HBS Doctoral Students — Last Names A-M
Learn about our doctoral students' interests, research, and more. Last names A-M.
Suzanne Block
About
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: Social and behavior change communication; mixed methods research; participatory research and arts-based methods; sexual and reproductive health; social norms; global health
Contact
Email: sblock8@jhmi.edu
Advisor: Jill Owczarzak, PhD
Zachary Catanzarite
About
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:
- Correlates of Patterns of Health Values of African Americans Living With HIV/AIDS: Implications for Advance Care Planning and HIV Palliative Care
- Support Network Factors Associated With Naming a Health Care Decision-Maker and Talking About Advance Care Planning Among People Living With HIV
- Quality of Life Among Caregivers of a Vulnerable Population Living with HIV: Caregiving and Relationship Factors
- Gendered Paths to Asset Accumulation? Markets, Savings, and Credit in Developing Countries
- Do men and women estimate property values differently?
Courses taught:
- Health and Homelessness
- Psychosocial Factors in Health and Illness
Contact
Email: zcatanz1@jhu.edu
Advisor: Carl Latkin, PhD
Catherine Clair
About
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: How the integration between the networks of informal and formal care impacts the health and wellbeing of older adults
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:
- Refining a Taxonomy of Goals for Older Adults With Functional Limitations and Their Caregivers to Inform Care Planning
- Standardised approach to measuring goal-based outcomes among older disabled adults: results from a multisite pilot
- Mitigating End-of-Life Burden: Parallel Perspectives of Physician-Patients & Family Caregivers
- “You think you got it down and then the moment comes”: The certainty of uncertainty in end-of-life decision making
- Patient and provider perspectives on using goal attainment scaling in care planning for older adults with complex needs
Courses taught:
- Introduction to Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health
Contact
Email: cclair1@jhu.edu
Advisor: Karin Tobin, PhD
Carmen Cronin
About
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Year entered: 2018
Previous degrees: Master of Public Health (Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health)
Research and Scholarship
Research and practice interests: Health communication; global health; program evaluation; evaluation research; participatory research; social norms; gender; violence; maternal and child health; adolescent health
Selected publications:
- Measurement and conceptualisation of attitudes and social norms related to discrimination against children with disabilities: A systematic review
- ACT: An evidence-based macro framework to examine how communication approaches can change social norms around female genital mutilation
- How does a social and behavioral change communication intervention predict menstrual health and hygiene management: A cross-sectional study
Courses taught:
- Sociological Perspectives on Health
- Contemporary Issues in Health Communication
- Introduction to Persuasive Communications: Theories and Practice
- Health Communication Programs 1: Planning and Strategic Design
- Health Communication Programs II: Implementation and Evaluation
Contact
Email: ccroni10@jhmi.edu
Advisors: Stella Babalola, PhD; Douglas Storey, PhD
Carolyn Ellison
About
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Year entered: 2019
Previous degrees: Master of Public Policy (University of Maryland, College Park); Bachelor of Arts in Economics (University of Maryland, College Park)
Research and Scholarship
Research and practice interests: Public assistance experience and outcomes; health and social policy and implementation; welfare and poverty stigma; qualitative methods
Dissertation proposal title: Exploring Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Participation Stigma in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Selected publications:
Courses taught:
- Under Pressure: Health, Wealth & Poverty
- Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods
- Using Software in Qualitative Research and Analysis
- Statistical Methods in Public Health I
- Statistical Methods in Public Health II
Contact
Email: celliso5@jh.edu
Advisor: Katherine Clegg Smith, PhD
Evan Eschliman
About
Pronouns: He/him/his; they/them/theirs
Year entered: 2020
Previous degrees: Master of Science in Sociomedical Sciences (Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health); Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy Studies (University of Chicago)
Research and Scholarship
Research and practice interests: Culturally and structurally responsive stigma interventions; health, power, and status inequities; social policy and development; social science theories; global mental health; mixed methods research
Dissertation proposal title:
- Toward a more relational conceptualization of structural stigma: A scoping review of the concept and two supporting studies investigating structural stigma among people who use opioids in the United States
Selected publications:
- A pilot pragmatic trial of a “what matters most”-based intervention targeting intersectional stigma related to being pregnant and living with HIV in Botswana
- A longitudinal study of COVID-19 disclosure stigma and COVID-19 testing hesitancy in the United States
- Barriers and facilitators to implementation of evidence-based task-sharing mental health interventions in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review using implementation science frameworks
- Crowdsourced PrEP promotion messages for an HIV high-burden area: A framework-based content analysis
- Police Transparency is a Public Health Issue, Too
Courses taught:
- Sociological Perspectives on Health
- Issues in LGBTQ Health Policy
- Psychosocial Factors in Health and Illness
- Stigma and Public Health: Issues and Interventions
- Program Planning for Health Behavior Change
- Social and Behavioral Aspects of Public Health
- Introduction to Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health
Contact
Email: eeschli1@jh.edu
Advisor: Michelle Kaufman, PhD
Google Scholar profile
Shannon Fuller
About
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:
- A peer intervention reduces loneliness and improves social well-being in low-income older adults: A mixed-methods study
- Medical-legal partnerships to support continuity of care for immigrants impacted by HIV: Lessons learned from California
- Documenting best practices for maintaining access to HIV prevention, care and treatment in an era of shifting immigration policy and discourse
- Patient and provider experiences from HIV clinics in the United States that integrated primary care
- Attitudes about community pharmacy access to HIV prevention medications in California
Contact
Email: sfulle14@jhu.edu
Advisor: Jill Owczarzak, PhD
Google Scholar 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
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: Online health misinformation
Selected publications:
- Facebook's Architecture Undermines Vaccine Misinformation Removal Efforts
- Twitter and Facebook posts about COVID-19 are less likely to spread misinformation compared to other health topics
- Promoting Vaccination in India through Videos: The Role of Humor, Collectivistic Appeal, and Gender in Vaccines
- Facebook pages, the "Disneyland" measles outbreak, and promotion of vaccine refusal as a civil right, 2009-2019
- Adapting and extending a typology to identify vaccine misinformation on Twitter
Courses taught:
- Fundamentals of Health, Behavior and Society
- Introduction to Persuasive Communications
- The Practice of Public Health Through Vaccine Case Studies
Contact
Email: ajamiso5@jhmi.edu
Advisor: Rajiv Rimal, PhD
Bee-Ah Kang
About
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; health communication; global health; social norms; gender; program evaluation; mHealth/eHealth intervention; maternal and child health; mixed methods; multilevel approaches to health behavior change
Selected publications:
- Perceived sources of occupational burn-out and embitterment among front-line health workers for COVID-19 control in Gyeonggi province, South Korea: a qualitative study
- Knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) toward COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in South Korea
- Microenterprise intervention to reduce sexual risk behaviors and increase employment and HIV preventive practices among economically‑vulnerable African‑American young adults (EMERGE): a feasibility randomized clinical trial
- A moderated mediation model of the relationship between media, social capital, and cancer knowledge
Courses Taught
- Qualitative Data Analysis Qualitative Research Theory and Methods
Contact
Email: beeah.kang@jhu.edu
Advisor: Rajiv Rimal, PhD
Katrina Kennedy
About
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:
- Protective Environments, Health, and Substance Use Among Transgender and Gender Expansive Youth
- Associations between school absence and school violence by sexual identity
Contact
Email: kkenne34@jh.edu
Advisor: Danielle German, PhD
Google Scholar profile
E. Kisanga
About
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
Laura Kroart
About
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Year entered: 2017
Previous degrees: Master of Health Science (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health); Bachelor of Arts in American Studies and Community Health (Tufts University)
Research and Scholarship
Research and practice interests: Substance use; opioids; policy interventions; LGBTQ health; mixed methods; qualitative methods; social media and internet research
Dissertation proposal title: Examining context of opioid use experiences, impact of services, and overdose risk among rural women on the Eastern Shore of Maryland
Selected publications:
- Amid omicron, Maryland must ensure convenient COVID testing on a mass scale
- Cigarette stick as valuable communicative real estate: a content analysis of cigarettes from 14 low-income and middle-income countries
- The Tobacco Pack Surveillance System: A Protocol for Assessing Health Warning Compliance, Design Features, and Appeals of Tobacco Packs Sold in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
- Standard smokeless tobacco packaging: potential impact on perceived attractiveness, warning label visibility and harm perceptions among adults in Bangladesh
Courses taught:
- Contemporary Social Movements in Public Health
Contact
Email: lkroart1@jhu.edu
Advisors: Katherine Clegg Smith, PhD; Danielle German, PhD
Kristy Marynak
About
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Year entered: 2019
Previous degrees: Master of Public Policy (Duke University); Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (Davidson College)
Research and Scholarship
Research and practice interests: Youth tobacco prevention and tobacco industry monitoring
Selected publications:
- State and Territorial Laws Prohibiting Sales of Tobacco Products to Persons Aged <21 Years — United States
- Use and reasons for use of electronic vapour products shaped like USB flash drives among a national sample of adults
- E-cigarette advertising expenditures in the United States, 2014-2018
- Self-reported exposure to, perceptions about, and attitudes about public marijuana smoking among US adults, 2018
- Age of tobacco use initiation and association with current use and nicotine dependence among US middle and high school students, 2014-2016
Contact
Email: kmaryna1@jhu.edu
Advisor: Meghan Bridgid Moran, PhD
Kiara Mayhand
About
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
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
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Year entered: 2022
Previous degrees: Master of Public Health in Global Health (Emory University 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 health; social epidemiology; measurement and classification of transient living situation; quantification of disease burden, risk, and mortality in congregate living settings; evaluating peer- and network-based approaches
Selected publications:
- Incidence of COVID-19 among Persons Experiencing Homelessness in the United States, January 2020-November 2021
- Notes from the Field: COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage Among Persons Experiencing Homelessness — Six U.S. Jurisdictions, December 2020–August 2021
- COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptability among People Experiencing Homelessness in Central Florida and Southern Nevada, March-July 2021
- Impact of Social Isolation during the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health, Substance Use, and Homelessness: Qualitative Interviews with Behavioral Health Providers
- Clinic- and community-based SARS-CoV-2 testing among people experiencing homelessness in the United States, March-November 2020
Contact
Email: ameehan3@jhu.edu
Advisor: Amy Knowlton, ScD
Google Scholar profile