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Public Health, BS

Faculty

Our talented and competent faculty bring various life experiences and educational backgrounds to the classroom and beyond. 

For complete profiles, please click on the faculty's name.

Associate Dean

Dr. Erin Grinshteyn is an associate professor in the School of Nursing and Health Professions, where she teaches a variety of courses in the MPH program. Her primary research interest relates to fear of crime and fear of violent victimization, and the association of fear with a variety of health outcomes. She is particularly interested in population-based health disparities associated with fear of violence and specifically examines these topics among older adults. Erin also does work examining...

Education:
  • PhD in Health Services, Fielding School of Public Health, UCLA
  • MS in Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University
  • BA in Sociology, Brandeis University

Program Director

Cowell Hall 425

As a health demographer, Dr. Chyu studies how social factors and chronic stressors are embodied physiologically and shape women’s health over the life course. Her research examines the dynamic interplay of biological and social processes to better understand how chronic stress impacts health and aging trajectories. She is also interested in the effects of positive and adverse childhood experiences on physical and mental health later in life.

Education:
  • Northwestern University, Cells to Society Center on Social Disparities and Health at the Institute for Policy Research, Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, PhD in Public...
Expertise:
  • Women's health
  • Biodemography
  • Chronic and toxic stress

Full-Time Faculty

Dory Magasis Escobar, PhD has worked in community organizing, coalition building, and grassroots leadership development for decades in Northern California and Central America.  She was Director of Healthy Communities and Community Building at a regional health system for 13 years; where she also oversaw the organization’s Community Benefit planning and reporting. Prior to that time, Dory worked for 11 years in Central America in community mental health, community-based rehabilitation, community...

Education:
  • PhD in Public Health, Community Health Promotion, Walden University, 2016
  • MA in Clinical Psychology, Universidad ML Escamilla, 1997
  • BA in Psychology, Sonoma State University, 1984
Expertise:
  • Community engagement
  • Community organizing & coalition building
  • Community psychology
  • Social determinants of health
  • Participatory strategic planning & evaluation
  • Non-profit hospital Community Benefit
Cowell Hall 404

Alice Fiddian-Green (she, her, hers) is an Assistant Professor of Public Health in the School of Nursing and Health Professions. Alice is a community-engaged researcher that uses public health storytelling methods (digital storytelling, 'zines, and photovoice) to research the social and structural determinants of substance use and treatment. Her current focus is on opioid use and treatment among pregnant people and adolescents. Her goal is to use storytelling methods to counter harmful...

Education:
  • UMass Amherst, PhD in Public Health, 2019
  • UMass Amherst, MPH in Health Promotion and Policy, 2013
Expertise:
  • Public health storytelling methods
  • Community-engaged research
  • Qualitative methodologies
Cowell Hall, 215D

Courtney Keeler is a health economist. She has been teaching at USF's Master in Public Health programs since August 2011. Her research surrounds topics related to adolescent health, mental health, and smoking prevention and control. In her teaching, she works to meet students where they are in hope of creating a classroom climate where individuals feel well-equipped to tackle the subject matter covered in the course.

Education:
  • PhD, Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2012 (Focus in health economics)
  • MS in Economics, University of North Carolina...
Expertise:
  • Health economics
  • Health policy and management
Cowell 405

Dr. Kelly L’Engle, associate professor and director of the MPH-Behavioral Health concentration, is a social and behavioral health scientist with 25 years experience in research and program development in the health sector.

She joined the faculty of the Population Health Sciences Department in the School of Nursing and Health Professions at the University of San Francisco in August 2015. She has served as department chair and program director and teaches classes in program planning and...

Education:
  • Ph.D. Health Behavior and Health Education, Gillings School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC
  • MPH, Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public...
Expertise:
  • Adolescent Health
  • Reproductive Health, HIV and STIs
  • Health Communication and Design
  • New Media and Technologies
  • Substance Use
  • Interventions
  • Global Health and Populations
  • mHealth

Part-Time Faculty

Neha Kumar is a Health Decision Scientist by training, whose research interests include psychological anthropology, or the interaction of cultural and mental processes. She studies how cultural groups–with their history, language, and practices–shape processes of human emotion and mental health. She has also worked to develop the allcove program, an innovative network of integrated youth mental health centers designed with, by, and for youth that reduce stigma, embrace mental wellness, increase...

Education:
  • University of Minnesota, School of Public Health, PhD in Health Policy & Management
Expertise:
  • Health decision modeling
  • Cost-effective analysis

Mehgan Sierra (she/her) graduated San Francisco State University with her undergraduate degree in Latino and Sexual Studies. During undergrad, she was involved in the mental health and primary care setting by volunteering at San Francisco Suicide Prevention and Clinical Martin-Baro.

After finishing undergrad, Mehgan began her career at Edgewood Center for Children and Families, a mental health non-profit organization. She worked in an array of roles and continued to grow in this area from a...

Education:
  • University of San Francisco, MPH and MS in Behavioral Health, 2018
  • San Francisco State University, BA in Latino Studies and Sexuality Studies, 2012
Expertise:
  • Suicide prevention
  • Crisis de-escalation
  • Dance