CBPR to adapt and evaluate an evidence-based lifestyle intervention that will address cardiovascular disease risk factors among older adults in a rural community.
Job Titles:
- Community Engagement Specialist
Timothy Simmons is a Community Engagement Specialist on the New IDEAS team. Simmons is a service-focused community educator who has over 20 years of experience in member engagement and community collaboration. He strongly believes in advocacy and empowerment of those who may not have a voice and empowering the vulnerable population often overlooked in research. Simmons believes in working in cooperation, in collaboration, in partnership, with our communities.
Job Titles:
- Advanced Social / Clinical Research Assistant
Veena Reddy is an advanced social/clinical Research Assistant in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She works with the Co-LEARN team to research effective implementation strategies for cardiovascular disease evidence-based practices.
Reddy earned her B.S. in Biology at the University of California, Riverside. She worked as an Undergraduate Research Assistant at the Center for Health Disparities before being promoted to Staff Research Associate. In her role, she performed community-based research to understand COVID-19 vaccine attitudes among Southern California's uninsured and Medicaid beneficiaries. Reddy's research interests include promoting clinician trust, reducing vaccine hesitancy and community-based health.
Veena Reddy is an advanced social/clinical Research Assistant in the UNC Center for Health Equity Research. She works with the Co-LEARN team to research effective implementation strategies for cardiovascular disease evidence-based practices. Reddy earned her B.S. in Biology at the … Read more