Accomplishments Monograph PDF |
Community Advisory Board |
Funders |
Partners |
Staff
Staff
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Research Faculty
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Alwyn Cohall, MD, Principal Investigator and Project Director, is beginning his third decade of service as a physician to the residents of Northern Manhattan, and has served as the HHPC Principal Investigator for five years. He is an Associate Professor of Clinical Public Health and Clinical Pediatrics at MSPH and the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPS). He received the 2001 Public Health Achievement Award from NYC DHMH, the 2003 Leadership Award from the New York Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Rights Project, and the 2006 Shirley Gordon Public Policy Leadership Award from Family Planning Advocates. He has authored or co-authored more than 40 publications on a wide-range of health issues as they affect children, adolescents, and adults in Northern Manhattan. Dr. Cohall received his medical training at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, underwent his Pediatric Residency at Montefiore Hospital, and completed his Adolescent Medicine Fellowship at Mt. Sinai Hospital.
atc1@columbia.edu |
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Rita Kukafka, DrPH, Co-PI, is an MSPH Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Public Health Informatics
Specialization in the CPS Dept. of Biomedical Informatics. She has conducted
research at MSPH for ten years in school health, web applications for cardiovascular
disease and patient education, and integrating informatics competencies
into Nurse Practitioner training curricula. Dr. Kukafka holds a Doctorate
degree from the School of Public Health at Columbia University, and two
Masters degrees; one in community health education from New York University,
and the second in Medical Informatics from Columbia University, where she
also completed a 3-year National Library of Medicine funded Fellowship
in Medical Informatics.
rik7001@dbmi.columbia.edu |
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Joyce Moon-Howard, DrPH, Co-Investigator, is an MSPH Assistant Professor and has conducted research at MSPH for 16 years in substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease, and child and adolescent development. She is currently the PI of a four-year CDC-SIPS research project on tobacco use in Harlem. Dr. Moon-Howard received her undergraduate degree in social psychology from the University of California at Berkeley and her graduate degrees in Sociomedical Sciences from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.
jmh7@columbia.edu |
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Mary E. Northridge, PhD, MPH, Co-Investigator, has been associated with the HHPC since 1993. She earned an MPH in environmental health and a PhD in epidemiology.
Currently, she works collaboratively with New York City agencies and CBOs
on public health issues related to social and environmental justice and urban planning. She is an Associate Professor of Clinical Sociomedical Sciences at the MSPH, Director of Epidemiology at the HHPC, and Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Public Health. Dr. Northridge has authored or co-authored more than 90 publications in areas including environmental health, injury, asthma, oral health, tobacco, depression, and cardiovascular health. She is also a co-principal investigator of the Harlem Children's Zone Asthma Initiative, which is led by Harlem Hospital Center and Harlem Children's Zone, Inc. Dr. Northridge will assist with overall project design, dissemination, and translation of research into practice.
men11@columbia.edu |
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Roger D. Vaughan, DrPH, Evaluation Director, is an MSPH Associate Professor of Clinical Public Health and Biostatistics. He has conducted research at MSPH for 12 years, and currently serves as Co-PI on a three-year HHS research project, "Understanding Access Barriers to Care Among Underserved Populations." He is Associate Editor of Statistics and Evaluation for the American Journal of Public Health; and has co-authored nearly fifty research articles. Dr. Vaughan received his Doctorate degree in Biostatistics from Columbia University.
rdv2@columbia.edu |
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Kavita P. Ahluwalia, DDS, is an Assistant
professor of Clinical Dentistry at Columbia University’s School of
Dental and Oral Surgery. Dr. Ahluwalia earned both her DDS and MPH from
the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and completed a residency in Dental
Public Health at the Veterans Administration in Perry Point, MD. Dr. Ahluwalia
currently works on a project funded by the American Legacy and W.K. Kellogg
Foundations to implement tobacco control measures in eleven communities
across the nation, and has served on a project funded by the RWJ Foundation’s
Addressing Tobacco in Managed Care Initiative. In addition to assessing
the oral cancer prevention curriculae of US Medical Schools, Dr. Ahluwalia
has studied barriers to care and oral cancer practices and opinions of older
adults in Central Harlem. She is Principal Investigator on a study designed
to assess the utility of training home care workers to provide oral health
services to homebound elderly in Northern Manhattan, and another study to
determine the relationship between oral health status and functional status
in homebound seniors. Both these studies are funded by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
kpa8@columbia.edu |
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Center Staff
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Renee Cohall, ACSW, Coordinator of Quality Assurance, currently identifies, trains, and supervises students participating in HHPC research, and previously served for seven years as the Senior Social Worker at the St. Luke'-Roosevelt Hospital Adolescent HIV/AIDS Clinic. She has co-authored articles on emergency contraception, treating teen rape victims, and dating violence. Ms. Cohall received her ACSW degree from Hunter College's School of Social Work.
rmc49@columbia.edu |
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Tiffany Garcia, Project Coordinator, serves as Project Coordinator for Project STAY's Mobile Health Team at the Harlem Health Promotion Center. Her responsibilities include coordinating Project STAY's off-site visits, testing and counseling, and sexuality education. Ms. Garcia received a BS from the University of Florida in Health Education and Behavior in 2005 and is currently completing an MPH at Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health with a specialization in Sexuality and Health.
tlg2108@columbia.edu |
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Carly Hutchinson, MA, HHPC Content Writer/Communications Specialist, works closely with Drs. Cohall and Kukafka, as well as
with the Harlem community in developing content for HHPC's new
digital web portal focusing on obesity-related issues. The portal
is being piloted in Harlem over the coming year. She is also
involved in other communications projects supporting HHPC's health
promotion efforts. Ms. Hutchinson is completing a Ph.D. in
anthropology at Columbia University.
clh47@columbia.edu |
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Christel Hyden, MS, CHES, is a doctoral candidate in health education at Teachers College who provides infrastructure support and content for the new web portal and does research, graphic design, and writing for other ongoing projects at HHPC. Ms. Hyden is also Project Director for a four-year child feeding study being conducted in the Department of Family and Social Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She received her MS in social research from Hunter College and a BA in sociology from Hunter College.
cjh2129@columbia.edu |
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Amy Kwan, MPH, Project Coordinator, is HHPC's Project Coordinator for the Digital Partnerships for
Health project. She is responsible for providing oversight on all areas of the project,
including coordinating a pilot project aimed at creating and evaluating a Harlem-based health
information web portal and subsequent social marketing efforts in the community. Ms. Kwan
received her MPH in Sociomedical Sciences from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia
University, and her BA from Johns Hopkins University.
ak2353@columbia.edu |
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Narine Malcolm, M.Ed., Administrator, for HHPC and Project STAY, is responsible for all grant submissions; the daily fiscal monitoring, reconciliation and annual reporting of all center projects and grants; and communication between the center and the various fiscal and grants departments of the university. Ms. Malcolm is also the
community liaison for HHPC's CAB. Ms. Malcolm holds a Masters in Counseling Psychology from Howard University.
nm247@columbia.edu |
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John A. Nelson, CPNP, PhD, is the Project S.T.A.Y. nurse practitioner, and his role with Project S.T.A.Y. includes: clinical care to HIV+ and HIV at-risk adolescents and young adults, community-based outreach, research, and program growth and development. John has published journal articles on issues including LGBT adolescents, HIV and adolescents, and cervical dysplasia in adolescent women.
jon9018@nyp.org
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Montsine Nshom, MPH, Project Coordinator, is HHPC's Project Coordinator for their NYC Department of Health funded "EC as 1, 2, 3" Project. She oversees project logistics and participates in the gathering and maintaining of formative research data. She also works with Project STAY's Mobile Health Team as a health educator and HIV counselor and tester. She received her MPH in Health Behavior and Health Education with emphasis on Reproductive and Women's Health from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and her undergraduate degree in Chemistry from the University of Michigan.
mn2282@columbia.edu |
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Andrea Nye, MPH, MBA Director of Programs & Evaluation, works with the Harlem Health Promotion Center team to monitor and evaluate the various research and service projects of HHPC and Project STAY. HHPC recognizes the importance of monitoring and evaluation in designing effective programs that will meet the needs of the community. Originally from Seattle, WA, Ms. Nye received her MPH from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. She is currently pursuing an MBA at the Columbia University School of Business.
amn49@columbia.edu |
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Joanna Pudil, MA, LCSW is the Program Coordinator/Senior Social Worker for Project STAY (Services To Assist Youth). She provides individual, group, couples and family therapy to sexually high risk and HIV+ adolescents. Joanna coordinates the medical and mental health care at Project STAY. She received a master’s in psychology from CUNY City College and a master’s in social work from Hunter College School of Social Work.
jop9026@nyp.org |
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Argenis Rivera, Office Assistant, works at the Harlem Health Promotion Center performing numerous duties. He is accountable for providing research support and assistance for the various health related projects. Additionally, he works within the Project STAY team as a HIV counselor. Argenis is pursuing a career in the health field and he looks forward to continue advocating health awareness among the community.
ar2611@columbia.edu |
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Nydia Rodriguez, Administrative Assistant, has over a decade of experience in different capacities at Columbia University. She currently provides administrative and logistical support for all HHPC projects, in the organization and planning of community activities, including the preparation of grants, reports and publications. As well as assisting the community liaison with the HHPC Community Advisory Board. In the Fall of 2008, she is planning to return to college and pursue her bachelor’s degree.
nr9@columbia.edu |
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Michelle Smith, MPH, is a content writer at the Harlem Health Promotion Center. She contributes various articles about health and wellness for HHPC's Harlem-focused health website GetHealthyHarlem.org. Ms. Smith received her MPH in Health Promotion from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and completed her BA in International Relations from Brown University.
mes2163@columbia.edu |
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Center Students
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Heather Carman, BS, joins the HHPC team to work on the Digital Partnerships for Health pilot project. Ms. Carman is currently pursuing her MPH in health promotion from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. She received her BS in public relations from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.
hmc2120@columbia.edu
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Hope Cassano, MS, currently serves as a content writer for HHPC's digital web portal project, focusing on nutrition-related issues. She is also a clinical research coordinator at St. Luke's Hospital working on drug trials for obesity. Ms. Cassano received her MS in Human Nutrition from Columbia University and BA in neuroscience from Colgate University.
hlc2111@columbia.edu
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Kevin Chung, BS, recently joined the Harlem Health Promotion Center as a practicum student affiliated with Columbia University. He received a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of California San Diego in General Biology. Currently, he is working on completing a Masters of Science Degree in Human Nutrition from Columbia University. After the completion of this program, he aims to enter medical school in the hopes of becoming a physician. As a first time resident in New York City, Kevin is thrilled about being part of the Harlem health team and tackling health related issues in such a vibrant community.
kkc2122@columbia.edu
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