Huda is a dual degree masters student at the University of Michigan pursuing a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and a Master of Public Policy. Her research focuses on racial health disparities in Latin America, with a particular interest in Brazil. In her spare time she enjoys dancing Kizomba, Salsa, and Bachata.

Renata is a recent graduate from the University of Michigan’s Undergraduate Public Health program. She received her B.S. in Public Health Sciences with a double minor in French and Environmental Studies. She will be starting her Masters of Public Health in Health Policy and Management at Mailman School of Public Health in the fall of 2021. As a Brazilian-American, Renata is interested in health management and policy as it relates to global health, particularly in Latin American countries like Brazil.

Gielle Kuhn worked as a research assistant for Dr. Creary during her time at the University of Michigan School of Public, where she completed an MPH in Health Behavior and Health Education. Working on this project helped Gielle gain a better understanding of research methods, health disparities, and the intersections of race, skin color, and healthcare outcomes. She carries these lessons to her current role as a suicide prevention researcher and public health communicator.

Eric worked with Dr. Creary while he was a master’s student in the Department of Health Management and Policy at the School of Public Health between 2016-2017. Eric Holson is Head of Operations at BrainCheck, a cognitive health startup. He is innovation enthusiast with a skill set in strategic analysis, operations optimization, vision, planning and execution. His focus is on exploring intersects of innovative technologies, operational optimization, advanced analytics, and informatics to transform healthcare industry.

Nefertiti was Dr. Creary’s research assistant in Salvador, Bahia during fieldwork in 2014. Nefertiti Charlene Altan is an afro-indigenous, queer, feminist, artista do corpo. composer. percussionist. cultural producer. curator. educator. interpreter. Of Guatemalan roots raised in the Bay Area, California living in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil since 2013. She has spent the last 15 years creating, studying, collaborating in both contemporary and folk performance works with artists from the US, Mexico, Canada, Haiti, Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil. She is a founding artist of Deslimites Mediações Artísticas, a collective based in Salvador, Bahia that creates contemporary dance methods and works in non-conventional spaces within a feminist & anti-racist framework, like the Incendiary Body Technique, the performance piece Is there Violence in the Silence? and the independent contemporary dance platform Corpo em Casa [Body at Home] showcasing women and/or queer performance artists for months at a time in domestic spaces.

Amel work on the HEART Project 2020-2021 while she was a doctoral student in the Health Behavior and Health Education Ph.D. Program at the School of Public Health, U-M. Amel is now an Epidemic Intelligence (EIS) Officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prior to her doctoral work, Amel conducted bench science in regenerative medicine and earned her Master’s in Public Health. Broadly, her work is interested in understanding the impacts of racism on the body. Her dissertation research asks how racism constrains the health benefits of citizenship and education for migrants from the Caribbean and Africa to France. Methodologically, Amel is interested in how the utility of quantitative analysis can be maximized by incorporating historical and social understandings of race. Understanding the contributions of racialization and migration to the health of migrants is critical to informing migration policies to promote health and health equity.

Sheeba Pawar is a recent graduate of the Health Behavior & Health Education department at U-M. Her public health education and professional aspirations are informed by her time spent working as a Healthcare Specialist at Planned Parenthood of Michigan, supporting abortion care and family planning services. Sheeba’s interests include incorporating a reproductive justice framework into public health implements, inclusive and affirming sexual education for adolescents, and creating conversations about sexual and reproductive health within South Asian communities. She’s an Ann Arbor native, and graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Neuroscience. Her hobbies include dancing while baking and watching movies with her cat. 

Paige Nong is a PhD candidate in Health Management and Policy at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Her work is ondiscrimination and racism in healthcare, health information technology use in social contexts, and public perspectives on health information sharing. Her current research focuses on the relationships between HIT and racial health inequity in the US healthcare system.

Tori Lawson worked with Dr. Creary between 2017-2020 and is now a civil service employee with Health and Human Services. Her expertise is in translating research findings into public health practice, including identifying health inequities and disparities across fundamental causes, such as race/ethnicity, socioeconomic position, and gender. Her knowledge base is informed by principles of social justice, health equity, and human rights, which bolster her ability to critique the role of policy, legal, and regulatory environments, such as health care, on health status, health care access, and quality of life.

Genae is currently working on several projects with Dr. Creary and is a 2nd year student in the Department of Health Management and Policy at the School of Public Health. Genae Brown is highly motivated with a passion for equity, creativity, leadership, and diversity in the public health and management area. Her history of working in the retail industry has strengthen her skills in Microsoft Office, management, people relations, and customer service. Genae has an international perspective on people and operations due to interning while studying abroad in London, England, and serving the people of Cap-Haitien, Haiti on an impact trip. Her experiences make her culturally sensitive to the atmosphere around her. Genae always advocates for those around her to make sure inclusivity is not only present, but valued. Any challenges she may face will be overcome due to her dedication and motivation to grow.