Meet Our Trainees

My current research takes a multi-methods approach, exploring pathways to severe maternal morbidity in the United States. My broader research interests are in maternal health system and midwifery workforce development, the political economy of maternal health, global trends in cesarean birth, and participatory action research.  A midwife by training, after a decade in clinical work I was drawn to PFRH for its excellent faculty, its many opportunities to be involved in rigorous research spanning both the life course and the globe, and its support for clinician-researchers. Addressing complex public health problems requires expertise from many specialties and the possibilities for collaboration at BSPH are truly endless. Whatever aspect of my work I want to explore, there will almost certainly be someone at BSPH who has been thinking about it for years! My future goal is a multi-pronged career involving scholarly research, government consultation and advocacy for the development of salutogenic and sustainable maternal health policy and systems, and the education of the next generation of midwives and public health professionals. There is so much work to be done for women and birthing people, both in the U.S. and across the globe.

My research focuses on racial and ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity (SMM) and its association with postpartum mental health conditions. I have always wanted to be in women’s and reproductive health / maternal health since I was a young child. I believe that the pregnancy and postpartum period are some of the most vulnerable times in an individual’s life and the health issues associated need to be well understood so that prevention and intervention can occur and lead to healthy outcomes.

I chose Bloomberg School of Public Health because it was the only school that offered the exact area of interest / track that I wanted to pursue. BSPH has some of the best faculty in the space that I wanted to work,  and thankfully I have been able to work with them since entering the program.

Lauren Klein is a PhD student in the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health who is continuing her education after receiving her MPH with a concentration in Child and Adolescent Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. An undergraduate biological sciences major, she is passionate about leveraging the sciences of early child development and adversity to inform integrated public health and education programs. She seeks to integrate research and practice and improve collaboration across sectors and disciplines to increase equity and opportunity for children and families. Lauren has previously worked on both US and global scales and in both research- and practice-oriented roles; she has also worked across education and public health sectors to advance programming for children and families. During her PhD, she will be working with Sara Johnson and Allison West on various projects that aim to improve outcomes for children and families.  

I am currently working with the Maryland Department of Health in the Office of Children and Youth with Special Healthcare Needs. My main project encompasses conducting health literacy reviews of documents that are given to patients and families for each program within the office. I will also aid in updating outward facing materials, create short explainer videos and create a resource platform for grantees to access program specific documents. 

I will also be working with Dr. Hager and the STRONG (Striving To Reach Optimal Nutrition and Growth: Strong Children, Families, Schools, and Communities) research group as a research assistant. Here my main two projects include, 1) supporting both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis to help develop new measures of school meal quality and cultural responsivity of meal programs.  2) help develop products to be shared with families and partners that summarize key findings about the long-term impact of COVID-19 prevention policies (including school and activity closures) on child health and development. 

I am currently pursuing medical school where I am planning to be a culturally competent primary care pediatrician where I can be in a position to best serve historically underrepresented minorities. I want to bring my public health knowledge into practice by being very involved in committees and research to best create change and provide services to all those who need it. 

I am interested in exploring the intersection of nutrition and disability health across the life course using qualitative and mixed methods. Specifically, I am interested in understanding the parenting and infant feeding experiences of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. My experiences working with disabled persons and having ADHD myself are deeply connected to my commitment to disability justice and advocacy. Previously, I conducted evaluations of federal nutrition assistance programs with Drs. Susan Gross, Kristin Mmari, and Beth Marshall. I am currently conducting research with Drs. Allison West and Noelene Jeffers to understand the experiences of parents with learning differences and parents with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

I am completing my field placement at Maryland Maternal Health Innovation Program (MDMOM) as one of the recipients of the department’s Maternal and Child Health Center for Excellence Field Placements. As a student researcher at MDMOM, I have completed an evaluation of results from an end-user satisfaction & usability testing of the MDMOM Maternal Health Resource Map. In the upcoming months, I will assist in facilitating updates to the public site via the map contact form. Additionally, I will aid in a second study by organizing training for home visiting staff and developing recruitment procedures for clients. 

After completing my MSPH, I hope to further my education by pursuing a PhD in perinatal and reproductive epidemiology. I aim to implement the skills and knowledge gained at Bloomberg to continue advancing understanding of crucial public health issues. 

Gabriela Molestina is a second year MSPH student in the Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health concentrating in Child and Adolescent Health. She graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2022 with a B.A. in Public Health Studies and Natural Sciences. As an undergraduate, she worked as a research assistant for the Rales Center at KIPP Baltimore, a school-based health center, where she worked on the implementation of a sex education course for middle schoolers, as well as an evaluation of the center's asthma therapy program. Today, she has returned to working with the Rales Center for her field placement position in which she is helping conduct a program evaluation of Kennedy Kriger's Integrated Early Learning Center. She looks forward to applying the skills learned at Bloomberg to designing and implementing programs for children and teens in underserved communities in order to improve their health outcomes and overall wellbeing. 

Anusha recently completed her undergraduate degree in Public Health at Hopkins and is now a first year MSPH student in the department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, with a focus in Child and Adolescent Health. Her current interests center around food insecurity among children and reducing the occurrence and impact of adverse childhood events, particularly for immigrant children and families. She hopes to apply community-engaged approaches to amplify and draw expertise from voices that have been historically silenced. Anusha has enjoyed working with the immigrant population in her time in Baltimore and hopes to continue establishing positive relationships with the families and children in our local community. 

My field placement involves supporting the  implementation of maternal, neonatal, and child health (MNCH) programs across the state of Karnataka in India. I am working with the Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (KHPT), a not-for-profit organization that works closely with local governments to improve health systems for various communities. Through this opportunity, I have been able to closely observe private-public sector relationships focused on knowledge empowerment and capacity building at the grass-roots level. I work with qualitative researchers to evaluate MNCH interventions that aim to reduce stillbirth rates and neonatal mortality rates, which will further inform the conception of programs and policies scaled-up to the state and national levels. 

Upon graduation, I hope to attend medical school as an aspiring gynecologist. My experiences in public health have taught me the importance of strengthening community health and well-being, given that individual health is largely influenced by the individuals’ interactions with their changing environments. 

Nicole Stamas is a PhD student concentrating on Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Epidemiology Research Methods within the Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health. Nicole’s research interests include menstrual health, reproductive disorders, gender-based violence, and gender equity and empowerment among women and girls globally. Nicole is passionate about improving the measurement and analysis of menstrual experiences and reproductive disorders to inform research, interventions, and programming. She is also interested in the relationship between gender-based violence and reproductive outcomes. Nicole’s previous research work includes measurement of menstrual health among secondary schoolgirls in Uganda, menstrual suppression among female servicemembers in the United States, and real-world data analysis for pharmacoepidemiologic studies. Currently, Nicole is contributing to work on the Performance Monitoring for Action Agile study on menstrual product access, contraceptive use, and experiences of gender-based violence among adolescent girls and young women in Nairobi, Kenya.  

Kelsey Williams is a PhD student concentrating in Child Health within the Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, where she also completed her MSPH. She is also completing a Maternal and Child Health training grant and a certificate in Evaluation of International Health Programs. Kelsey has been working as a research assistant on various projects with the Early Childhood Services Research Program, the Maryland Department of Health, and Performance Monitoring for Action, and also served as SOURCE Service Scholar managing a health education workshop program for a local organization addressing homelessness. She has also served in a teaching assistant in a number of roles, including for introductory public health courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level. For her dissertation she is interested in investigating the impact of community structural determinants of health on children’s life course outcomes.