Building the Roster for Public Health
Mailman Welcomes New Faculty for Fall
September 22, 2015
An outstanding faculty is one that continuously evolves, shape-shifting to match curiosity as new health-related concerns and novel methodologies press at the boundaries of exploration. In no discipline is this more true than in public health. While the start of a new academic year does not always coincide with the arrival of new faculty, the Mailman School is fortunate to welcome a number of scholars who have joined our community since February 2015. Together, these individuals, some familiar names, some new faces—will contribute to our overall mission to improve population health and train the next generation of public health leaders.
Simon Anthony, DPhil
Assistant Professor
Epidemiology, Center for Infection and Immunity
“I am interested in trying to discover and characterize the diversity of viruses in wildlife, and understand how those viruses spillover into new species, including humans.”
Yumiko Aratani, PhD
Assistant Professor
Health Policy & Management, National Center for Children in Poverty
"I am passionate about using big data in identifying policies and programs that can support the healthy development of low-income children. I also enjoy working with students who are interested in poverty and health disparities."
Merlin Chowkwanyun, MPH, PhD
Donald H. Gemson Assistant Professor
Sociomedical Sciences, Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health
“With a focus on health activism and social change, I look to building disciplinary bridges so that the problem is the focus of discussion. Recently, I've begun to explore how breakthroughs in high-capacity computing can help us analyze data on environmental health and other issues."
Samantha Garbers-Adams, PhD ‘12
Assistant Professor
Population & Family Health
"Teaching methods in program evaluation and working with colleagues to evaluate public health projects have been incredible opportunities for me to integrate intervention development and evaluation at the outset of new programs."
Grace Hillyer, MPH’00, EdD
Assistant Professor
Epidemiology
“My interests are centered on the early detection and prevention of cancer and the psychological, social, cultural, and behavioral determinants of cancer screening and cancer care, particularly among disadvantaged populations.”
Yael Hirsch-Moverman, MPH ‘01, PhD’11
Assistant Professor
Epidemiology, ICAP
“My research focuses on combating tuberculosis and HIV in vulnerable populations, such as young children, by expanding our understanding of missed opportunities and challenges, and by testing community-based interventions.”
Gen Li, PhD
Assistant Professor
Biostatistics
"I’m devoted to taming big data in biomedical sciences to promote understanding of gene regulation for human diseases.”
Susan Michaels-Strasser, MPH, PhD
Assistant Professor
Epidemiology, ICAP
"Having started my career as a bedside nurse at the beginning of the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa, I am passionate about nurses’ role in combatting infectious diseases . The combination of nursing and public health is a powerful force for improved health care delivery and epidemic control as we have seen with HIV and most recently Ebola."
Gina Wingood, MPH, ScD
Sid and Helaine Lerner Professor
Sociomedical Sciences
“I am fascinated by the intersection of public health with social justice to facilitate the development and scalability of programs to improve the health of underserved populations.”
Ashwin Vasan, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Population & Family Health
"My mentors taught me that public health is an issue of social justice and moral clarity. I now marry that ethos with a commitment to implementing and researching primary health care systems in some of the world's most challenging settings.”