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Community Health and Prevention Faculty and Staff

Connect with faculty and staff in the Community Health and Prevention department. 

Below you can learn more about faculty research interests and their expert topics. You can also filter all faculty by research interest in the Research section.

Table of Contents:

Faculty

  • Janna Ataiants headshot

    Janna Ataiants, DrPH, MPA

    Assistant Research Professor
    Community Health and Prevention
    ja633@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Community Health
    • Substance Use
    • Lived Experiences of People Who Use Substances
    • Mixed-Methods Research
    • Drug Policy
    • Harm Reduction
  • Jennifer Breaux

    Jennifer Breaux, DrPH, MPH, CHES

    Associate Teaching Professor
    Community Health and Prevention
    267.359.6086
    jrb43@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Maternal and child health
    • Child and maternal health
    • Community health
    • Human rights
  • Amy Carroll-Scott

    Amy Carroll-Scott, PhD, MPH

    Associate Professor, Chair of the Department of Community Health and Prevention
    Community Health and Prevention
    267.359.6061
    amy.carroll-scott@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Urban health
    • Health and Place or Built Environment
    • Community Based Participatory Research
    • Health inequities
    • Spatial analysis or GIS
    • Data integration
    • Data visualization
    • Mixed methods study designs
    • Place-based, cross-sector interventions and evaluation
  • Ben Cocchiaro headshot

    Ben Cocchiaro, MD, MPH

    Assistant Research Professor
    Community Health and Prevention
    bfc26@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Harm Reduction and Substance Use Treatment
    • Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoid Therapeutics
    • Overdose Prevention Technologies
    • Health Equity and Incarceration
    • Community-Based Participatory Research
    • Opioid Use Disorder and Buprenorphine Induction
    • Public Health Approaches to Addiction
    • Integration of Technology in Clinical Care
  • Alex Ezeh

    Alex Ezeh, PhD

    Dornsife Professor of Global Health and Associate Dean for Human Rights and Global Health
    Community Health and Prevention
    267.359.6137
    ace86@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Global/International Health
    • Urban Health
    • Longitudinal Research Designs and Methods
    • Reproductive and Sexual Health
    • Population Change and Its Drivers
    • Health Systems Research
    • Research Capacity Strengthening
  • Ekaterina Fedorova headshot

    Ekaterina Fedorova, DrPH, MS

    Assistant Research Professor
    Community Health and Prevention
    evf26@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Substance Use
    • Mental Health
    • Mixed Methods
  • Ali Groves

    Ali Groves, PhD, MHS

    Associate Professor
    Community Health and Prevention
    267.359.6274
    aligroves@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Reproductive or Sexual Health
    • Maternal and Child Health
    • Global Health
    • Data Analysis Methods
    • Health Disparities
    • Community Engaged Research
  • Irene Headen

    Irene Headen, PhD, MS

    Assistant Professor
    Community Health and Prevention
    267.359.6082
    ieh27@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Community Engaged Research
    • Health Disparities
    • Health and Place
    • Maternal and Child Health
    • Mixed Methods Research
    • Social Determinants of Racial/Ethnic Inequities in Maternal Health
    • Spatial Analysis or GIS
    • Urban Health
  • Ann Klassen

    Ann Klassen, PhD

    Research Professor
    Community Health and Prevention
    267.359.6011
    ack57@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Cancer
    • Community Based Participatory Research
    • Data Analysis Methods
    • GIS-based and spatial analysis
    • Environmental Exposures
    • Global Health
    • Immigrant Health
    • Health Communication
    • Health Disparities
    • Health Policy
    • Maternal and Child Health
    • Substance Abuse
    • Nutrition
    • Sexual Health
    • Urban Health
    • Mixed Methods
    • Qualitative Methods
    • Excess Burden Intervention
  • Stephen Lankenau headshot

    Stephen Lankenau, PhD

    Professor and Director of the Medical Cannabis Research Center
    Community Health and Prevention
    267.359.6057
    sel59@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Mental Health and Behavioral health
    • Substance Use
    • Urban Health
  • Mariana Lazo headshot

    Mariana Lazo, MD, PhD, ScM

    Research Professor
    Community Health and Prevention
    ml3629@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases (Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases, Liver Diseases)
    • Hispanic/Latino/Immigrant Health
    • Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities
    • Community-Based Participatory Research
    • Urban Health
    • Climate Change
  • Javier Lopez Rios headshot

    Javier Lopez-Rios, PhD, MPH

    Assistant Teaching Professor
    Community Health and Prevention
    jl4465@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Racial, Ethnic and Sexual Minority Populations
    • HIV/AIDS Prevention and Intervention
    • Qualitative Research Methods
    • Community Health
  • Ana Martinez-Donate headshot

    Ana Martinez-Donate, PhD

    Professor and Associate Dean for Public Health Practice and External Relations
    Community Health and Prevention
    267.359.6124
    martinez-donate@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Community Engaged Research
    • Immigrant Health
    • Health Disparities
    • HIV Prevention
    • Health Care Access
    • Latino Health
    • Syndemics
  • Bertranna Muruthi headshot

    Bertranna Muruthi, PhD, MS

    Assistant Professor
    Community Health & Prevention
    bm3345@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Immigrant Health
    • Global Health or International Health
    • Community Engaged Research
    • Community Based Participatory Research
    • Race and Ethnicity
    • Health Disparities
  • Lilianna Phan headshot

    Lilianna Phan, PhD, MPH, MS

    Assistant Professor
    Community Health & Prevention, Joint Appointment with the College of Nursing and Health Professions
    lp954@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Social Determinants of Health
    • Health Disparities
    • Community-Engaged Research
    • Tobacco Prevention and Control
    • Tobacco-Related Health Disparities
    • Tobacco Regulatory Science
    • Health Communication
    • Racism and Discrimination
  • Alexis Roth

    Alexis Roth, PhD, MPH

    Associate Professor
    Community Health and Prevention
    267.359.6123
    amr395@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Substance Use
    • Reproductive or Sexual Health
    • Community Engaged Research
    • Infectious Diseases
    • eHealth or mHealth
    • Health Disparities
    • Urban health
    • Mixed Methods
    • Women's Health
    • Social Determinants of health
  • Randall Sell

    Randall Sell, ScD

    Professor
    Community Health and Prevention
    267.359.6095
    Randy@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Evaluation Methods
    • Research Methods
    • LGBT Health
  • Turchi

    Renee Turchi, MD, MPH

    Clinical Research Professor
    Community Health and Prevention
    267.359.6051
    rmt28@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Health care for children and youth with special health care needs
    • Child and maternal health
  • Elizabeth Valdez headshot

    Elizabeth (Libby) Salerno Valdez, PhD, MPH

    Assistant Professor
    Community Health and Prevention
    esv35@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Community-led Health Equity Structural Interventions
    • Participatory Action Research
    • Adolescent Health
    • Maternal and Child Health
    • Mental Health
    • Sexual and Reproductive Health
    • Substance Use
    • Latinx Immigrant Health
    • U.S.-Mexico Border Health
  • Luis Valdez headshot

    Luis Arturo Valdez, PhD, MPH

    Assistant Professor
    Community Health and Prevention
    lav53@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Participatory Action Research
    • Health Intervention Development and Implementation
    • Men's Health
    • Latine Health Disparities
    • Gender-Role Strain and Stress
    • Chronic Stress
    • Substance and Alcohol Use
  • Kofoworola D.A. Williams headshot

    Kofoworola D.A. Williams, PhD, MPH

    Assistant Professor
    Community Health and Prevention
    kofoworola.williams@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    Dr. Williams's bio outlines specific research interests within the scope of her research program.
  • Arturo Zinny headshot

    Arturo Zinny, PhD, MA, LPC

    Assistant Clinical Professor and Executive Director of the Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice
    Community Health and Prevention, Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice
    aaz42@drexel.edu

    Research Interests:
    • Child Trauma & Mental Health
    • LGBTQ Youth
    • Mental Health Needs of Racial & Ethnic Minority Youth and Families
    • The Implementation of Evidence-based Practices for Trauma-impacted Children, Adults, and Their Families

Emeritus Faculty

Nancy Epstein, MPH, MAHL, Professor Emerita

Janet Fleetwood, PhD, MPH, Professor Emerita

Augusta Villanueva, PhD, Associate Professor Emerita

Secondary Faculty

Kristal Lyn Brown, PhD, MSPH, Assistant Professor of Creative Arts Therapy
Drexel FIRST Program
Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions
PhD in Social and Behavioral Sciences from Virginia Commonwealth University

Annette Gadegbeku, MD, Assistant Dean, Associate Professor
Department of Family, Community & Preventative Medicine
Drexel University College of Medicine
MD, Temple University School of Medicine

Elizabeth Hassrick, PhD, Assistant Professor
A.J. Drexel Autism Institute
PhD in Sociology from the University of Chicago

Sharrona Pearl, PhD, Associate Teaching Professor
Drexel's College of Nursing and Health Professions
PhD in the History of Science from Harvard

Diana Robins, PhD, Professor and Director
A.J. Drexel Autism Institute
PhD in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Neuropsychology from the University of Connecticut

Giacomo Vivanti, Associate Professor
A.J. Drexel Autism Institute
PhD in Cognitive Science from the University of Siena (Italy)

Affiliate Faculty

Samantha Rivera Joseph, MPH '12, PhD '22
Director
Equal Measure

Aasta D. Mehta, MD, MPP
Medical Officer of Women’s Health
Philadelphia Department of Public Health
MD from Ross University College of Medicine, Dominica

Erica Roberts, PhD, MHS
Senior Research Associate, James Bell Associates
PhD in Behavioral and Community Health from the University of Maryland College Park

Adjunct Faculty

Mike Hauer, PhD, MPH
PhD in Community Health & Prevention, Dornsife School of Public Health

Nishita Dsouza, PhD, MPH
PhD in Community Health & Prevention '22, Dornsife School of Public Health

J. Rachael HaileSelasse, PhD, MA
PhD in Community Health & Prevention '24, Dornsife School of Public Health

Laura Smallcomb, MD
MD from Drexel University College of Medicine
Fellowship-Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Vanderbilt University

Gregory Troutman, PhD
 Sydney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
Internal Medicine Resident at Penn Medicine

Yanick Vibert, DO
 Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics at Drexel University College of Medicine
New York College of Osteopathic Medicine

Department Staff

Liz Bruss
Administrative Coordinator II
lb3354@drexel.edu

Storey Clayton
Grants Administrator
swc54@drexel.edu

Sabrina DeVose
Program Manager
sjd59@drexel.edu

John Pink
Administrative Coordinator I
jjp352@drexel.edu

Wendy Thurman
Department Administrator
wmt29@drexel.edu