Doctoral
Student
Profiles

Demi Adelaja

Ms. Adelaja earned a MPH degree from Emory University, with a focus on international health. She is originally from Nigeria. Her research interests focus on HIV prevention and determining the behaviors that put people at increased risk for infection. As such, she is interested in the various health models and how they influence healthy behavior. Ms. Adelaja would like to enhance her knowledge of health behavior change theories as well as the implementation and evaluation facet of HIV risk behavior change interventions. She aspires to become a behavioral scientist working to effectively facilitate HIV preventative changes that are culturally appropriate and sustainable for both HIV infected and un-infected individuals. During her undergraduate studies, she worked as a peer health educator counseling students at risk for HIV. And while working on her masters degree, she worked with Youth Leader in South Africa and Botswana. Through this experience she recognized the many social and mental health consequences of HIV/AIDS that were not being addressed through traditional care. She has identified that culturally competent social support addressing the health needs of people living with HIV is lacking both in developing countries and in the US to effectively treat the manypanish.

Major Advisor:  Dr. Jeff Fisher

Mark Boxer

Mr. Boxer joined the Ph.D. program in January 2009, and has been employed as a senior executive at CIGNA, Anthem, and WellPoint, Inc.  His work experiences have led to the development of a strong interest in health care reform. He received an MBA from UConn, and an MS from Drexel University. Mark plans to teach and conduct health policy research after he earns his Ph.D.degree.

Major Advisor: Dr. Rob Aseltine

Sutopa Paul Chowdhury

Ms. Chowdhury received her undergraduate in Medicine with honors in 1998 from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. After practicing medicine for sometime, she moved to public health and received her MPH from the University of Connecticut with a 3.7 GPA. Her research interest is chronic disease epidemiology, and she has been working as a HIV/AIDS Surveillance epidemiologist in the Rhode Island Department of Health for the past three years. She worked with the Center on Aging and local health departments during her MPH program. She is expected to complete a field epidemiology certificate program from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in summer 2009.  In Rhode Island she has worked on projects with Drs. Michael Stein and Curt Beckwith on HIV outreach models and prison studies. From the outreach model pilot testing for harm reductions among the intravenous drug users in Rhode Island, they found that needle exchangers who participated in a backpack exchange were more likely to be of Hispanic origin and inject more frequently than the exchangers who utilized fixed exchange sites. At present she is working with Dr. Copenhaver on HIV prevention intervention.

Major Advisor: Dr. Susan Reisine

Deborah Dauser Forrest

Ms. Dauser received her MPH degree from Boston University in 1996, with a concentration in Epidemiology and Biostatistics.  She has worked at the UConn Health Center since 1997 as a Research Associate and a Biostatistician / Data Analyst for the Center for Biostatistics.  She has a strong statistical and epidemiology background, and is fluent in several statistical software programs.  She worked for 7 years at a prominent Health Maintenance Organization in Boston as a data analyst.  For the last 4 years she has researched fibromyalgia pain and depression data, and has an excellent understanding of the methodologies used to assess changes over time. Ms. Dauser wants to gain additional expertise in program development and evaluation, particularly in translational research. 

Major Advisor:  Dr. Susan Reisine

Martha Lawless

Ms. Lawless was a Research Coordinator at the Yale School of Medicine prior to entering the SBHS concentration in Fall 2008, and earned an A.B. from Mills College.  Her research focus is in the area of community health policy and prevention. 

Major Advisor:  Dr. Rob Aseltine

Heather Miller-Kuhaneck

Ms. Miller-Kuhaneck is an occupational therapist who practiced in pediatrics for over 18 years, in rural and inner city schools, outpatient clinics specializing in Ayres' sensory integrative intervention (TM), early intervention settings, inpatient settings, and privately in children's homes. She received her BS in OT from Boston University, her MS in OT from Ohio State University and completed coursework for an MPH online through Walden University in order to apply to a doctoral program in public health.
Mrs. Kuhaneck is the editor of Autism: A Comprehensive Occupational Therapy Approach, published by the American Occupational Therapy Association. She recently served as vice-president and secretary for the Connecticut Occupational Therapy Association, and was also Quarterly Editor of the American Occupational Therapy Association's Sensory Integration Special Interest Section in 2007-08. She has written a variety of chapters and articles on pediatric occupational therapy practice and intervention with children with autism and recently co-authored a new assessment tool for pediatric occupational therapy called the Sensory Processing Measure. Her current research interests include the functional impact of sensory processing disorders across the lifespan and the play of children with autism with their siblings.

Major advisor: Dr. Preston Britner

Bonnie McRee

Ms. McRee completed her MPH degree in 1997 at UConn. She has worked at the UConn Health Center since 1987 as an Instructor and Senior Researcher in the Department of Community Medicine under the supervision of Dr. Thomas Babor.  Ms. McRee is a behavioral researcher in the field of substance use prevention and treatment.  For the past 20 years she has worked on NIH and private foundation funded clinical trials and translational research.  Recently her focus has been on screening and brief intervention models to identify individuals at risk of developing serious alcohol, tobacco or other drug problems.  She wants to build her skill base and expertise in this new prevention field.  Ms. McRee has a strong statistical background and excellent hands-on research experience.  She believes that by completing a PhD in public health she will be able to “hit the ground running” with more sophisticated research applications that will qualify for extramural funding.

            Major Advisor:  Dr. Thomas Babor

Miriam Mutambudzi

Ms. Mutambudzi is the first student admitted into the Occupational and Environmental Health concentration of the Ph.D. program in Public Health. She earned her B.A. and MPH from West Virginia University. During her Masters program (academic year 2006- 2007), she worked as a graduate research assistant on an occupational safety and health project funded by CDC NIOSH.  She also worked on a project, assessing the results of a year-long survey, to determine the relationship between exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and human disease.  Miriam’s research interests are in reproductive epidemiology.

            Major Advisor: Dr. John Meyer

Chinekwu Obidoa

Ms. Obidoa is an international student from Nigeria who earned a MPH and a Masters degree in Geography from UConn. She is interested in health promotion and intervention (particularly related to HIV/AIDS) in countries in Africa. Ms. Obidoa is particularly interested in the contextual factors (social, political, psychological, economic and cultural) that determine the vulnerability of individuals and communities to HIV/AIDS and other health problems. Her research examines the impact of social change on adolescents in Nigeria. Nigeria is currently experiencing social change, due largely, to the forces of globalization. This change has been marked by ongoing modification of the social, cultural and economic dynamics in societies in Nigeria. These modifications have significant implications for human ecology, and particularly for adolescent health and development. This study seeks to examine how Nigerian adolescents negotiate popular youth culture and their traditional cultures and the resulting impact of their orientation to these cultures on their sexual behaviors. This study is part of the research response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Nigeria, and seeks to add to the knowledge on the social factors that contribute to HIV/AIDS risk among Nigerian youth. For more information about her study you can write her at chinekwuobidoa@yahoo.co.uk

            Major Advisor:  Dr. Steven Schensul

Tashonna Webster

Ms. Webster earned a MPH in Epidemiology from SUNY Albany, and entered the doctoral program in Health Education at Columbia University where she excelled in her coursework.  She decided to transfer and apply to the new PhD in Public Health at UConn to “attend a university that places a stronger emphasis on research methodology”.  Ms. Webster is currently working at Yale University as a Research Associate where she is developing advanced research skills.  Her research interests focus on health disparities among African Americans affected with HIV/AIDS.  She aspires to be an effective researcher who can disseminate culturally-appropriate information to enable individuals and communities to adopt healthier behaviors. 

            Major Advisor:  Dr. Leslie Snyder