Faculty & Staff

Faculty 

Sally Adebamowo, MBBS, MSc, ScD
Associate Professor
School of Medicine Department of Epidemiology and Public Health

Jennifer Albrecht, PhD
Associate Professor
School of Medicine Department of Epidemiology and Public Health

 Jessica Brown, PhDAssociate  Professor
School of Medicine Department of Epidemiology and Public Health

‌Bruce DeForge, PhD
Associate Professor
School of Social Work

Lori Edwards, DrPH, RN, PHCNS-BC
Assistant Professor
School of Nursing Department of Family and Community Health

Nadine Finigan-Carr, PhD
Research Associate Professor
School of Social Work

Erin Hager, PhD
Associate Professor
School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics

Luis Pinet-Peralta, PhD, MSC, EMTP
Adjunct Assistant Professor
School of Medicine Department of Epidemiology and Public Health

Susan Wozenski, JD, MPH
Assistant Professor
School of Nursing Department of Family and Community Health

Master of Public Health Staff

Director of Collaborative Initiatives
Kara Longo, MS
(410) 706-7210
klongo@som.umaryland.edu

Academic Program Coordinator
Andrea Manning, MS
(410) 706-0539
amanning@som.umaryland.edu

Faculty Spotlight 

Dr. Jessica Brown 

In this edition of the MPH Faculty Focus, we are getting to know Dr. Jessica Brown. Dr. Brown is an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM). Within the Master of Public Health (MPH) Program, she serves as a course instructor, the practicum director, and the chair of the Curriculum Committee.  

We asked Dr. Brown how her public health career began. She laughed and shared that a public health career actually found her. Dr. Brown had always been interested in health. In particular, the variability of responses to and the health outcomes of stress. As she began to examine the literature on group differences in the health effects of stress, Dr. Brown began to appreciate population health. The idea that a collection of individuals’ health behaviors can influence the health of the population intrigued her. In turn, her interest in health psychology and behavioral medicine grew to include public health. Today, Dr. Brown is grateful that she can interweave her training in behavioral science and research methodology in the MPH program classrooms and one-on-one with students.  

Brown’s involvement in public health goes well beyond the classroom setting. Currently, she has research funded by the National Institute on Aging, the Maryland Department of Aging, and the Health Resources and Services Administration. With collaborators, Dr. Brown is working on ways to recruit and retain older adults for future research studies and understand how providing home and community-based services after acutecaredischarge impacts future health care utilization.  

We then asked whether networking has helped her at any point in her career. Her response was that “networking is instrumental!” She noted her professional network is “full of mutually beneficial relationships that have facilitated collaborations, funding opportunities, student projects, and speaking invitations.”  

Lastly, we asked Dr. Brown whether she had any advice for the MPH students, and her response was, “never stop learning”. This advice also aligns with her own personal philosophy “no experience is wasted if you have learned something from it.” She believes that as the students leave the classroom setting behind, their commitment to gaining knowledge and skills must continue to grow to be a noble public health professional.