Meet Our Trainees
Michelle Baack, PhD Student
My research interests center around adolescent health with a focus on the sexual and reproductive health of youth populations and the gendered inequities that are experienced by boys and girls alike. I am particularly interested in researching these topics through the lens of health disparities – both domestically and globally. At Hopkins, my ongoing work with the Global Early Adolescence Study reflects this range of interests and I greatly appreciate the ongoing support from the department in pursuing such diverse, albeit intersecting issues. I look forward to the research I will be able to conduct over the upcoming years to foster my expertise in the field of MCH.
Sam Beckwith, PhD Student
My primary research interests are adolescent opportunity, sexual and reproductive health, and positive youth development; additionally, I am interested in the ways these topics overlap and build on one another. The end goal of my research is to build a better understanding of the ways programs and policies can serve and empower young people, improve outcomes starting at a critical juncture in their lives, and reduce inequities. I currently work as a research assistant within the Global Early Adolescent Study, and am a senior research analyst in Youth Development at the non-profit research organization Child Trends.
Noelene K. Jeffers, PhD, CNM, MCH Postdoctoral Fellow
Noelene K. Jeffers, PhD, CNM, is a postdoctoral research fellow in MCH in the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health. Utilizing mixed methods research, she explores the experiences of Black women and birthing people and examine Black maternal-infant health outcomes. She is particularly interested in investigating the impact of disasters and public health emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic, on Black maternal-infant health.
Olivia N. Kachingwe, PhD, MPH, MCH Postdoctoral Fellow
Olivia N. Kachingwe, PhD, MPH, is a MCH postdoctoral research fellow in the department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health. Dr. Kachingwe's research focuses on understanding how health care providers, peers, family members, and technology can better support the sexual and reproductive health needs of African American youth and young adults, with a particular emphasis on health disparities rooted in systemic racism and discrimination against LGBTQ communities. Her most recent work uses qualitative methods to explore African American parent-child sexual health communication.
Veni Kandasamy, MSPH, PhD Student
My current research interests center around racial disparities in adverse birth outcomes domestically. Through my previous work at the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, I worked with the Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant, and have continued work around state measurement for the Title V program. I have experience in secondary data analysis on a variety of topics including regional variations in Black infant mortality. My dissertation proposal is focused on measures of structural racism as they relate to both Black and White infant mortality.
Emily Lasher, MSPH Student
Emily Lasher is a first year in the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, concentrating in Maternal, Fetal and Perinatal Health. She graduated from Cornell University in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Global and Public Health. In her undergraduate work, she was involved in an implementation study evaluating the efficacy of a community health worker-run maternal and child nutrition intervention in rural Tanzania. Emily has also conducted research around planetary health and is particularly interested in exploring the intersection of perinatal and environmental health and the ways in which climate change disproportionately burdens populations such as women and children. Emily looks forward to applying her research skills to MCH projects at the Bloomberg School.
Stacy Lu, MSPH, PhD Student
I am interested in exploring the intersection of nutrition and disability health across the life course using qualitative and mixed methods. Specifically, I am interested in understanding the parenting and infant feeding experiences of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. My experiences working with disabled persons and having ADHD myself are deeply connected to my commitment to disability justice and advocacy. Previously, I conducted evaluations of federal nutrition assistance programs with Drs. Susan Gross, Kristin Mmari, and Beth Marshall.
I am currently conducting research with Drs. Allison West and Noelene Jeffers to understand the experiences of parents with learning differences and parents with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Dorbor Tarley, MSPH Student
Dorbor is an MSPH student specializing in Maternal, Fetal, and Perinatal Health in the Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health. During her undergraduate studies, Dorbor’s research focused on the interpersonal factors that drive maternal care-seeking. Her interest centers on reproductive justice, specifically focusing on the maternal health disparities among individuals of color. Dorbor aims to explore how doulas and community health workers can bridge the cultural divide between physicians and patients, while emphasizing the importance of cultural competence and humility in delivering care. As a future OB/GYN, she aspires to adopt an intersectional lens and a public justice framework, prioritizing vulnerable populations within community-based practices. Currently, she is a research assistant where she explores the intersectionality of nutrition and public health. Leveraging her MCH training, Dorbor aspires to progress as a practitioner who designs and advocates for healthcare programs aimed at reducing health disparities among pregnant individuals and children.
Gabrielle Vergerio, MSPH Student
Gabrielle is a recent graduate from Brown University, where she concentrated in Public Health. Currently, she is a first year MSPH student in the department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, with a focus in Maternal and Child Health. Her current interests include the health and wellbeing of women and children on a global scale, especially within countries that are struggling to provide accessible, reliable, and good quality health services to their populations for a variety of different reasons and circumstances. Children that are experiencing the effects of humanitarian crises represent a group of individuals that Gabrielle would hope to work for and alongside in her future public health career. Her principal goal for her future career is to be able to create trustworthy and lasting relationships with these populations of families and children, in order to implement sustainable and respectful public health interventions that can better improve vulnerable children’s health outcomes, quality of life, and futures.
Kelsey Williams, MSPH, PhD Student
Kelsey Williams is a PhD student concentrating in Child Health within the Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, where she also completed her MSPH. She is also completing a Maternal and Child Health training grant and a certificate in Evaluation of International Health Programs. Kelsey has been working as a research assistant on various projects with the Early Childhood Services Research Program, the Maryland Department of Health, and Performance Monitoring for Action, and also served as SOURCE Service Scholar managing a health education workshop program for a local organization addressing homelessness. She has also served in a teaching assistant in a number of roles, including for introductory public health courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level. For her dissertation she is interested in investigating the impact of community structural determinants of health on children’s life course outcomes.