New & Notable

Recognizing new Rollins faculty and recent faculty promotions.


New Faculty

Sharia M. Ahmed, PhD, Assistant Research Professor (EPI)

Research Interests: Infectious disease epidemiology directed at providing evidence-based guidance to clinicians and policy makers to improve population-level interventions.




Candice N. Hargons, PhD, Associate Professor (BSHES)

Research Interests: Using community based participatory action research to improve mental and sexual health of Black and African American communities.




Longxiang Li, ScD, Assistant Professor (EH)

Research Interests: Innovative modeling approaches for the examination of novel and non-conventional environmental exposures.




Lillian Madrigal, PhD, Assistant Research Professor (BSHES)

Research Interests: Implementation and evaluation of evidence-based interventions to promote healthy behaviors.




Stephen W. Patrick, MD, Professor and Chair (HPM)

Research Interests: Examining how policies can improve the outcomes of pregnant people with substance use disorders.




Kaitlin Piper, PhD, Assistant Professor (BSHES)

Research Interests: Design, implementation, and evaluation of behavioral health interventions for adolescents, particularly adolescents involved in the juvenile justice system.




Kaitlyn K. Stanhope, PhD, Assistant Professor (EPI)

Research Interests: Impact of adversity throughout life on cardiometabolic health in and after pregnancy.




Aparajita Sur, PhD, Assistant Teaching Professor (BIOS)

Research Interests: Educational initiatives in biostatistics and data science incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion-focused pedagogy.




Danielle A. Wallace, PhD, Assistant Professor (EH)

Research Interests: Innovative approaches to wearable sensors and their analysis for studying light and circadian health.




Yuke Wang, PhD, Assistant Research Professor (GH)

Research Interests: Understanding infectious disease dynamics and improving sampling design for surveillance through infectious disease modeling approaches.




Recent Faculty Promotions

Melissa (Moose) Alperin, EdD, Associate Professor of Practice (BSHES)

Research Interests: Contributing to the practice of public health through leadership of training and educational initiatives at Rollins and throughout the United States.




Linelle Blais, PhD, Professor of Practice (BSHES)

research Interests: Contributing to the translation of scientific knowledge to public health prevention efforts and the importance of community engagement in successful public health initiatives.




Lauren Christiansen-Lindquist, PhD, Teaching Professor (EPI)

Research Interests: Contributing to the teaching and mentoring of students in epidemiology at the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral level.




Solveig Cunningham, PhD, Professor (GH)

Research Interests: Using demography and chronic disease epidemiology to describe the burden of chronic disease and the social determinants of cardiometabolic health.




Natalie Dean, PhD, Associate Professor (BIOS)

Research Interests: Statistical and epidemiologic approaches to the evaluation of vaccines using innovative trial designs and observational studies.




Todd Everson, PhD, Associate Professor (EH)

Research Interests: Using high dimensional “omic” technologies to understand the environment's contributions to children's health.




Chandra Ford, PhD, Professor (BSHES)

Research Interests: Considering the health implications of racism and social injustices through the unique application of critical race theory to public health research and practice.




Laura (Laurie) Gaydos, PhD, Teaching Professor (HPM)

Research Interests: Contributing to the teaching and pedagogy of instruction in health policy and educational leadership of distance learning initiatives at Rollins.




Yue Guan, PhD, Associate Research Professor (BSHES)

Research Interests: Translating complex genomic information into evidence-based programs and policies to expand access to precision health initiatives.




Regine Haardörfer, PhD, Research Professor (BSHES)

Research Interests: Application of sophisticated research methodologies to the social and behavioral sciences.




Monique Hennink, PhD, Teaching Professor (GH)

Research Interests: Contributing to the pedagogy of teaching qualitative methods at Rollins and across the country.




Dayna Johnson, PhD, Associate Professor (EPI)

Research Interests: Addressing the social and environmental determinants of sleep disorders and insufficient sleep and investigating the influence of modifiable factors such as sleep disorders and disturbances on various health outcomes.




Vijaya Kancherla, PhD, Associate Research Professor (EPI)

Research Interests: Understanding environmental and maternal influences on birth defects to develop strategies for prevention.




Melvin Livingston, PhD, Research Professor (BSHES)

Research Interests: Using advanced study design and analytical methods to develop and evaluate structural interventions to improve maternal and child health.




Matthew Magee, PhD, Associate Professor (GH)

Research Interests: The interactions between non-communicable and communicable diseases focused on diabetes and tuberculosis around the globe.




Shivani Patel, PhD, Associate Professor (GH)

Research Interests: Using advanced epidemiologic methods to understand the social determinants of health to address issues of cardiometabolic health inequities in Georgia and across the globe.




Jessica Sales, PhD, Professor (BSHES)

Research Interests: Designing and improving evidence-based interventions to promote sexual health promoting behaviors among girls and women.




Amit Shah, MD, Associate Professor (EPI)

Research Interests: Understanding how psychosocial factors affect cardiovascular health and novel technological innovations to intervene.




Melissa Fox Young, PhD, Associate Professor (GH)

Research Interests: Bringing clinical and biochemical aspects of nutrition to the development and implementation of nutritional interventions that are informing policies and programs around the globe.