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Students

HBS Doctoral Students — Last Names A-M

Learn about our doctoral students' interests, research, and more. Last names A-M.


Ananya Bhaktaram

About

Headshot of Ananya Bhaktaram

Pronouns: She/her/hers
Year entered: 2023
Previous degrees: Master of Health Science in Social Factors in Health (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health); Bachelor of Arts in Community Health (University of Oklahoma); Bachelor of Arts in Letters (University of Oklahoma)

Research and Scholarship

Research and practice interests: Socio-spatial relationships; social networks; agency; geographic information systems (GIS); social norms; neighborhoods; climate change; child health

Selected publications:

Courses taught:

  • Intro to Public Health
  • Program Planning for Health Behavior Change
  • Seminar for MPH Concentration in Social Behavioral Sciences

Contact

Email: abhakta2@jhu.edu
Advisor: Carl Latkin, PhD
Google Scholar profile | LinkedIn profile


Suzanne J. Block

About

Headshot of Suzanne Block

Pronouns: She/her/hers
Year entered: 2022 
Previous degrees: Master of Public Health (Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health); Bachelor of Science (Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing); Bachelor of Arts (University of Pittsburgh)

Research and Scholarship

Research and practice interests: Sexual and reproductive health; hepatitis B and liver cancer; global health; participatory communication; mixed methods; arts-based methods

Selected publications:

Courses taught:

  • Introduction to Persuasive Communications: Theories and Practice

Contact

Email: sblock8@jhmi.edu
Advisor: Jill Owczarzak, PhD


Zachary Catanzarite

About

Zachary Catanzarite

Pronouns: He/him/his; they/them/theirs
Year entered: 2016
Previous degrees: Master of Arts in Psychology (New York University); Master of Arts in Sociology (University of Florida); Bachelor of Science (University of Florida)

Research and Scholarship

Research and practice interests: Interests incorporate psychology, sociology, economics and public health; global health, health disparities, injury and violence prevention, and public mental health; intersection of socioeconomic inequality, social support, and mental health; how race, gender, men and masculinities, and political economy shape suicide, violence, and oppression; advanced methods and analyses 

Dissertation proposal title: Suicide ideation in a community sample of Blacks in Baltimore, MD

Selected publications:

Courses taught:

  • Health and Homelessness
  • Psychosocial Factors in Health and Illness

Contact

Email: zcatanz1@jhu.edu
Advisor: Carl Latkin, PhD


Catherine Clair

About

Headshot of Catherine Clair

Pronouns: She/her/hers
Year entered: 2020 
Previous degrees: Master of Health Science (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health); Bachelor of Arts in Medical Anthropology and Music Performance (Case Western Reserve University)

Research and Scholarship

Research and practice interests: Aging; older adults; caregiving; social networks; care networks; social-medical networks

Dissertation proposal title: The Social-Medical Network: Using a Network Approach to Explore the Integration of Informal and Formal Care Networks of Older Adults

Selected publications:

Courses taught:

  • Introduction to Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health
  • Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods
  • Introduction to Qualitative Data Analysis for Public Health

Contact

Email: cclair1@jhu.edu
Advisor: Karin Tobin, PhD
Google Scholar profile  | LinkedIn profile


Meredith Denney

About

Headshot of Meredith Denney

Pronouns: She/her/hers
Year entered: 2023
Previous degrees: Master of Public Health in Epidemiology (Vanderbilt University School of Medicine); Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (University of Tennessee, Knoxville)

Research and Scholarship

Research and practice interests: Harm reduction; intimate partner violence; substance use; LGBTQ+ health; trauma-informed care; mixed methods

Selected publications:

Contact

Advisor: Danielle German, PhD
Google Scholar profile | LinkedIn profile


Shannon Fuller

About

Shannon Fuller

Pronouns: She/her/hers
Year entered: 2021
Previous degrees: Master of Science in Global Health (University of California, San Francisco); Bachelor of Science in Biology (Rhodes College)

Research and Scholarship

Research and practice interests: Multi-level interventions; implementation science and evaluation research; peer support; community health; access to and engagement in care; patient-provider communication; stigma reduction; law and policy; local and global health

Selected publications: 

Courses taught:

  • Applications of Innovative Methods in Local and Global Health Equity Research
  • Psychosocial Factors in Health and Illness
  • Introduction to Methods for Health Services Research and Evaluation
  • Using Software in Qualitative Research and Analysis

Contact

Email: sfulle14@jhu.edu
Advisor: Jill Owczarzak, PhD
Google Scholar profile | LinkedIn profile


Bailey Holmes Spencer

About

Pronouns: She/her/hers
Year entered: 2022
Previous degrees: Bachelor of Arts in Sociology (Spelman College); Master of Public Health in Population and Family Health (Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health); Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases Certification (Columbia University Mailman School of Public health)

Research and Scholarship

Research and practice interests: Improving minority health and advancing innovative interventions to counter HIV/AIDS disparities sustainably; social media's impact on health education and behavior; digital interventions and health communication; suicidality among Black and Latinx youth and young adults affected by HIV

Selected publications: 

Contact

Email: bholme19@jhu.edu
Advisor: Michelle Kaufman, PhD


Amelia Jamison

About

Amelia Jamison

Pronouns: She/her/hers
Year entered: 2020 
Previous degrees: Master of Public Health in Social Epidemiology (University of Maryland, College Park); Master of Applied Anthropology (University of Maryland, College Park); Bachelor of Arts in History and Anthropology (Pennsylvania State University, University Park)

Research and Scholarship

Research and practice interests: Infodemics/misinformation/rumor; health Communication; health equity

Selected publications: 

Courses taught:

  • Fundamentals of Health, Behavior and Society
  • Introduction to Persuasive Communication
  • The Practice of Public Health Through Vaccine Case Studies
  • Introduction to Health Policy
  • Truth, Evidence, and Influence: Case Studies in Public Health

Contact

Email: ajamiso5@jhmi.edu
Advisor: Rajiv Rimal, PhD | Meghan Moran, PhD
Google Scholar profile


Bee-Ah Kang

About

Bee-Ah Kang

Pronouns: She/her/hers
Year entered: 2021 
Previous degrees: Master of Science in Public Health (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health), Master of Arts in Communication (Seoul National University), Bachelor of Arts in Communication (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Research and Scholarship

Research and practice interests: Social determinants of health; global health; social norms; gender norms; women's health; program evaluation; maternal and child health; mixed methods; multilevel approaches to health behavior change; health communication; mHealth/eHealth

Selected publications: 

Courses Taught

  • Fundamentals of Health, Behavior and Society
  • Qualitative Data Analysis
  • Qualitative Research Theory and Methods

Contact

Email: beeah.kang@jhu.edu
Advisor: Rajiv Rimal, PhD
Google Scholar profile | LinkedIn profile


Katrina Kennedy

About

Headshot of Katrina Kennedy

Pronouns: She/her/hers
Year entered: 2022
Previous degrees: Master of Public Health (University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health); Bachelor of Science in Public Health (University of California, San Diego)

Research and Scholarship

Research and practice interests: Transgender and gender expansive health equity; LGBTQ+ health; violence prevention; trauma; substance use; social and economic policy; structural violence/vulnerability; space and spatial analysis; structural and social determinants of health

Selected publications:

Contact

Email: kkenne34@jh.edu
Advisor: Danielle German, PhD
Google Scholar profile


E. Kisanga

About

Edwina Kisanga

Pronouns: They/them/theirs
Year entered: 2021
Previous degrees: Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry (Yale University)

Research and Scholarship

Research and practice interests: Structural determinants of health; intersectionality; transgender healthcare; reproductive justice; mixed methods

Contact

Email: ekisang1@jhmi.edu
Advisors: Katherine Clegg Smith, PhD


Briana Kramer

About

Year entered: 2023

Contact

Email: bkrame11@jhu.edu 


Kiara Mayhand

About

Headshot of Kiara Mayhand

Pronouns: She/her/hers
Year entered: 2021
Previous degrees: Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and Health Analytics (The College of New Jersey), Bachelor of Science (The College of New Jersey)

Research and Scholarship

Research and practice interests: Racial health disparities; structural inequities; artificial intelligence/machine learning

Selected publications: 

Contact

Email: kmayhan1@jhu.edu
Advisors: Lisa Cooper, MD; Janice Bowie, PhD


Obie McNair

About

Headshot of Obie McNair

Pronouns: He/him/his
Year entered: 2019
Previous degrees: Master of Public Health (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill); Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications, emphasis in Public Relations (Tougaloo College)

Research and Scholarship

Research and practice interests: Black men's health and health disparities; cardiovascular disease risk among Black sexual minority men; HIV/STIs among members of the LGBTQ+ community

Dissertation proposal title: Associations between Cardiovascular Disease Risk and Interpersonal, Psychological, and Environmental Factors among Black Sexual Minority Men

Courses taught:

  • Critcal Issues in Health Disparities

Contact

Email: omcnair1@jh.edu
Advisor: Roland J. Thorpe Jr., PhD


Ashley Meehan

About

Headshot of Ashley Meehan

Pronouns: She/her/hers
Year entered: 2022
Previous degrees: Master of Public Health in Global Health (Emory University Rollins School of Public Health); Certificate in Religion and Health (Emory University Candler School of Theology and Rollins School of Public Health); Bachelor of Applied Health Science in Public Health (Bowling Green State University)

Research and Scholarship

Research and practice interests: Homelessness; displacement by law enforcement; data systems; public health governance; religion as a determinant of health; ethics and human rights

Selected publications:

Courses taught:

  • Public Health Policy
  • Service-Learning in Baltimore for Community Health and Well-being
  • Crisis and Response in Public Health Policy and Practice

Contact

Email: ameehan3@jhu.edu
Advisor: Amy Knowlton, ScD
Google Scholar profile | LinkedIn profile