Betsy Brigantti,
Ph.D.,
received her doctoral degree from Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School
of Hygiene and Public Health. A U.S. born Puerto Rican, Dr.
Brigantti is a graduate of Cortland State University where she received a B.S.
in Health Education. She is also a graduate of Hunter College with an M.P.H.
in Community Health Education and New York University, Robert F. Wagner graduate
School of Public Service with an M.S. in Health Services Management. An experienced
health care manager with extensive knowledge of the managed care industry,
Dr. Brigantti has worked in program development, implementation, and evaluation,
specifically database management. From 1992 until she began her doctoral studies,
Ms. Brigantti worked as the Manager for Health Education Services in the Health
Promotion and Disease Management Department of HIP Health Plans in New York
City. During her time at HIP, Ms. Brigantti coordinated population-based research
projects on the management and quality of life for people with asthma, utilization
patterns among targeted diabetics, and follow-up studies of participants in
a smoking-cessation program.
The focus of Dr. Brigantti’s doctoral research was on the impact of managed
care delivery systems on controlling cost, improving access, utilization, quality
and health outcomes in the Medicaid population. The title of her dissertation
is “Managed Care Controls and Physician’s Perceptions of Quality
Care and Continuity of Care.”
Sandra Echeveria received
her M.P.H. from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.
She received her BA in Latin American Studies from
Rutgers University. Her previous work in program evaluation began at the
International Planned Parenthood Federation, where she provided technical
assistance in research
and evaluation to more than 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In this capacity, she wrote educational modules and technical reports related
to primary care and reproductive health. More recently she has worked at
Columbia University’s Head Start and Early Head Start Programs, where she was
responsible for integrating and evaluating the impact of health education in
curricula for parents and children. Originally from Ecuador, Sandra’s
research interests include the health of illegal immigrants, the links between
migration status and health, and the effects of acculturation, social networks,
and access to health care. Her abstract, “Reliability and Self-Reported
Measures of Neighborhood Characteristics,” presented at the Second International
Conference on Urban Health, NY, October 15-18, 2003, was judged one of the
ten best student abstracts submitted.
Ms. Escheveria is a Kellogg
Fellow at Columbia University. Her dissertation examines the relationship
between childhood socioeconomic conditions and cardiovascular
disease in adult life.
Cara James hopes to one
day “assume the role of as head of a health care
policy research institute.” Ms. James has had varied research experience
both during and after graduating from Harvard University with a B.A. in Psychology.
As an undergraduate, she took a year off to work at Georgetown Medical School,
where she was a research assistant on projects related to spinal cord injury
and recovery. While at Georgetown, she “…learned about the numerous
social and environmental factors, as well as non-medical types of care that
have an important influence on health. The role of such factors is often more
difficult to study than the influence of medical interventions, but it can
have a great or greater an impact on patients.” From graduation until
the time of her enrollment as a postdoctoral student at Harvard, Ms. James
worked as a research assistant at Harvard’s Picker Institute, where she
participated in a survey of executives and providers at major HMOs to discuss
their performance on the Medicare Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Survey.
Dr. James is concentrating in the field of medical sociology. Through her research
in health care quality, she hopes to enhance medical delivery “for all
people, but especially minorities and the mentally and physically disabled.”
Ms. James is a Kellogg Fellow at Harvard University. Her dissertation consists
of a series of three papers on patient preferences in treatment of heart
disease and disparities in ESRD. The topics of the papers include: 1) medical
information
as a determinant of certainty of choice and expectations for renal transplant;
2) the link between patient satisfaction data and health status; and 3) impact
of dialysis facility characteristics on patient satisfaction ratings.
Lisa Mack is also a graduate
of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst School of Public Health. Ms.
Mack is drawn to epidemiology because it “allows
one to use a scientific-based methodology with the creative process of interpretation
and design.” As an undergraduate student at Monmouth University, Ms.
Mack received scholarships from the MonMouth County Faculty and Alumni as well
as Bronze and Silver Congressional Awards. She worked as a Summer Intern Epidemiologist
at the Monmouth County Health Department, a teaching assistant for Principles
of Epidemiology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and as a Lab
Technician at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey. Dr. Mack,
who is of Native American extraction, is committed to looking at the “real
people behind the numbers.”
Ms. Mack is a Kellogg
Fellow at Columbia University. She is also currently completing a two-year
fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
in their Epidemiological Intelligence Service. Her dissertation topic is
on the West Nile Virus.
Ilana Mittman,
Ph.D.,
describes herself as “a citizen of the world, with
cultural roots that cross continents and with an admiration for the enormous
opportunity that human diversity affords.” A native of Israel, she is
a graduate of Hebrew University receiving a B.S. in Biology and the University
of California at Berkeley receiving an M.S. in Genetic Counseling. Dr. Mittman
received her doctoral degree in Health Policy and Management from Johns Hopkins
University. The topic of her dissertation was on genetic testing among Orthodox
Jews. From 1994 until beginning of her doctoral studies, she has taught and
conducted research at Howard University, where her main focus was on genetics
and minority issues. She has been a principal investigator in several HRSA-funded
grants, and has published on topics related to genetics and minority issues,
cross-cultural genetic counseling, and genetic education and community empowerment.
Her interest in health policy was spurred by the Human Genome Project, which
offers innovations in the identification, treatment, and prevention of disease,
and raises a host of scientific, legal, and social dilemmas. Dr. Mittman expects
to combine the fields of genetics and public health, hone her advocacy skills,
and guide future scholars of underrepresented backgrounds to take part in shaping
genetic health policy.
Cynthia M. Mojica is
a Mexican-American who “grew up with the realization
that there were not enough services targeting underserved, ethnically diverse
communities, and not enough individuals with the skills, training, or knowledge
to spearhead changes in those communities.” She is a graduate of the
University of California, Davis (BAS, Biology and Psychology) and the University
of California, Los Angeles (MPH). During her undergraduate studies, she worked
as a clinic coordinator and Executive Administrator for Clinica Tepati, a non-profit,
student-run organization providing free or low-cost medical care to a medically
indigent barrio in Sacramento, CA. She also served as a health educator for
migrant children living in Northern California. Following her graduate studies,
Ms. Mojica became a project director in the Division of Cancer Prevention and
Control at UCLA, managing two NIH funded research studies on breast and colon
cancer. Ms. Mojica has been actively involved in the Latino Caucus of the American
Public Health Association for over 10 years, receiving an award for Outstanding
Leadership and Extraordinary Service in 1999 and chairing the caucus from 2000-2002.
As a doctoral candidate in Health Services at UCLA, Ms. Mojica’s goal
is to become an independent researcher focusing on issues of access, insurance
coverage, cost, and quality as they pertain to underserved communities, particularly
Latinos. Ms. Mojica will submit three papers in fulfillment of her dissertation
requirements. The papers will address various aspects of “Predictors
of Diagnostic Resolution of a Breast Abnormality Among a Low-income, Latina
Population.”
Debra Joy Pérez, Ph.D., is Program Officer for Research & Evaluation
at The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Pérez, a U.S.-born Puerto
Rican, received her doctoral degree from Harvard University. She is a graduate
of Douglass College, Rutgers University with a B.A. in Communications, the
University of Kent in Canterbury, England, with a M.A. in Women’s Studies,
and Baruch College/CUNY with an M.P.A. Dr. Pérez spent six years working
in Madrid, where she organized an international women’s festival and
placed students in foreign language academies throughout Europe. Her last position
was Deputy Director for a program office of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,
where she monitored over 110 projects related to health initiatives in New
Jersey. During her doctoral studies, she also served as a Research Fellow at
the Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research at the Graduate School
of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, where she was instrumental in organizing
a biweekly course on health disparities. Her research interests include cultural
competence, and health disparities and the role of politics in addressing or
exacerbating these. Dr. Pérez dissertation consisted of three papers
on public opinion, Latino political participation and health policy.
Janet Scott Harris,
R.N., graduated
from Central State University in Wilberforce, OH with a B.S. in Health Education
and from Central Michigan University with
an M.S. in Business Management. A self-described “problem solver and
change agent,” she has broadened her initial clinical interests to include
population-based health policy research and has worked in a variety of health
settings. For nine years, Ms. Harris was the Regional Program Consultant for
the Region I Office of Minority Health of the Department of Health and Human
Services. In that capacity, she oversaw the implementation of minority health
programs and initiatives in six New England states. Prior to that, she was
Director of Public Health for the city of Fall River, Massachusetts. Ms. Harris
also served as adjunct faculty at six universities, including Boston University
and the University of Massachusetts. An African-American, Ms. Scott Harris
regards herself as “the beneficiary of a rich tradition of quality leadership
bred through both family and community commitment to social justice.”
Ms. Harris is a Kellogg Fellow at
the Heller School at Brandeis University, where she is working on her dissertation
entitled, “The Associations
among and Between Economic Strain and Overweight and Obesity in African American
Women: Do Socioeconomic Status and/or Social Strain and/or Improved Weight
Affect Related Health Outcomes?”
Alek Sripipatana is committed to
issues facing elderly people in the U.S. He obtained a Certificate in Gerontology
from California State University,
worked as a support group facilitator in retirement communities, and was a
research associate in the Department of Geriatrics while pursuing his M.P.H.
at UCLA. Mr. Sripipatana’s ethnography of older surfers was nominated
for best senior thesis in the College of Liberal Arts at California State University
in 1998. He has co-authored an article entitled, “Preparing Future Nurses
in Geriatric Medicine: A Statewide Survey of Nursing Programs in California.” Mr.
Sripipatana combined his interest in gerontology with his interest in the health
of Asian/Pacific Islanders, specifically mental health issues in his doctoral
studies.
Mr. Sripipatana is a Kellogg Fellow
at the Community Health Sciences Department of the University of California,
Los Angeles (UCLA). His dissertation topic
is on “Culturally Responsive Mental Health Services to Asian American
and Pacific Islander Beneficiaries of Medicare.” Mr. Sripatana plans
to “examine the dynamic relationship between ethnic identification, acculturation,
and utilization of mental health services among Filipino-, Chinese-, Japanese-,
and Asian Indian American elders” and expects “to provide valuable
insights into how ethnic identity influences mental health service use and
how Medicaid and Medicare HMO regulations that mandate ‘cultural competency’ do
or do not address these issues.
Carla Stokes believes that “African-American women are often ignored
as critical thinkers.” She hopes to challenge this notion as she designs,
implements, and evaluates health care and intervention programs for underserved
populations. A graduate of Spelman College with a B.S. in Psychology, and Rackham
School of public Health at the University of Michigan with an M.P.H., Ms. Stokes
was introduced to health education and health policy through an undergraduate
internship sponsored by the Children’s Defense Fund, where she worked
on an HIV prevention program targeting African-American youth. With a focus
on HIV/AIDS, violence prevention, and substance abuse, Ms. Stokes has interned
at the CDC, done volunteer work with African American youth, and worked as
an independent consultant providing technical assistance in evaluation to HIV
outreach programs. In addition, she developed and taught an undergraduate women’s
studies course on African American Women’s Health and Social Issues at
the University of Michigan. Ms. Stokes is a doctoral candidate at the University
of Michigan School of Public Health. She plans to develop research methodologies
to improve the quality of racial and ethnic data, “create imaginative
community-based social interventions to address HIV risk-behavior,” and
study the impact of social disadvantage (racism, oppression, poverty) on the
health status of underserved populations. She will submit three papers in fulfillment
of her dissertation requirements; the topics of which will center around “Respresentin’ in
Cyberspace: A Study of Black Adolescent Girls’ Sexuality and Identity
Construction in the era of HIV/AIDS.”
Naima Wong understands that “true health is the complete well being
of the mental and physical” and is committed to investigating “the
interdependence of the two.” A graduate of Spelman College with a major
in psychology, Ms. Wong conducted research for her senior thesis on “Hypertension
in Female College Employees, the effects of John Henryism, Perceived Stress,
and Socioeconomic Status.” In addition, Ms. Wong has worked as a Senior
Research Assistant at Morehouse College on a series of studies examining psychosocial
risks and stress factors associated with hypertension and coronary heart disease
in African Americans. Through Project IMHOTEP, she interned at the Centers
of Disease Control and Prevention, where she researched worker perspectives
and biomechanical stress associated with drywall installation.
She also worked
as a Research Fellow at Morehouse College and the CDC examining stress/live
events in African-American women of reproductive age. Ms. Wong is a doctoral
student in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the
University of Michigan, where she focuses on minority and urban health issues,
specifically
violence prevention and the psychosocial determinants of disease.
