SPRING 2020 Virtual commencement
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Dean Curran |
We celebrated commencement virtually on May 11, honoring the Class of 2020 via the Internet. I kicked off the ceremony by acknowledging that while the event was virtual, the accomplishments of our students have been very real. Lisa Carlson 93MPH, president of the American Public Health Association and executive director for research programs and operations for the Emory School of Medicine, gave the commencement address, during which she challenged graduates to seek social justice, rely on scientific evidence, and act with compassion. The student speaker this year was Taylor German 20MPH, RSPH Student Government president.
Grace Lenore Morrow 20MPH received the James W. Alley Award for service to disadvantaged populations. .
The Eugene J. Gangarosa Award for creative solutions in global health was presented to
Hasna Raisa Zainul 20MPH.
Janet R. Cummings (health policy and management) was given the Thomas F. Sellers, Jr. Award for exemplifying the ideals of public health and serving as a role model to colleagues. .
Monique Hennink (global health) received the Provost’s Distinguished Teaching Award for Excellence in Graduate and Professional Education. .
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Jodie Guest |
The Rollins Student Government Association named Jodie Guest (epidemiology) Faculty of the Year and Pam Andrews (Rollins Café/Starbucks) as Staff Member of the Year. .
The Charles C. Shepard Award for best RSPH thesis was presented to Shan Jiang 20MPH. The award is given to the graduating master's student who is deemed by the faculty to have prepared the most scholarly research paper. .
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Joanne Amposta Williams |
Joanne Amposta Williams (student engagement) was awarded the Advisor/Mentor of the Year Award, presented by the Office of Student Involvement, Leadership and Transitions. .
The following faculty were honored with Department Awards for Teaching Excellence:
Robin E. McGee (MPH program—behavioral, social, and health education sciences), Michelle C. Kegler (PhD program—behavioral, social, and health education sciences),
John J. Hanfelt (biostatistics and bioinformatics), Jodie Guest (epidemiology), Michael Caudle (executive MPH), Frederic E. Shaw (health policy and management), Sophia A. Hussen (global health). The award was given to the entire teaching faculty in environmental health. “This was in recognition of the commitment that all of our teaching faculty showed this year to ensure that students had the full benefit of instruction and the extraordinary efforts they made to do so, especially after the closing of campus in the spring,” says Tom Clasen, interim chair of the department. “The monetary award will be donated to an Atlanta food bank serving families whose food security is impacted by the pandemic.
COVID-19 response
Rollins faculty, staff, and students have been actively engaged with the COVID-19 response through engagement with local and state health departments, public health organizations, collaborations, grants, and initiatives. Read a summary of Rollins-led COVID-19 projects currently underway.
Sterk receives Hatcher Award
Claire E. Sterk, president of Emory University, has been named the 2020 recipient of the Charles R. Hatcher Jr. MD Award for Excellence in Public Health. Sterk joined Rollins in 1995, with primary research interests in addiction, mental health, and HIV/AIDS. She went on to serve as the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Public Health, chair of the Department of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences, and associate dean for research.
In 2005 Sterk became the university as senior vice provost for academic affairs. She went on to serve as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs in 2013. In this role, she oversaw the implementation of the university’s 2005– 2015 strategic plan, achieved reaffirmation of Emory’s accreditation, and spearheaded faculty development.
Sterk became Emory’s first female president in 2016. During her tenure, she guided the annexation of Emory into the city of Atlanta, appointed the university’s first vice provost for diversity and inclusion, and created an ombuds office. The university’s research funding grew to $689 million during her four years, and Emory has been named Atlanta’s largest employer.
She has done a remarkable job during her time at the helm of the university. We are thrilled that, even as she steps down from that post, she will remain with Emory and with Rollins. She is returning to her passion, which is and has always been public health.”
Alonso named Clements Distinguished Professor
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Alvaro Alonso |
Alvaro Alonso (epidemiology) has been selected as the inaugural Stephen D. Clements, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Research after a competitive national search led by Viola Vaccarino (epidemiology).This endowed chair was established in January 2018 by the O. Wayne Rollins Foundation to honor Stephen D. Clements, Jr., MD, a distinguished Emory cardiologist and longtime friend of the Rollins family, who has dedicated his career to clinical care, prevention, and discovery in cardiovascular disease.
A cardiovascular disease epidemiologist, Alvaro’s research expertise centers around the nutritional, lifestyle, clinical, and genetic determinants of cardiovascular disorders. For the last decade, his work has focused on the epidemiology of cardiac arrhythmias, particularly atrial fibrillation (AF), mostly in the context of large epidemiologic studies, and using large health care claims databases.
Through his work, Alvaro has made significant contributions to the identifications of lifestyles, clinical variables, biomarkers, and genetic factors associated with AF and its outcomes, as well as to the study of the comparative effectiveness of direct oral anticoagulants for the prevention of stroke in patients with AF. Recently, he has taken a major role in multiple analyses evaluating associations of cardiovascular risk factors with cognitive decline and dementia incidence.
New grants
Kevin Ward, Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program, NIH National Cancer Institute, $3 million, continuation
Carmen Marsit, HERCULES: Health and Exposome Research Center at Emory 5 Yr - Competitive Renewal, NIH National Institute of Environmental Health Science, $1.5 million, continuation
Dabney Evans, Sparking Systemic Change, Novo Foundation, $1 million, January 1, 2020 – January 1, 2023
Patrick Sullivan, Parrying the Pitfalls of PrEP: Preventing Premature PrEP Discontinuation and STI's, NIH National Institute of Mental Health, $800,000, April 1, 2020 – March 31, 2025
Viola Vaccarino, Sleep Disturbance as a Mechanism for Ischemic Heart Disease in PTSD, NIH National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, $800,000, continuation
Karen Levy, Urban Water Systems, Enteric Pathogen Distribution & Gut Microbiome, NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, $740,000, continuation
Jessica Sales, An Implementation Science Study of Violence Screening Practices, NIH National Institute of Mental Health, $700,000, April 15, 2020 – February 28, 2025
Shakira Suglia, Stress, Epigenetics and Aging, NIH National Institute on Aging, $670,000, continuation
Aaron Siegler, Integrating a Combination HIV Prevention Intervention into a Widely-Used Geosocial, NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, $650,000, continuation
Hannah Cooper, Developing the Evidence Base for Overdose Policies, NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse, $640,000, continuation
Rollins faculty have received many other grants for research and training between February 1, 2020 – May 1, 2020. View the complete list.
Appointments and Promotions
New Faculty
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Nippie Sarita Shah, Associate Professor, Global Health
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Sheela Selin Sinharoy, Assistant Professor, Global Health
Post Doctoral Fellows
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Emily Nancy Peterson, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics
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Alicia Nicole Mullis Kraay, Epidemiology
Staff Promotions
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Yeqing Cheng, Applications Development/Analyst IV, Information Services
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Amelia Grace Conrad, Senior Public Health Program Associate, Environmental Health
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Brian Christopher Graaf, Projects Director, Epidemiology
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Keven S. Haynes, Information Technology Senior Manager, Dean’s Office
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Marxavian Jones, Research Projects Manager, Global Health
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Kelly A. Jordan, Communications Associate Director, Student Services
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Catherine Gates Kiefer, Program Assistant Director, Student Services
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Courtnee Matthews, Administrative Assistant, Epidemiology
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Ramona P. Rai, Senior Data Analyst, Epidemiology
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Adrienne F. Schwartz, Associate Director, Research Training Initiatives, Dean’s Office
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Katherine A. Singh, Program & Research Manager, Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences
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Britton Tuck, Program & Research Manager, Global Health Institute
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Ryan Zahn, Research Projects Associate Director, Epidemiology
New Staff
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Ananya Banerjee Tangara, Research Projects Manager, Epidemiology
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Christy Brozowski, Program Coordinator, Global Health
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Syed Zeeshan Haider Bukhari, Post Award III Research Administrator, Research Administration
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Rachel Whitney Corbett, Education Program Coordinator, Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences
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Patricia Curtis, Senior Administrative Assistant, Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences
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Lauren Frances Dempsey, Research Projects Manager, Epidemiology
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Junelle Arielle Lafayette, Post Award II Research Administrator, Research Administration
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Andrew Robles, Program Assistant Coordinator, Health Policy and Management
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Allison Paige Salinger, Public Health Program Associate, Environmental Health
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Martha Scott Tomlinson, Senior Instructions Content Developer, Epidemiology
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