About Our Graduates

About Our Graduates


Donna T. Bacon, EdD, LCSW, MS, CT, MCHES
2021 TC, CU ALUMNI AWARD RECIPIENT
Department Chair, Executive Director, National and Global Health Disparities

Donna T. Bacon, EdD, LCSW, MS, CT, MCHES was a year 2021 Teachers College, Columbia University Alumni Award Recipient for being “a change agent and advocate whose work focuses on the education, empowerment and health promotion for underserved communities.” Dr. Bacon is a tenured Professor at Nassau Community College in the Health Studies department. In 2015 she was voted Chairperson of the department securing her place as the first female, youngest and only African American ever to hold the position. She orchestrated the first annual breast cancer walk and expo at Nassau Community College which raises awareness and now provides an annual platform to educate the young adults on campus about their bodies and encourages breast health strategies and breast cancer awareness to the entire the campus community. Additionally, she created, designed and facilitates two life skills mentoring programs: SASH (Student Advocates for Sexual Health) and is also the creator of Red Shoes (Redefining, Envisioning & Developing Sheroes to Health and Overall Emotional Satisfaction). In an innovative fashion, these programs empower young men and women and professional women to live their best lives, physically, sexually, spiritually and emotionally. Dr. Bacon’s dedication to closing healthcare disparities gaps extends internationally with her mission work in Pretoria and Soweto, South Africa; there, she volunteers, working directly with women that are pregnant and HIV+ as well as training outreach workers in various communities and treatment facilities. Dr. Bacon is the founding Executive Director of Mid-Nassau Lend a Helping Hand, an organization she created to provide emergency financial services to women and men undergoing recent breast cancer surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment. She founded the organization as a direct result of the challenges she experienced dealing with the financial strain a breast cancer diagnosis can bring and its impact on recovery. Since its’ inception, under her leadership, the program has serviced thousands of men and women in Long Island. 

Dr. Bacon was vetted and selected to participate in a two-year elite Leadership Academy, The Energeia Partnership, which is dedicated to identifying and addressing the serious, complex and multi-dimensional issues challenging the Long Island region. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Private Therapist and Certified Thanatologist.  She earned the EdD and MS degrees in health education  degree from Teacher’s College, Columbia University; and, a Master of Social Work degree from Adelphi University.  Her doctoral dissertation, earned while undergoing chemotherapy, has been the springboard for e-health research among Professor Barbara Wallace’s (Director) Research Group on Disparities in Health (RGDH) at Teachers College. Dr. Bacon created and evaluated via her dissertation www.DIVAhealth.org, a website hosting 17 original sexual health videos culturally tailored for Black women by Dr. Bacon. This website hosted numerous RGDH studies. Dr. Bacon is currently completing her second doctoral degree, a PhD in Clinical Sexology.

Dr. Bacon was awarded a Nassau County Citation for work with women and minorities on Long Island, a Heath Care Professional Hero award from Long Island Business News and North Fork Bank, presented for multiple local and national institutions and conferences, and volunteered for numerous organizations as a consultant for over 25 years. She serves as a Board Trustee for various community agencies.

Anthony E. Munroe, EdD, MBA, MPH
College President, Former Leader in Hospital Administration

Anthony E. Munroe, EdD, MBA, MPH, President of the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), was appointed as BMCC’s 11th President and began his leadership role on September 1, 2020. He is a nationally recognized executive with more than 30 years of experience leading education and health-care organizations. Before joining BMCC, Dr. Munroe was President of Essex County College (2017-2020), one of the most diverse colleges in New Jersey and a national leader in boosting the social mobility of its graduates. He was previously President of Malcolm X College (2011-2015), which is part of the City Colleges of Chicago system.

A first-generation U.S. citizen who grew up in the Bronx and attended New York City public schools, Dr. Munroe holds a doctorate in education from Columbia University Teachers College with a concentration in health education. While there, he was a Fellow of the Research Group on Disparities in Health (RGDH) within the Program in Health Education, Department of Health and Behavior Studies. His extensive experience includes serving as Associate Vice President of Health Systems Affairs at Ross University School of Medicine in New Jersey and as President of Advocate Trinity Hospital in Chicago. He was also Executive Director of Family Health Services in the New York City Department of Health, overseeing an agency with a $200 million budget and more than 100 service sites. In all cases, what Dr. Munroe contributes is both visionary leadership and standing as an international expert on cultural competency and disparities in health care. Consistent with this standing, Dr. Munroe was named one of the top 25 minority health care executives in the United States by Modern Healthcare Magazine. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and on the Commission on Student Success with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). He was recently named a winner of the 2020 Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society’s Paragon Award for New Presidents, which recognizes college Presidents who have shown strong support for student success at their schools.

In this regard, since arriving at BMCC, Dr. Munroe has been leading the College to create effective academic and student support programs that advance students’ educational and life success; to cultivate the innovation of faculty research, and to encourage a culture of care across the college that embraces equity, inclusion and diversity. Most recently, Dr. Munroe presented BMCC’s Strategic Plan 2020-2025 – Designing for Success: Taking What Works to Scale, which over the next five years will move BMCC towards achieving its mission and realizing its vision of offering all students the opportunity to earn a college degree. In addition, Dr. Munroe established the President’s Fund for Excellence and Innovation at BMCC, following a $30 million gift presented to BMCC by philanthropist, author and activist Ms. MacKenzie Scott. The fund will support proposals and projects with respect to the donor’s intent of elevating initiatives that include addressing food insecurity; equity, race and inclusion; economic mobility; and support for Black, Latino and LGBTQ communities. This gift reaffirms BMCC’s on-going commitment to advance these initiatives in significant ways, primarily through education and training.

Ranelle L. Brew, EdD, MS, CHES
Department Chair and Director of the Master in Public Health Program

Ranelle Brew,  EdD, MS teaches as an Associate Professor for the Public Health program at Grand Valley State University where she serves as the Chair of the Department and Program Director. Her Doctoral and double Master degrees are from Columbia University in Education and Health Sciences, respectively. Her doctoral research was on Adolescent Asthma Health Education in New York City Public Schools through NIH funded collaboration between New York Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University.

She has worked in public health for over 20 years in various settings including clinically, within the public school system, in geriatric health, fitness, and currently in higher education. She has 18 years of higher education teaching experience in both New York City and in Michigan. Dr. Brew teaches courses in the Public Health Promotion and Education emphasis, as well as the Introduction to Public Health course. Teaching online is an area expertise of Dr. Brew's as she has taught, designed curriculum, and trained faculty using high level technologies for the past 15 years. She is the author of instructor materials for F.A. Davis Publishing for Medical Terminology, Simplified and a children’s book entitled, Healthy Days.

Dr. Brew's current research interests include diversity pipeline programming, breastfeeding, accessibility, and global health. As co-director, she runs an annual summer health professions camp entitled, sHaPe Camp, which has won a 2018 Hometown Health Hero Award for its pipeline and diversity impact in the community and the 2020 national Society for Public Health Education, Clarence E. Pearson Award. Brew travels annually with students on global experiential learning trips. She’s travelled to Nairobi, Kenya, Ghana, West Africa, Beijing, China, Tacloban City, Philippines, Manenberg, South Africa, Athens/ Ikaria, Greece, and the Nicoya Coast of Costa Rica with students on study abroad over the past decade. Her extensive global health work includes the development of a sustainable international health care service-learning program for the MPH program. Annually, she takes graduate students to rotating domestic and international destinations. Her current global health research is focused on the five Blue Zones locations, studying centenarians’ lifestyle specifically.

Dr. Brew serves in the public health community extensively. She has served as a Past-President for the Michigan Public Health Association (MPHA) and Immediate Past President for the Great Lakes Chapter of the Society of Public Health Education (GLC-SOPHE), and as an active member of American Public Health Association (APHA) and social co-chair for the PHEHP section, and a national member of the Society of Public Health Education (SOPHE). Locally as a Board Chair for the Diagnostics and Therapeutics Kent County Early College Health programs, and a Wellness Adventure Yard (WAY) committee member for the Junior League of Grand Rapids with focus on women and children’s wellness programming and recently wrote a Grand Rapids Parks and Recreation grant to rejuvenate an inner-city park with accessible playground equipment to be built in Fall 2021.

Nixon Arauz-Melendez, M.A. (Class of ’14)
Ph.D. Student, NIH-IMSD Fellow, Public Health Researcher/Professional, Advocate

In my last semester at Teachers College, Columbia University I received an A in all of my courses and one A+. I am highly satisfied with the education I received at Teachers College, Columbia University. The M.A. degree program in health education provided me with a clear vision of the things I want to do in the long term.”

Nixon Arauz-Melendez, M.A. was able to complete his M.A. degree in Health Education at Teachers College, Columbia University in one academic year—plus part of the summer, graduating in 2014. He began his M.A. studies after his graduation from Cornell University where he majored in Biology with minors in Global Health and Latino Studies. Nixon distinguished himself in the Program in Health Education when participating alongside doctoral students in advanced graduate seminars, submitting exceptionally well-researched and thought-provoking work. During the March 2014 Annual Health Disparities Conference at Teacher College, Columbia University, Nixon served as the Executive Student Research Assistant to his mentor, Professor Barbara Wallace (Conference Director); in that role, Nixon worked diligently to ensure the smooth operation of the highly successful two-day national conference event.

 

During his M.A. studies, Nixon made some of the most outstanding contributions to conference and graduate class discussions when drawing upon and sharing his domestic and international work in the area of HIV/AIDS; this ranged from his familiarity with research findings, to what he learned about the importance of patient adherence to medical regimes, to his experiences in clinical and field work motivating clients to pursue testing for HIV/STDs. He also demonstrated the ability to speak to advocacy and policy issues, while his contributions were indicative of his capacity to develop into a genuine leader in health. He drew upon his rich background, including his having worked for the Harvard University Program on AIDS (HUPA) Project in 2009; and, of note, within HUPA he first served as a research assistant, and then focused on visiting regional clinics to interview and provide health education to HIV positive patients. In sum, it was clear during his M.A. studies in health education that he had a bright future.

After receipt of his M.A. degree, Nixon gained employment as the Business Operations Analyst for an agency that provided skilled nursing and home health care services to medically fragile children in New York City. Nixon’s responsibilities included research, operations, and marketing. However, it was not long before Nixon landed his dream job, distinguishing himself by being selected as a Junior Health Scientist/ORISE Fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of STD Prevention where he worked from 2015 to 2019. There, he was actively involved in health education as well as community outreach. Also as a health scientist at the CDC, he was focused on enhancing and providing STD prevention services to adolescents and young adults—especially within Latinx communities in the U.S. Further, he was engaged in developing and evaluating public health programs to help reduce STD disparities and promote sexual health. He also gained expertise in planning and implementing community based participatory research (CBPR) through the Community Approaches to Reduce STD (CARS), a CDC funded cooperative agreement; this work included Nixon being deeply involved in data collection, data analysis, and providing policy recommendations, as well as providing technical assistance to grant recipients while working with a team of experienced researchers at the CDC.

Nixon also received other diverse training within the CDC. He successfully completed a thirty-day Zika Virus response detail at the CDC’s Emergency Operation Centers (EOC). Nixon benefited from working within the CDC’s Office of the Director, Office of Minority Health and Health Equity where he was a health disparities researcher in training.  This research experience included serving as a junior member of an interdisciplinary team with CDC administrators/health scientists, health policy experts, and other external partners who were also senior public health scientists. He gained the respect of senior research scientists as a valued team member.

Perhaps most admirable, Nixon has been an active volunteer, including at the resource/health centers operated by the Richmond City Health District and Henrico County Health District. There, Nixon worked with Community Health Workers at the Southwood Resource Center. This resource/health center had a clinic that provided a variety of preventive medical services, and provided referrals to immigration policy clinics that sought to assist the marginalized communities of Richmond’s southside. Similarly, across three years, Nixon volunteered at Portal de Salud – a non-profit organization located in Gwinnett County, Georgia; he assisted Latinx families with issues ranging from occupational safety to accessing primary care and preventive healthcare services. This included promoting screening for communicable diseases such as HIV/STDs, and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, while providing training in occupational safety. Further, as an Afro-Latinx/Garifuna man, his own family’s and community’s immigration experiences have sensitized him to health equity issues in a way that translates into a deep commitment to dedicating his research career to the reduction and elimination of health disparities—while also driving him to engage in such volunteer activities, as well as advocacy work and policy change initiatives.

Not surprisingly, Nixon has also accumulated numerous high honors. In 2019, he matriculated at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in pursuit of his Ph.D. in the Department of Health Behavior and Policy, and enjoyed receipt of a Graduate Research Assistantship. In the year 2020, Nixon was accorded honorable mention status in the 2020 Ford Foundation Fellowship Program competition, and then went on to receive the Yale Ciencia Academy (YCA) fellowship: i.e. a program that provides doctoral students from historically underserved backgrounds an opportunity for mentoring, peer support, and networking. Next, Nixon received the high honor of receipt of a 2021 Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship, as a program with The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM): i.e. a training and educational program that provides early career individuals with the opportunity to spend 12 weeks at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington, DC learning about science and technology policy and the role that scientists and engineers play in advising the nation. This Mirzayan Fellowship offers a unique opportunity to obtain the essential skills and knowledge needed to work in science policy at the federal, state, or local levels.” During his time at NASEM Board on Global Health, Nixon served as a student trainee on the Committee on the Analysis to Enhance the Effectiveness of the Federal Quarantine Station Network based on Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic where he assisted in the development of a Consensus Study Report, Improving the CDC Quarantine Station Network’s Response to Emerging Threats. Further, he is currently also a NIH-IMSD Fellow (National Institute of Health - Initiative for Maximizing Student Development) within his doctoral training program. Nixon anticipates graduating with his Ph.D. in 2024. In sum, Nixon’s Cornell, Columbia, Harvard, Yale, CDC training, and numerous honors and Fellowships are collectively indicative of his excellence and how he is destined to make distinguished career contributions to health equity and policy development for underserved populations on regional, national and global levels.

Theresa P. Castillo, Ed.D., M.A., CHES (M.A., Class of ’01)
Award Winning Global Leader in Indigenous, Women’s and Children’s Health

“TC provided me with the foundation essential for translating health research into practical application. The Master’s degree paved my way to work in multiple health care settings, ranging from the National Institutes of Health to rural health clinics in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.”

Theresa P. Castillo, EdD, MA, CHES first obtained her MA degree in 2001 in health education and used that foundation to travel around the world—providing global leadership in delivering community-based health education in diverse indigenous communities.

Eventually, Theresa returned to obtain the Ed.D. degreeTheresa explains, as follows“When I decided to return to school mid-career [14 years later], the doctoral program in Health Education offered the perfect opportunity to combine my diverse interests under the rubric of global health inequities. My interests in gender, health innovation and program sustainability have been well nurtured by TC’s commitment to interdisciplinary fields and to applied research. TC’s flexible environment and academic rigor have made going back to school an easy transition and invaluable experience.”

Across the academic year 2014-2015 Theresa Castillo, M.A. travelled to the countries of Nepal and Bangladesh to investigate best practices and challenges in delivering health care to indigenous Asian women. As her doctoral dissertation data, she was able to present pioneering research, and graduated with her EdD in May 2015.

Building on her prior decade of experience working as a consultant globally, including through the United Nations, Dr. Castillo became the Program Director for Women and Children’s Health at HealthRight International in New York City in 2016. She was lauded as follows on the HealthRight website:

Theresa  P. Castillo has been working globally in the fields of gender, social justice, and health equity for over 20 years. Her expertise includes cultural rights, adolescent health, violence prevention, sexual & reproductive health, and community development among vulnerable populations. Dr. Castillo has collaborated with various civil society organizations, UN agencies, and Ministries of Health to build local capacity and to strengthen public health systems. Her research has focused on immigrant, refugee, and indigenous women and girls’ health issues. Currently, she is adjunct faculty at Columbia University, NYU, and Bard College’s Program on Globalization and International Affairs. Early in her career, she served as a Maternal Health Specialist in Turkmenistan, Morocco, and Mali with the US Peace Corps…

(Source: https://healthright.org/profile/theresa-castillo-edd-ma-ches/)

Not surprisingly, in June 2021, Dr. Castillo was promoted, being appointed the Chief Program Officer at HealthRight—given recognition of how: 

“Theresa is a deeply experienced global health and development professional… [who] has led our Women’s and Children’s Health Program through a period of significant growth. She is exactly the right person to lead all of HealthRight programs as we embark on a new strategic plan with ambitious goals to improve the health and wellbeing of marginalized communities around the world.”  – Dr Peter Navario

(Source: https://healthright.org/news/article/congratulations-dr-theresa-castillo/)

Dr. Castillo explained how, since joining this organization,

“I have been inspired by HealthRight’s unwavering commitment to health equity and its partnerships across the globe. I am eager for this next chapter as Chief Program Officer, and I look forward to amplifying our success at co-creating inclusive, sustainable health solutions.”  – Dr. Theresa Castillo

(Source: https://healthright.org/news/article/congratulations-dr-theresa-castillo/

Further, in August 2022, in honor of World Humanitarian Day, Dr. Theresa Castillo was honored as one of the Teachers College, Columbia University Alumni “You Should Know” who are “furthering equity and social justice for underserved communities around the globe”—as follows:

Theresa Castillo (Ed.D. ’15, M.A. ’01)

    “A catalyst in public health research and service for more than 20 years, Castillo is the Chief Program Officer of the global nonprofit HealthRight, which works to eliminate the gap in access to healthcare for underserved populations. Castillo previously served as the organization’s director of Women and Children’s Health Programs for five years, during which time she oversaw the execution and success of health programs in Eastern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

    “Meaningful, diverse partnerships are at the core of all successful global health collaborations. It is what drives innovation and health solutions,” says Castillo, whose expertise includes sexual & reproductive health, and community development among vulnerable populations.

    For Castillo, successful health partnerships embrace trust, inclusivity and shared leadership. “Such partnerships are an invaluable marker for improving the health of communities by anchoring the positive shifts in health policy and programming.”

    Early in her career, Castillo served in the Peace Corps in Morocco, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Mali in Africa, which granted her hands-on experience with numerous facets of public health. This fall, Castillo will receive the Harding Women of Achievement Award, which honors Peace Corps alumnae whose contributions have globally impacted women and girls. “With my TC Health Education degree under my belt, I loved learning from and collaborating with colleagues to solve challenging health issues and to build better systems of care.”

(Source: https://www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2022/august/human-rights-focused-alumni-you-should-know/)

Indeed, in October of 2022, Dr. Theresa P. Castillo received the Year 2022 Deborah Harding Women of Achievement Award from the Peace Corps, sharing how “It is such a big honor and tribute to the early work that started while at TC in the late 90's.” Consider the nature of this high honor:

    “The Deborah Harding Women of Achievement Award honors Peace Corps women whose contributions have made a significant difference in the lives of women and girls in the world. Awardees are recognized in a public ceremony during the annual National Peace Corps Association Conference.”

    “Women of Peace Corps Legacy is pleased to honor Dr. Theresa P. Castillo as the 2022 winner of the Deborah Harding Women of Achievement Award.  Informed by Peace Corps service early in her career in Turkmenistan, Morocco, and Mali, Theresa has worked in the fields of gender, social justice, and health equity for more than 25 years, and has helped thousands of women and girls around the world.”  

    “Working primarily in resource-poor settings across Asia, North America, and sub-Saharan Africa, Dr. Castillo has collaborated with various non-governmental organizations, UN agencies, and Ministries of Health to strengthen public health systems. Dedicated to community-led innovation, her work centers around co-creation and partnership with multidisciplinary actors. Her research is dedicated to immigrant, refugee, and indigenous women and girls’ health issues.  A strong advocate of holistic concepts of health and integrated healing, Dr. Castillo serves on several health equity committees, peer-review journal panels, and presents globally on gender, SRH, youth and indigenous rights. Currently, she is the Chief Program Officer at HealthRight International and teaches at Bard College’s Globalization and International Affairs, New York University’s School of Global Public Health, and Teachers College, Columbia University.

(Source: https://www.womenofpeacecorpslegacy.com/cpages/dhaward).

In this manner, with receipt of the MA and EdD degrees in health education, the career trajectory of Dr. Theresa P. Castillo is a reflection of her deep commitment as global leader in health who has a track record for effectively addressing the needs of indigenous communities, women and children in resource poor communities around the world.  She was welcomed as an Adjunct Assistant Professor to Teachers College, Columbia University, teaching Women’s Health, as a genuine expert.

Dr. Naa-Solo Tettey, EdD, MPH, MBA, CPH, MCHES®
Creator and Coordinator of a Faith-Based Cardiovascular Health Education Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center—HeartSmarts, and Professor of Public Health

Dr. Naa-Solo Tettey, EdD, MPH, MBA, CPH, MCHES® is Coordinator of Cardiovascular Health Education at the Ronald O. Perelman Heart Institute at New York Presbyterian/ Weill Cornell Medical Center—HeartSmarts, and, a tenured Associate Professor of Public Health at William Paterson University. As the creator  and Coordinator of HeartSmarts, Dr. Tettey frequently explains how the program aims to improve health disparities related to heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and hypertension in the African American community. Hence, Dr. Tettey is a nationally recognized expert in faith-based health education. Her pioneering model of HeartSmarts has been featured in the media: i.e. the New York Times, the Harlem Times, and the Daily News—as well as ABC News, and New York 1 News,  Regarding her pioneering work with HeartSmarts, Dr. Tettey provides details, as follows:

“I wanted to make a truly faith-based program that incorporated prayer and Scripture… Through HeartSmarts, ambassadors — or church leaders, such as reverends, pastors, priests, or wellness ministers — come to NewYork-Presbyterian for 12 weeks, three hours each week, and I educate them about heart disease and its prevention… We’ve seen great results. About 50 percent of participants show improvements in weight, waist circumference, and blood pressure. We see an even higher improvement in behaviors like nutrition, exercise, and managing stress. And the heart disease knowledge assessment questions, which are usually left blank at the beginning, are filled in correctly at the end. It leads to a culture shift. If they had fried chicken or fried fish after a church service, now they offer a baked option. Instead of the cakes and pies, now they will offer fruit… We’re looking to expand the HeartSmarts program. We’re planning on translating it into Spanish and Haitian Creole. We also want to work with different faith traditions, including the Muslim tradition and interfaith organizations, to use the format we have but make it fit better with their faith tradition. And then also create a secular version that doesn’t use a faith book but instead uses other positive messages for people trying to make a change in their health. We have received requests from other states to bring the program to their churches, so we’re working on the best way to make the program available online.” (Inside NYP: Dr. Naa-Solo Tettey, Health Matters, https://healthmatters.nyp.org/inside-nyp-naa-solo-tettey/)

Dr. Tettey received her doctorate in Health Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, a MA degree in clinical psychology from Columbia University, a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from the University of Connecticut, and an MBA in health care administration from the State University of New York. She is a Master Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES®), Certified in Public Health (CPH), and an American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Certified Wellness Coach. As a popular Professor at William Patterson University, her research and scholarly interests focus on health disparities and chronic disease, criminal justice reform, and the impact of popular and social media on health behaviors—as well as women's health and food justice. Her pioneering model of teaching using media has been captured in publications, as has her innovative work with HeartSmarts:

Teaching Health Disparities, the Social Determinants of Health, and the Social Ecological Model through HBO’s The Wire; Health Education; 2018
http://jhetonline.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Teaching_Health_Disparities_the_Social_Determinants_of_Health_and_the_Social_Ecological_Model_through_HBO%E2%80%99s_The_WireNaa-Solo_Tettey.157104841.pdf

Evaluation of HeartSmarts, a Faith-based Cardiovascular Health Education Program; , Journal of Religion and Health; Volume 56, 2016
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10943-016-0309-5

Laura Guerra, EdD, MS, MS, MBA, CHES
Leader in COVID Pandemic Response Operations, Consultant

Laura Guerra, EdD, MS, MS, MBA, CHES provides strategic consulting services to clients in the areas of operations management, measurement, and evaluation. Dr. Guerra works with organizational leaders to develop strategies for program evaluation and outcome measurement, including program goals and performance measures. Recent clients include the Edible SchoolYard, NYC DOHMH, New York State, and numerous New York state school districts.

Dr. Guerra with other health care workersIn May 2020, early in the COVID pandemic, Dr. Guerra put her consulting practice on pause to join the NYC Test & Trace Corps. She served in several roles before assuming the position of Director of Trace, where she managed a team of over 600 people making in-person notifications of exposure.

“The top photo was taken in Jan 2021 when the vaccines were first made available. A career highlight for me, I was able to work in one of the Vaccine points of distribution (POD) making the vaccine available to seniors in NYC. The second photo, in the group with the Senator [Schumer], was taken at the start of the ticker tape parade to thank everyone for their effort during COVID. Again, a career highlight; it was amazing to walk in the parade.”

Dr. Guerra and other frontline workers met with Senator SchumerDr. Guerra received her Doctorate in Health Education from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2017, and was the Outstanding Doctoral Student for the Year 2017. She also holds Master of Science degrees in both Applied Statistics and Nutrition and Public Health, also from Columbia University, and a Master of Business Administration from Thunderbird. She was an adjunct professor at New York University and a Special Visiting Professor at Hofstra University where she taught Community Nutrition, Biostatistics, and Epidemiology Dr. Guerra returned to Teachers College to serve as an Assistant Adjunct Professor at Teachers College when her mentor, Prof. Sonali Rajan, was on Sabbatical from the Health Education program. Finally, Dr, Guerra is currently on the Board of Trustees for St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx.

APRIL AVILES, EDD (Class of ‘22)
Chief Equity & Organizational Culture Officer for Planned Parenthood Arizona

April Avilés (she/her/ella) is a Southern-grown, Latina (Peruvian/ Puerto-Rican) dedicated to anti-racist public health practice. She currently serves as the Chief Equity & Organizational Culture Officer for Planned Parenthood Arizona (PPAZ), where she leads their strategy for operationalizing the undoing of white supremacy culture, centering communities most impacted by systemic oppression, and embedding equity at every level of the organization.

APRIL AVILES at graduationOver her 10+ years of experience in public health, April has played a critical role incorporating anti-racist approaches and values within various non-profit organizations and city government agencies. She is a firm believer that just because things “have always been done this way” doesn’t mean they need to stay that way. Recently, April conducted a national survey on racism-related stress and burnout among public health professionals of color during the COVID-19 pandemic. This data has been used to inform her work on creating psychologically safe workplaces for professionals of color and to foster further dialogue around institutional accountability in the public health field. April is a proud first-generation college graduate who earned her B.S. from Cornell University, MPH in Maternal & Child Health from UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and EdD in Health Education from Columbia University, Teachers College.

Dr. Avilés was honored in October 2022 by being featured in an article, due to her outstanding work as a Teachers College alumna (i.e. https://www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2022/october/how-diversity--inclusion-play-a-role-in-reproductive-rights/), while highlights follow:

     “As someone who focuses on racial equity, I really see sexual and reproductive freedom as a core part of moving towards anti-racism”….

      “Doing what we can to better the mental and physical wellbeing of our staff is so important to ensuring that our work is effective. If we can't take care of our staff, how can we take care of communities and how can we provide effective services to communities?” explains Avilés. “Being able to see how racism impacts the communities that we live in [is about] ensuring that we aren't furthering harm in communities [because] of our own biases.”….

       Avilés path to TC was also forged by a chance meeting with adjunct professor Robert Fullilove during her graduate studies. “He really painted a picture of TC being a place where I could extend beyond a public health school, but still focus on public health,” recalled Avilés, who would go on to work with Fullilove and Barbara Wallace during her time at the College. “I knew I also wanted to attend a school where I didn't have to convince my advisor or professors that racism is a public health crisis. That in itself is extremely exhausting, and I had done that. I knew I didn't want to do that again.”…

     In addition to finding support and mentorship from Fullilove and Wallace, Avilés built deep bonds with other students in her research group [i.e., Professor Barbara Wallace’s Research Group on Disparities in Health, RGDH]. Those amazing women were my everything. We all commiserated together and the bond that we have is unlike any other because no one else understands the experience of our dissertation process specifically,” the recent grad explains. “It was a great way to meet some amazing people that I know will be part of my life forever.”

Dr. Joyce Gyamfi, EdD, MS
Social Epidemiologist, Investigator, Health Disparities Research Scientist

Joyce Gyamfi, EdD, MS is based at NYU School of Global Public Health where she collaborates with investigators at New York University Langone Health to implement a hypertension control program for Black patients using a community-clinic linkage model, whilst understanding the barriers and facilitators to program implementation and scale-up. She also co-facilitates the Implementing Sustainable Evidence-based interventions through Engagement (ISEE) Lab and leads the Section for Sickle Cell Disease at New York University School of Public Health.

She has also served as a Public Health Surveillance Epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Gyamfi is also Co-Director for the ISEE lab Senior Global Public Health Fellow (SGPHF) mentorship program where she dedicates her time to guide undergraduate and graduate students in implementation science.

In this manner, Dr. Gyamfi is a Health Educator, Social Epidemiologist, and health disparities researcher  in implementation science with over 20 years’ of experience in public health, working with underserved communities both international and domestic. A member of the Task Shifting Strategy for Hypertension (TASSH) program team in Ghana, she has spent ten years training community health nurses in Ghana, West Africa, her native country, to screen, diagnose, and manage uncomplicated cases of hypertension as part of two large NIH sponsored task shifting hypertension trials.

Dr. Gyamfi holds a doctorate in Health Education from Columbia University (2019), a Masters in Epidemiology and Community Health (2002), and a Bachelors in Sociology/Pre-Med from University at Buffalo (1999).  Her research interests include global health and implementation science, specifically scalability of evidence-based interventions in resource-constrained settings.

She is committed to finding innovative evidence-based strategies to capacity building of health care professionals, strengthening health care systems, and improving the health outcomes of vulnerable populations.

Dr. Gyamfi has enjoyed the honor of being mentored by her dissertation sponsor, Professor John Allegrante.

Mickelder Kercy, MD MS
Curriculum Development and Program Evaluation, Academic

Mickelder Kercy, MD MS is committed to helping populations, communities and individuals achieve and maintain optimal health throughout their life cycles. Early in His professional career, he completed a MD degree program at the University Notre Dame d’Haïti, thesis on Stroke Risk Factors profile in Patients Hospitalized at the Hôpital de l'Université d'Etat d’Haïti and residency training in the underserved community of Mont-Organizé in Haïti. As an ECFMG certified medical graduate, he contributed to addressing the clinical and socio-environmental determinants of health disparities and inequities among individuals through volunteering and working in clinical and hospital settings; and training Medical Assistants in the United States of America. His pursuit of more knowledge and skills in facilitating behavioral change and ultimately improved health outcomes and impacts, through community-based program planning, monitoring, evaluation, and research, led him to complete a Master of Science degree (February 2018) in Community Health Education in the Department of Health and Behavior Studies at the Teachers College Columbia University. Mickelder interned at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital to design a personal wellness curriculum and evaluation tools for the Lang Youth Medical Program. As a NYC DOHMH Health Research Training Program (HRTP) Intern, he worked at the East Harlem Neighborhood Health Action Center monitoring, analyzing, and reporting on administrative and programmatic data. Recently, he fulfilled the role of Evaluation Assistant at The Institute for Family Health, where he led team meetings, published abstracts; and monitored, evaluated, and reported on several programs and projects serving African-Americans and Hispanics, including the CDC-funded Bronx Health REACH programs, the Healthy Children Healthy Families Initiative supported by the Office of Minority Health (OMH), and the Oldways: ATOAH Nutrition Education Program financed through the Creating Healthy Schools and Communities project by the New York State Department of Health. He mentored and supervised several research and evaluation interns from the Columbia University Summer Public Health Scholars Program, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, and Columbia College. He presented at the CDC DNPAO National Training 2021 and as a guest lecturer at the NYU School of Global Public Health. He has been appointed Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Health Education Unit at the City University of New York Hostos Community College. Mickelder is a reviewer for the American Evaluation Association, American Public Health Association and Preventing Chronic Disease Journal.

Rebecca Block, MS, CHES
Health Promotion Specialist, Student Well-Being

Rebecca Block (she/her) graduated in May 2020 from the Masters of Science in Community Health Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University. She has education and expertise in developing and implementing comprehensive initiatives to enhance the well-being of higher education faculty, staff, and students as well as healthcare professionals. 

As the Health Promotion Specialist – Student Well-Being at the University of Rochester, Rebecca plays an integral part in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of theory- and evidence-informed health promotion strategies, programs, and services to enhance student well-being with a primary emphasis on student mental health/flourishing and graduate student well-being. Her passions and work lie in enhancing the well-being of college-age student populations through supporting the community, systems, and environmental-level strategies to allow the whole campus culture to thrive. In particular, her main interests lie in equipping faculty and student-facing staff members with practical skills to support the well-being of the students they serve. She also serves as the Program Director of the Mindful University Project, working closely with the 7 schools of the University to integrate a culture of mindfulness across the campus. 

Rebecca has a BA in Health, Behavior and Society from the University of Rochester. She is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES), Yoga Alliance Certified Yoga Instructor (RYT 200), Certified Koru Mindfulness Teacher, and completed her College Health and Wellness Professional certificate from the American College Health Association (ACHA).

Keosha T. Bond, EdD, MPH, CHES
Award Winning National Leader in Health Disparities Research, Academic

Keosha T. Bond, EdD, MPH, CHES is an Assistant Medical Professor in the Department of Community Health and Social Medicine at the CUNY School of Medicine at City College of New York.  She received an award as one of the 40 top national leaders in health while who are under age 40—as a great career honor acknowledging her work addressing health disparities.   She is a trained behavioral scientist and sexual health educator who has centered her work on the complex intersections of race, sexuality, social justice, and health equity among individuals of marginalized genders. Dr. Bond’s primary research interests have focused on understanding how socio-structural and cultural factors influence the transmission of HIV and the use of digital technology to develop culturally appropriate interventions to address these factors. Specifically, her work is focused on the exploration of the relationship between race, gender, and power imbalances in society that increase vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections and sexual inequality.  Dr. Bond ‘s most recent work has concentrated on the development of innovative eHealth education interventions using digital technology and social media for a broad dissemination of behavior change interventions related to sexual health for both cisgender and transgender women of color.

Dr. Bond completed a NIDA-funded Postdoctoral Fellowship in Drug Abuse Research at the New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing. She holds a Doctorate in Health Education from Columbia University Teachers College, a Master in Public Health from CUNY-Hunter College, a BS in Psychology from Fordham University, and a Certification in Comparative Effectiveness Research from New York University School of Medicine.  She is a Visiting Faculty Fellow at Yale University School of Public Health Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, an affiliated- investigator at the NYU Center for Drug Use and HIV/ HCV Research, a Diversity Scholar for The Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions; and a Scholar in the HIV Intervention Science Training Program. She is also the Director of the LOVE Project Lab which uses innovative science and community-engagement techniques to develop research and intervention methods focused on reducing sexuality-related health inequalities and enhancing equity.

Brenda A. Adjei, EdD, MPA
NCI Grants Specialist, Program Director

Brenda A. Adjei, EdD, MPA is a Public Health Advisor and Program Director in the Office of the Associate Director of the Healthcare Delivery Research Program. Dr. Adjei currently serves as a Program Director of the cancer care delivery component for the NCI (National Cancer Institute) Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP), a consortium of seven Research Bases and 46 community oncology practices, hospitals, and integrated health systems that support NCI's cancer clinical trials. Within NCORP, Dr. Adjei manages a portfolio of Minority/Underserved and Community Sites and 2 Research Bases; co-leads the NCORP Disparities Integration Emphasis Group which seeks to increase the portfolio of disparities research and improve the participation of underserved and underrepresented in clinical trials. Within HDRP, Dr. Adjei’s programmatic focus seeks to strengthen the Program’s healthcare disparities research profile, which includes serving as scientific contact for the NIMHD-led surgical disparities research funding opportunity.  In addition, Dr. Adjei co-led the 2021 NCI Virtual Workshop on Addressing Social Risks in Cancer Care Delivery, including the first ever assessment of social risks across diverse cancer care delivery settings. Dr. Adjei’s research interests include disparities in access to, receipt and outcomes of cancer care; social determinants of health; evaluation of multilevel cancer education and outreach programs; and cancer care delivery in community-based cancer programs. Dr. Adjei has almost 20 years of community engagement experience. She has provided scientific leadership for disparities-focused initiatives, including the NCI’s National Outreach Network (NON) and the NCI Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP).

Dr. Adjei received a B.S. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, an M.P.A. in Health Services Management from New York University, and an Ed.D. in Health Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. As an historical note, Dr. Brenda Adjei was part of the first bootcamp held by the Research Group on Disparities in Health (RGDH) in the Spring of 2006, as well as a large cohort of students.

Nicholas A. Grosskopf, EdD, MA, MA
Deputy Chair of the Department of Health & Human Performance, Coordinator of the Public Health Program

Nicholas A. Grosskopf, EdD, MA, MS currently serves as Deputy Chair of the Department of Health & Human Performance as well as Coordinator of the Public Health Program at York College/CUNY. He has experience working in community health settings, specifically in program/policy planning, monitoring and evaluation with a focus in sex & sexuality. His scholarly interests include the intersection of health and technology, health equity and health policy implications for sexual minorities as well as human participant research ethics as he serves as Chair of CUNY University-Integrated IRBs #1 & #3. He is also Co-Director & Co-Founder of the Collaborative Research Group on Health Policy & Promotion + the UrbanHealth Lab at York College.

His research interests focus on the intersection of health and technology, health equity and health policy implications for sexual minorities—as well as human participant research ethics.

Dr. Nichoias Grosskopf worked in the past with the Center for HIV Educational Studies & Training, the Bureau of HIV/AIDS at the NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, and the NYC Department of Education.

He received his EdD from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2008, while enjoying the status as a Fellow of the Research Group on Disparities in Health.  He also received his MS degree from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2007, and his MA degree from New York University in Human Sexuality, Marriage and Family Life Education in 2004. Dr. Grosskopf has extensive experience working in community health settings, specializing in HIV prevention and education.

Of note, Dr. Grosskopf has a history of being a very popular and highly rated professor. His students at York College have described him as follows: “This professor is awesome.” “This is one of the best Professors in the Health Department.”  “He is the best Professor!” “He is so nice, considerate…” “He has inspired me to make a difference in the field of public health.” Dr. Grosskopf regularly presented at the Annual Health Disparities Conference at Teachers College (2013-20155), while setting records for bringing the largest number of his undergraduate students with him. He has been dedicated to nurturing a pipeline from undergraduate to graduate studies to health education for his students, while one of his students graduated from the MS degree program in health education in 2016.

Elys Vasquez-Iscan, EdD, MPH
Community Health Unit Coordinator and Research Scientist

Elys Vasquez-Iscan, EdD, MPH is an Associate Professor and the Unit Coordinator of the community health degree program at Hostos Community College, CUNY. She is also an affiliated faculty at the CUNY School of Public Health. She is currently the Co-PI of a 5-year NSF grant that aims to improve undergraduate STEM education among underrepresented students in the STEM field. Her research interests entail HIV/AIDS prevention, burnout among essential workers as well as health inequities. She also works on the development of culturally responsive health curricula; capacity building for local and international health organizations, and utilizes community based participatory research for health promotion and community empowerment. Before obtaining her EdD in health education from Teachers College, Columbia University, Dr. Vasquez-Iscan obtained her MPH degree from New York University in 2005. She has the distinction of having been the Founding Member of the NYU Student Public Health Association

Dr. Vasquez-Iscan has worked as a program planner for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and has extensive work experience in community organizing as well as health promotion in multicultural settings. She was a Fulbright Fellow in Brazil where she conducted a comparative study of the of the Brazilian National AIDS Program and the United States HIV/AIDS Program. Further, she was an ELEVATE Fellow within the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education Center for Minority Serving Institutions. Dr. Vasquez-Iscan also received advanced certification in diversity, equity, and inclusion from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her areas of expertise include grant writing, program development and program evaluation.  In addition, Dr. Vasquez-Iscan is the Community Co-Chair of the New York State AIDS Institute HIV Advisory Body (HAB) where she leads various organizations throughout the State in providing informed health policies to end the HIV pandemic in New York State. Dr. Vasquez-Iscan has taught for the John Jay Prison to College Pipeline and has mentored faculty in teaching in correctional settings. She enjoys teaching diverse student populations due to the wealth of life experiences that they bring to the classroom.

Nicole Harris-Hollingsworth, EdD, MA, MCHES
Award Winning Healthcare Network Vice President, Health Systems Scientist, Expert in Social Determinants of Health

Nicole Harris-Hollingsworth, EdD, MA, MCHES, is a senior health systems scientist and is the Vice President, Social Determinants of Health for Hackensack Meridian Health in New Jersey—the state’s largest healthcare network. Dr. Harris-Hollingsworth leads the development and implementation of a network wide social determinants of health strategy, stakeholder engagement interventions, and the development of community accessible resources across the Hackensack Meridian Health network.

For over two decades she has specialized in the development of community health programs designed to create behavior change and increase knowledge in hard-to-reach populations including regional school-based programs, national reproductive health organizations and national child welfare organizations.  Her interest areas include the development of effective regional collaborations to increase health equity and increasing the use of shared decision-making practices between health care consumers and health care providers to facilitate community engaged research.

Nicole Harris-Hollingsworth was recognized as a 2021 Influencers of Color and the HMH Social Determinants of Health program is listed #15 of 20 on the top 2021 ROI-NJ Healthcare Influencers ranking in its first year of operation. Indeed, she has been acknowledged as one of top 25 innovators in healthcare administration in the nation in the year 2022—while regularly receiving awards for her outstanding leadership. She presently serves on the boards of Transportation Alternatives, the Westchester Educational Opportunity Center, the Mount Vernon Boys and Girls Club, and Skydive 4 Causes, Inc.  In addition to her work at Hackensack Meridian Health, Dr. Harris-Hollingsworth has: served as a national grants reviewer for the Human Resources Services Administration; enjoyed faculty appointments at Teachers College, Columbia University and the Einstein College of Medicine; served an Associate Editor for the journal Progress in Community Health Partnerships; and, was an inaugural member of the 2019 Healthy Communities Fellows of the Aspen Global Innovators Group.

Dr. Harris-Hollingsworth received her Doctoral and Master’s degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University in Health and Behavior Studies and her baccalaureate degree from Cornell University in Health Education. Additionally, she was awarded a Post-Doctoral Certificate in Executive Leadership from the Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health.

Dr. Harris-Hollingsworth is a native of the Bronx, New York and currently lives in Mount Vernon, New York with her husband, Mr. Rey Hollingsworth-Falu and their two sons.

Jillian Rose-Smith, EdD, MPH, LCSW
Award-Wining Hospital Vice President, Expert in Rheumatology and Diversity

Jillian Rose-Smith, EdD, MPH, LCSW is Assistant Vice-President (AVP) for Community Engagement, Diversity and Research at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York.  She  provides operational leadership for our Ambulatory Care Center and plays an integral role in the Hospital’s Community Health Needs Assessment and Community Service Plan. In 2018 she won the Distinguished Educator Award from the Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals. Dr. Rose-Smith has oversight over Charla de Lupus (Lupus Chat)® and LupusLine®, as an award winning and nationally recognized peer support and psycho-education programs for people with lupus and their families, where her team reaches out to diverse populations to provide culturally tailored interventions. She is invested in addressing social injustice and brings her passion and intellectual creativity to further diversity and inclusion goals in her current role and beyond. As part of the diversity and inclusion council at HSS,  Dr. Rose-Smith seeks to leverage her skills in engaging leadership, staff, patients  and communities in meaningful conversations to help  orchestrate and unify efforts across the organization to foster the development, implementation and integration of diversity, equity and inclusion practice. She develops and implements hospital-wide and external trainings on working with multicultural populations and fostering an inclusive environment for diverse communities including the LGBTQ+ community. Driven by her passion for health equity, Dr. Rose-Smith continues to break ground organizationally and nationally by providing ongoing leadership and support for the collection of gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity and preferred language data in the electronic medical record. She has taken the lead in creating an infrastructure that allows clinicians and others to use this data to inform and enhance care decisions. In addition, she provides training for the healthcare team and all new employees related to implicit bias and cultural awareness, and participates in quality initiatives to identify and address health disparities through the development of appropriate tools and evaluation processes to ensure the highest quality care for all.

Dr. Rose-Smith is a member of the Disparities Research Committee at HSS and  is a visionary who has served as principal and co-investigator on many studies impacting rheumatology care and focused on exploring health disparities, including the qualitative analysis for the development of a lupus app as a self-management tool for people with lupus; “Peer Approaches to Lupus Self-management” a study to improve outcomes related to quality of life, self-management, and disease activity, among African American women with lupus, using a novel peer-to-peer mentorship model and the utilization of focus groups and key informant interviews to develop a patient reported outcome tool with rheumatology colleagues. More recently, she served as a co-investigator on a national study, training research coordinators at nine hospital centers focused on engaging Latinx and African American women in examining their treatment options for knee osteoarthritis, using a shared decision-making tool. Currently, She is serving as PI on a national study to look at the Psychosocial Impact of Covid-19 on People with Rheumatic Illnesses; this study focuses on assessing the experiences of people from communities of color.

Dr. Rose-Smith is a service leader who has volunteered with the American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Professional (ACR/ARP) over the last ten years, as an invited member of ARP’s Planning Committee, E-Learning Committee Practice Committee, Marketing Committee, Executive Leadership Committee, COIN, a  collaborative to advance health equity and most recently nominated to the ACR’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force.  

Dena Simmons, EdD, MA, MSed
National Leader on Schools and Teacher Preparation, Expert on Bullying and Social-Emotional Learning, and Activist for Educational Equity and Social Justice

Dena Simmons, EdD, MA, MSed is the founder of LiberatED, a liberatory approach to social and emotional learning (SEL) that centers radical love, healing, and justice. She is also a visiting professor at the Institute for Racial Justice at Loyola University of Chicago. Dr. Simmons is the former Assistant Director of Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, where she supported schools to use the power of emotions to create a more compassionate and just society. Prior to her work at the Center, Dr. Simmons served as an educator, teacher educator, diversity facilitator, and curriculum developer. She has been a leading voice on teacher education and has written and spoken across the country about social and racial justice pedagogy, diversity, emotional intelligence, and bullying in K-12 school settings, including the White House, the inaugural Obama Foundation Summit, the United Nations, two TEDx talks, and a TED talk on Broadway.  Dr. Simmons has been profiled in Education Week, the Huffington Post, NPR, the AOL/PBS project, MAKERS: Women Who Make America, and a Beacon Press Book, Do It Anyway: The New Generation of Activists. Dr. Simmons is a recipient of a Harry S. Truman Scholarship, a J. William Fulbright Fellowship, an Education Pioneers Fellowship, a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship, a Phillips Exeter Academy Dissertation Fellowship, a Hedgebrook Writing Residency, and an Arthur Vining Davis Aspen Fellowship among others. She earned her doctorate degree from Teachers College, Columbia University, where she recently served as faculty in the Summer Principals Academy.

Dr. Simmons’ research interests include teacher preparedness to address bullying in the K-12 school setting, culturally responsive pedagogy, and the intersection of equity and social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions—all in an effort to ensure and foster justice and safe spaces for all.  She is the author of the forthcoming book, White Rules for Black People (St. Martin’s Press).

Prior to coming to Teachers College, Columbia University, Dena graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2008 from Pace University with an MS in Childhood Education. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Middlebury College in Vermont.

Not surprisingly, Dr. Simmons was selected as the Outstanding Year 2014 Doctoral Graduate of the Program in Health Education, Teachers College, Columbia University. Reflecting her first career as a middle school teacher in her native Bronx, New York, Dr. Simmons’ doctoral dissertation research focused on the topic of teacher preparedness to handle bullying situations in the middle school setting.  She was delighted to complete her doctoral dissertation with sponsor, Professor Charles Basch—a fellow Bronx native.

Alberto Jacinto, M.S.
Post-doctoral Research Associate in the College of Education at Texas Tech University

Alberto Jacinto, M.S. Ph.D., is a Post-doctoral Research Associate in the College of Education at Texas Tech University. His research interests include public management and education policy. Jacinto earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Public Administration and Policy in the School of Public Affairs at American University in Washington, D. C. His doctoral dissertation, Essays on the Public Sector Labor Supply, investigated determinants of entry into as well as turnover among the public sector workforce, with a focus on teachers and the representativeness of the public sector workforce. He received his M.S. degree in Community Health Education in May 2017 at Teachers College, Columbia University. While completing his degree, Jacinto worked with the Latino Commission on AIDS as a Research and Evaluation Assistant, as well as a Senior Rapid HIV Test Counselor. He obtained his BS from Texas A&M University, where he majored in Psychology, with a minor in Neuroscience, and an additional minor in Gender Studies.

Stephane Labossiere, M.S., CHES,
Social Epidemiologist in Training

Stephane Labossiere, M.S., CHES is a social epidemiologist in training while pursuing his Ph.D. His goal is to investigate how individuals, neighborhoods, and policies contribute to health disparities and health outcomes for minority populations both nationally and globally. Methodologically, his focus is on using multi-level modeling, mixed methods research, and community-engagement research to explore how social, psychological, political, and economic factors contribute to health and health inequalities. Stephane also worked as a Research Coordinator at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City where he managed all administrative, operational, and dissemination activities, reporting on department research projects. He interned with the United Nations, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and for the American Federation for Aging Research—as well as a Clinton Health Matters Initiative Intern at the Clinton Foundation. He published (2017) on aging and health disparities in The International Journal of Health, Wellness, and Society. He conducted global public health work in Haiti, India, and Colombia. In 2019, he worked as a Community Outreach Coordinator with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, ABC News, Pix 11 News, The Daily Wire, and Politico.com for outreach work during the COVID-19 pandemic. He holds the M.S. degree (2016) in Community Health Education from Teachers College, Columbia University; and, MS in Health Care Management (2018) from the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School. He is a current Ph.D. student in Clinical and Population Health Research at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School under the mentorship of Dr. Stephenie Lemon.

Dr. Choumika Simonis (MD, MS)
Internal Medicine Resident at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center

Choumika Simonis (MD, MS) is an Internal Medicine Resident at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center. She earned her undergraduate degree from Cornell University and M.S. degree (2015) in Community Health Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She graduated (2020) from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, has had wonderful opportunities to gain experience in health education both in the United States and abroad. For example, she worked in Haiti as a Maternal and Child Nutrition Intern with the Children’s Nutrition Program of Haiti; and as an English Teaching Assistant via a Fulbright Fellowship in Indonesia. Her experiences provided invaluable insight into the importance of health education in communities where health disparities negatively affect vulnerable populations and illustrated how preventive medicine, health education, and health equity play central roles in improving health outcomes in underserved communities. She loves to teach and realizes being a teacher and physician are not mutually exclusive. Teaching will always be a part of her lifelong work.

Alison Trainor, M.S.
Research Program Manager at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity

Alison Trainor, M.S., CHES graduated with her degree in Community Health Education (Feb. 2021) from Teachers College, Columbia University, which she earned while working as a Clinical Research Coordinator and then Project Coordinator at the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center. There, she worked on studies on mental health care for ethnic/racial minorities, clinician stress, COVID-19 and PTSD, and cardiovascular health. She graduated from Michigan State University (2017) with a BA in Spanish with minors in Health Promotion and Latin American & Caribbean Studies. She interned with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Bureau of STI’s Sexual Health Clinics. She received her CHES April 2021. Recently, Alison moved to Baltimore, MD and accepted a position as a Research Program Manager at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity. This new role with the Center for Health Equity combines her research skills and passions with her leadership skills. She works on a large grant to help advance evidence-based, community-oriented methods for improving cardiometabolic health disparities.

Susan Tirhi

Dr. Susan Tirhi completed her doctorate at Teacher’s College, Columbia University in the health education in the Department of Health and Behavior studies. Previously, she earned her Master of Public Health degree from the University of South Florida, majoring in global public health and her undergraduate degree majoring in biomedical sciences and minoring in sociology, accounting, public health, and biomedical physics. Dr. Tirhi’s academic research has been primarily focused on the links between culture/religion and health behaviors and most recently in mindfulness and health outcomes, and in coping mechanisms and mental health. Her research has been published in the Encyclopedia of Strategic Leadership and Management, Epidemiology, and at her previous institutions. Professionally, Dr. Susan Tirhi is a management and digital health technology professional specializing delivering large, complex healthcare programs and technologies. With more than 10 years of professional experience as a research scientist and healthcare technologist, Dr. Tirhi has been responsible building cross functional teams and guiding them through large, complex technology implementations. Dr. Tirhi’s core competencies include data analysis and visualizations, research design and methodology, project management, scientific writing, and program development. Dr. Tirhi has worked with various academic medical centers and research teams, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Dr. Tirhi is also certified in Public Health (CPH) and in Project Management (PMP).

Laura Williams, M.S.
Serves on the PeriOp Quality Education Team, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

Laura Williams, M.S. (Teachers College, Columbia University) serves on the PeriOp Quality Education Team, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She is responsible for patient experience and electronic medical record (EMR) quality, performs regulatory and quality determinations of EMR for all of the clinical practices at the hospital's main campus, and financial approvals for each practice's medical record submissions prior to elective surgeries. To increase/ensure positive patient experiences, she conducts telephone sessions to address patient concerns prior to elective surgeries. The patient experience efforts of the PeriOp Quality Education team boost Press Ganey scores for the hospital's clinical practices. Consulting work compliments her Quality Education role. She became a Health Education consultant in 2017 upon receipt of a scholarship from the National Patient Advocate Foundation–which initiated advocacy and work with the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. She also consults for INOVA Heart Failure Collaboratory Think-Tank and OCHIN Patient Engagement Panel. Laura reviews public health initiatives, peer-reviewed studies, and calls to action for medical research.

Dr. Meghan Miller is the Director of Health Education at The Floating Hospital (TFH) located in Queens, NY. She has experience in both the public health and education sectors. After receiving her Master of Public Health from Emory University, she was accepted into Teach for America (TFA), where she taught middle school English in Philadelphia while simultaneously earning her teaching certification from the University of Pennsylvania.

After completing her two-year commitment with TFA, she joined the US Peace Corps and served as a community health specialist for two years in Uganda, East Africa. Her concentration abroad was developing youth health clubs in local secondary schools, training young mothers in job skills, creating and facilitating health education workshops for schools and youth centers, and directing educational youth camps focused on adolescent sexual health and social-emotional learning.

Upon return to the states, Miller joined the Uncommon Schools network as a middle-grade writing teacher. She also created and facilitated a new health education curriculum for students.

Miller began working with TFH in 2017 and currently leads a group of health education pecialists to engage patients in health education workshops, educational trivia and games, healthy cooking classes, and individualized motivational interviewing sessions to help patients implement positive behavioral changes in their lives. Additionally, she has developed an extensive library of lesson plans regarding health, wellness, and social-emotional learning topics
for people of all ages. These lessons are facilitated in schools, community centers, homeless shelters, and domestic violence safe houses.

In 2021, Miller received her Ed.D from Columbia University, Teachers College, where her dissertation was an evaluation of an adolescent sexual education and social-emotional skill building intervention she designed, which happens during a six-day overnight camp, for youth living in temporary housing. This camp has continued to expand since its inception in 2018 and now includes a counselor-in-training program for prior camp participants. Moving forward, Miller
is planning to implement several new programs with TFH, such as a parent education program to coincide with the lessons taught to teens at camp, an adult literacy initiative, and college readiness sessions for local high school students. Her expertise is focused on adolescent health, yet she has a range of interests, including the intersection of social-emotional well-being and health, program design, and research and evaluation.

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