Faculty & Staff

Faculty:

Name

Summary / Research Interest

Brandon Grimm, PhD, MPH
Interim Center Director

Dr. Grimm’s research focuses on community-driven health transformation and creating the most effective models and systems for communities to tackle their most relevant and wicked public health issues.
Dejun Su, PhD
Associate Professor
Social Demography, Medical Sociology, Health Research and Policy
Keyonna M. King, DrPH, MA
Assistant Professor
Dr. King focuses her research efforts on reducing health disparities and improving health outcomes for African Americans in the context of community-based participatory research (CBPR).  She focuses on lifestyle diseases that adversely affect the African American communities such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.  She is also interested in African American men’s health particularly men between the ages of 18 and 30 years old
Tzeyu Michaud 
Assistant Professor
Experienced in conducting evidence-based economic evaluations of interventions at the clinical or population levels to inform practice guidelines and improve the quality of life for patients. Uses a multidisciplinary approach to research and utilizes skills in health services research, decision analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, demography, and comparative effectiveness. Maintains a personal and genuine interest in population aging, long-term care, dementia, obesity, and diabetes
Athena Ramos, PhD, MS, MBA, CPM 
Assistant Professor
Agricultural health and safety, Immigrant integration, Community well-being, Tobacco control and prevention, Latino and LGBT health disparities, Intercultural communication and cultural competency, and Coalition-building and policy advocacy

Other Academic and Technical Staff:

Name

Summary / Research Interest

Jessica Ern, MPH/BS
Community Research Data Coordinator
Cultural humility and health policy, Healthcare Access, Maternal and reproductive health, Racial and ethnic health disparities, Refugee health
Community Health Program Manager
I am passionate about emphasizing culture's role in improving health outcomes through intentional programming with communities to reduce health disparities. With community participation as a priority, I aspire to establish a systems-level behavioral change and build trust between communities and health systems.
LaTresha Rideout, MA, BS
Community Outreach Specialist
Increase COVID-19 vaccination rates within the North Omaha African American community, reducing health disparities among African Americans and addressing social determinants of health...
Marcela Carvajal-Suarez, MPH, BS
Outreach Project Associate
Racial and ethnic health disparities, Public health in Latino immigrants, Environmental health-related diseases, and Epidemiology of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases (zoonosis)
Natalia Trinidad, BS 
Outreach Project Associate
Prevention of underage drinking, Tobacco control and prevention, Community engagement and outreach, Racial and ethnic health disparities, and Healthy public spaces, recreations areas, and park
Office Associate
Health Equity, Social Justice, and creative dissemination of research
Graduate Research Assistant
Programs evaluation in early childhood development, Early cognitive stimulation of preschool children in developing country,
Evaluating the impact of integrated programs, Evaluating tools, Sustainability of interventions focused on early childhood development, Cognitive development of vulnerable children, Role of fathers and family structure on child development at the early stage, Parent mental health and child development, and Double burden of malnutrition in developing country and the impact in early childhood development
Gaurav Kumar, MBBS, MPH
Graduate Research Assistant
Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, Cancer Care and Management, Mental Health and Physical Activity
Titilola Labisi, MHA, MPH
Graduate Research Assistant
Committed to closing the health disparity gap in the burden of diseases and overall well-being among racial and gender minority groups. Research focuses on HIV prevention, management, substance use, mental health and heart-related issues among the minority groups
Khalid Alshehri, MHA
PhD Student, Graduate Assistant
Telemedicine, Health Systems and Economics, Health Care and Public Health Leadership/Workforce Health Outcomes, and Quality Control
Aiden Quinn, BS, MA
Intern
Health Disparities and Social Determinants of Physical and Mental Health in Marginalized Communities, Structural Stigma and Health Outcomes in the LGBTQ+ Population.