Welcome New SPH Faculty and Staff, Fall 2021

Michael Brown, PhD '95, will become chair of the Department of Kinesiology in January 2022. Since 2017, Dr. Brown has been professor of Kinesiology at Auburn University, where he directs the Hypertension and Vascular Health Laboratory and is on the faculty of the Center for Health Ecology and Equity Research. He is a leading expert in hypertension and exercise with a focus on modalities to improve cardiovascular health in African Americans. He has successfully built a career that combines basic research on blood vessel function with human interventional research designed to improve health outcomes through exercise. In addition to Auburn and Maryland, Dr. Brown has also held faculty positions at Temple University and the University of Illinois at Chicago. He received his doctoral degree in kinesiology at UMD under the tutelage of Dr. Jim Hagberg.

"His expertise in exercise physiology and health disparities and commitment to the University of Maryland make Michael an excellent fit for the role of chair of Kinesiology," said Dean Lushniak in an email announcing his appointment.

Kristen Coleman joins the SPH as part of the Public Health Aerobiology, Virology and Exhaled Biomarker Laboratory in October 2021. She was most recently a Senior Research Fellow in the Programme of Emerging Infectious Diseases at Duke-NUS Medical School, with a joint appointment in the Department of Medicine at the National University of Singapore’s Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. Dr. Coleman’s research focuses on the environmental detection, epidemiological surveillance and transmission of high-impact respiratory viruses such as influenza virus, adenovirus, and coronavirus.

Dr. Nicole Cousin-Gossett serves as the Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Education in the School of Public Health. Before joining the School of Public Health, Dr. Cousin-Gossett served as the Director of Undergraduate Studies and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology. She is dedicated to fostering inclusive educational excellence. Since arriving at UMD she has served on the Senate Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences Anti-Black Racism Committee and has taught courses on social stratification. She received her PhD in Sociology from Temple University. She currently is a collaborator on a paper which is investigating the impact of the pandemic on African American working mothers.

Dr. Doherty draws on her interdisciplinary training in criminology and public health to study the interrelationships between drug use, crime and health over the life course. For the past 15 years, she has worked with the Woodlawn Study, a prospective longitudinal study of a community cohort of African Americans. Data collection efforts are underway to study the life course predictors of successful aging and health as the cohort turns 60.

Craig Fryer, DrPH, utilizes mixed methods study designs to examine the sociocultural and environmental contexts of health and well-being, with an emphasis on community-engaged research. His work focuses on racial and ethnic health inequities in substance use, specifically tobacco and marijuana use among youth and young adult populations. Dr. Fryer's collateral research expertise includes Black men’s health, racism and health and the respectful engagement of underrepresented communities in research.

Dr. Tanner Kilpatrick received his PhD in Child and Family Studies from the University of Tennessee. Dr. Kilpatrick's program of research broadly investigates how criminal justice contact may impact overall health and couple relationships. As an experienced public school and higher education instructor, Dr. Kilpatrick is committed to enriching student lives through education, leadership, mentorship, and inclusion to ensure long-term growth. With several years of experience working for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Dr. Kilpatrick remains committed to civic engagement and advancing the field of family science through education and research. 

Kate McPhaul joins the SPH as part of the Public Health Aerobiology, Virology and Exhaled Biomarker Laboratory. She is an occupational and public health researcher, educator and specialist with demonstrated COVID-19 experience protecting workers, setting up COVID-19 contact tracing and return to work systems. She is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Workplace Health and Safety Journal.

Dr. Jamie Trevitt is a social epidemiologist and demographer focused on unintended pregnancy, contraceptive use, and fertility. Jamie joins the School of Public Health after many years as faculty at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County where she taught core courses in Public Health Research Methods and Epidemiology for undergraduates. Jamie has previously worked at the Census Bureau, the University Research Corporation, as well as the Johns Hopkins Center for Women and Children's Health Policy. She received her B.A. from Duke University, her M.P.P. from Georgetown University, and her Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health specializing in population and reproductive health with a methods concentration in biostatistics.

Leah Barnes is a project assistant for the PRC COVID- 19 Vaccine Communication Project at the Horowitz Center for Health Literacy. She holds a bachelors of science in community health.

As the Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Kalin helps execute the school’s marketing communications plans and schedules, and helps drive awareness and brand recognition of the school, both on and off-campus, in support of advancing our reputation, recruiting excellent students, engaging SPH alumni, fundraising and audience building. Kalin works closely with our undergraduate and graduate admissions staff to design and implement new recruitment strategies and communication.

Rya (she/her) graduated with an MPH with a concentration in Health Equity in May of 2021. Rya is now the project coordinator on the UMD-PRC COVID-19 Vaccine Communications project

Ms. Amal Hammad is the Business Manager at the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health. Prior to joining the EPIB team, she was the Business Manager at SPH - SAFE Center for Human Trafficking Survivors for two years. Prior to joining the SPH family, Amal spent over a decade working at the University of Maryland Financial Systems performing pre-and post-management of research grants, including processing and monitoring awards and overseeing cash management accounting activities.

Leah is a proud graduate of UMD’s School of Public Health. She presently serves as the program coordinator for the Horowitz Center for Health Literacy’s “Lifting All Voices” project, partnering with community health workers and local health providers to increase the availability of culturally relevant, language concordant COVID resources to socially vulnerable residents in Frederick, MD.

Hannah Tralka (she/her) is a Faculty Research Assistant for the UMD Prevention Research Center, assisting with research tasks and communications around LGBTQ+ mental health. A recent UMD graduate with a BS in Psychology, Certificate in LGBT Studies and minor in Neuroscience, Hannah was a sexual health peer at the Health Center, a research assistant in the Global Mental Health and Addiction Program and the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Health Lab and a leader of multiple student organizations.

Candela recently graduated with a BS in Public Health Science from the University of Maryland School of Public Health. She is currently working on the COVID-19 Vaccine Communications Project funded by the CDC, which seeks to increase vaccine confidence.

Whitney has six years of working experience in accounting and specializes in customer service. She has institutional knowledge of the inner workings of higher education—specifically student support services, finance and administration. Her role consists of coordinating payroll, procurement, travel and other business operations. She also oversees benefits, visa verifications and purchasing for the department.