Class Notes: Spring 2017

For the past two years Brady has been living and working in Miami, FL where his wife, Anna, is a PhD candidate in History at the University of Miami. In fall 2015, he presented research from his MPH thesis on the relationship between HIV incidence and violent conflict in sub-Saharan Africa at the APHA National Conference in Chicago. It was published as a peer-reviewed article in PLoS ONE in November 2015. Currently, Brady is working for the Health Council of South Florida, a nonprofit focused on South Florida public health needs, research, program evaluation, and strategic planning. He is a Research and Data Specialist primarily focused on the prevention, treatment, and impact of HIV/AIDS in Miami-Dade County. Brady sits as a voting member on the Miami-Dade County HIV/AIDS Planning Council and this past fall was an appointed representative to the Miami-Dade County “Getting 2 Zero” HIV/AIDS Taskforce where he chaired the Social and Support Services sub-committee. He is planning to apply for PhD programs in Epidemiology for Fall 2018.

Monique is currently a Research Assistant Professor in the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences at the University of South Florida in Tampa. In November 2015, she was awarded the “Minority Issues in Gerontology Committee Grants Assistance Workshop Award” from the Gerontological Society of America. Around this time, she was also awarded the “Excellence in Abstract Submission among All Presenters Award” from the HIV/AIDS Section of the American Public Health Association for an abstract entitled “Psychopathology and intimate partner violence victimization associated with HIV disclosure among HIV-positive men who have sex with men.” In 2015, Monique was also a recipient of the “Lucius N. Littauer Foundation Loan Forgiveness Program Award” from the Brown University School of Public Health, for which she is forever grateful. In the past two years, she has published several articles focused on behavioral, social, and mental factors associated with living with HIV among disproportionately affected populations. “Vengeance, condomless sex and HIV disclosure among men who have sex with men living with HIV” was published in AIDS and Behavior and “Psychological reactance and HIV-related stigma among women living with HIV” was published in AIDS Care. Monique has also presented socio-behavioral HIV research at local and international conferences. She presented on “Selfefficacy and sexual compulsivity among men who have sex with men living with HIV: Disparities by age and sexual orientation” at the National LGBTQ Conference held from April 28-30, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois.

Max recently started a new position as Chief of Staff to the founding director of the University of Chicago Medicine Trauma Center. He’ll be advising on community health engagement efforts, violence recovery program design, and doing whatever it takes to bring highquality and compassionate care to the South Side Chicago community.

Chelsea is using her bachelor’s in community health to teach 7th graders in Hawaii about safe sex, human anatomy, tobacco and substance abuse, obesity, and basic hygiene—a must in middle school. She is also in her third year of teaching science and regrets not taking more biology classes with Marjorie Thompson and wishes she had paid better attention in her, “Intro to Public Health,” class.

Elizabeth has recently moved to New York City where she works as a Project Coordinator in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences in Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. In this role, under the mentorship of Drs. Morgan Philbin and Lisa Metsch, she conducts research on substance use, sexual health, HIV, and the relationship between state-level policies and health outcomes among young people. Currently, she is preparing for PhD applications, hoping to enroll in a PhD program in Epidemiology in 2018. Elizabeth plans to continue her research in substance use and addiction during her doctoral program, with a focus in harm reduction and prevention of infectious disease transmission and overdose among people who use drugs.

Amber is in her first year of medical school at Midwestern University, Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine. She is serving as the first year liaison for the National Osteopathic Women Physician Association and for the Medical Students For Choice groups on campus. She is also a co-founder and the Vice President of the Nutrition and Health Awareness club on campus.

Alexandria Macmadu is entering her second year as the Senior Research Assistant at the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights in Providence. In recent months, she received an appointment as a Teaching Associate for the Department of Health Services, Policy and Practice at Brown. Since graduation, manuscripts co-authored by Alexandria have appeared in the Lancet, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, and Addictive Behaviors. Her work has been accepted for presentation at international conferences focused on prisoner health and harm reduction. Alexandria is planning to apply to Epidemiology PhD programs later this year.

Janine is working at the Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities, and Hospitals as the Project Director for RI-SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment). RI-SBIRT is a substance abuse treatment grant and evidence-based practice used to identify, reduce, and prevent problematic use, abuse, and dependence on alcohol and illicit drugs. Through the grant, Janine and her colleagues will prescreen 250,000 Rhode Islanders over five years. The screening will cover tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs and be delivered to individuals in primary care and health centers, emergency departments, the Department of Corrections, and in the community by Community Health Teams. This initiative complements the State’s efforts to integrate health and behavioral health care.

Dani Escudero Poole is an ScD candidate at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. Her research is focused on monitoring and evaluation in crises, including both manmade and natural disasters and infectious disease epidemics. She recently completed a study on the mental health status and information communication technology needs of Syrian refugees in Greece, supported by the International Data Responsibility Group. The preliminary findings of this research demonstrate a high prevalence of major depression, and associations between mobile phone use and mental health. Escudero Poole plans to use this research to inform policy on mental health care availability in refugee camps and to catalyze further studies to assess the mental health needs of refugees in the European migrant crisis. In addition, Escudero Poole and Brown Public Health alum Dan Escudero (PhD ‘16) recently began a maternity/paternity project featuring a yet-to-be-named team member joining in October.

For the past two years, Patricia has been afforded the opportunity to work as a Co-Investigator for Project I-PAL (Interactive Physical Activity Lab). Based out of Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana, the lab serves as a collaboration between Southeastern and Louisiana State University’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Project I-PAL is the only teaching facility in the state of Louisiana equipped with digital health technology and fitness equipment designed specifically for children and adolescents. Undergraduate and graduate students at Southeastern engage in motivational exercise activities each semester with 20 children between the ages of 6 and 12, gaining skills that will prepare them to work with overweight children/youth and their families. The education and research experience that Patricia obtained while studying at Brown has benefited her tremendously in this role. She still uses techniques discussed in her public health courses when developing exercise curriculum and submitting scientific manuscripts. As Project I-PAL grows, it has the potential to expand its impact beyond the local community that it currently serves, and Patricia looks forward to witnessing its influence on the realm of childhood/youth obesity research.

Kelley Smith is delighted to report that she has returned to the School of Public Health as the Program Coordinator for the Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute.