The Master’s Degree in Public Health in Public Health Practice
Faculty
Carol Bigelow
Degree: B.A., Skidmore College, 1978; M.S., University of Washington, 1982; Ph.D., University of Washington, 1984
Workplace: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Title: Research Associate Professor
Courses Taught Online: PUBHLTH 540 Introductory Biostatistics
Telephone: 413-545-1319
Email: cbigelow@schoolph.umass.edu
Campus Address: 402 Arnold House
Dr. Bigelow is an applied biostatistician with diverse research interests. These currently include a randomized trial of needle exchange for drug abusers, application of the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm to analyses of neurophysiological data, the use of complex survey methodology to adjust for missingness in analyses of surveillance data, and analysis of unrecognized vertebral fractures in the National Hospital Discharge Survey data base. General interests are in the area of clinical trials methodology, particularly the issues of adjustment for missing data, meta-analysis, and interim power considerations.
Ann H. Cary
Degree: PhD, MPH, RN, A-CCC
Courses Taught Online: PUBHLTH 525 Ethical Issues in Public Health, PUBHLTH 753 Current Topics in Public Health Practice
Email: cary@schoolph.umass.edu
Dr. Cary has been in the field of public health for 25 years, mostly in academic settings. Her public health service experience has been as a USPHS Policy Fellow, Federal grant reviewer, researcher in a credentialing organization and a clinical provider in public health. She has served on the CDC/ASTDR Expert Panel on Public Health Workforce Development and the Incentives (Credentialing) workgroup; member of the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) MPH Core Competency Project; and, currently cochairs the National Nursing Advisory Committee to the Public Health Training Centers (funded by HRSA). She has over 60 publications in the field of Public Health, nursing, leadership and credentialing. In addition to her academic credentials, she has taken post doctoral training in Leadership at the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Current research interests and practice include health promotion for healthy parenting, credentialing and public health education.
Bruce B. Dan, MD
Degree: MD
Workplace: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Title: Adjunct Professor and Clinical Associate Professor for the School of Public Health & Health Sciences
Courses Taught Online: PUBHLTH 753 Current Topics in Public Health Practice
Email: mednetcom@aol.com
Dr. Dan has concurrent faculty appointments as Adjunct Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Courtesy Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Florida College of Medicine, and is the Executive Director and Managing Editor of GE Healthcare's The Patient Channel. He was the Senior Editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Medical Editor and on-air correspondent for ABC News, Chicago , and Medical Editor and Anchor for American Medical Television on CNBC. He was the recipient of the American Medical Association's Morris Fishbein Fellowship in Medical Journalism and the University of Chicago 's William Benton Fellowship in Broadcast Journalism. His other media activities include acting as the medical correspondent for HealthWeek on PBS, and host of Medical Minutes on National Public Radio. Dr. Dan graduated from MIT in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, and his MD degree from Vanderbilt University Medical School with an internship and residency in internal medicine; later completing his postdoctoral fellowship in infectious diseases.
Anthony P. DeCaprio Ph.D.
Degree: B.S., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1975; Ph.D., Albany Medical College, 1981; D.A.B.T., 1986.
Workplace: University of Massachusetts
Title: Professor
Courses Taught Online:
Telephone: 413-545-0036
Email: decaprio@schoolph.umass.edu
Campus Address: Morrill Science Center I, N237
Research and publications in biomarkers of exposure and human health risk, the toxicology of persistent pollutants, and mechanisms of chemical-induced neurotoxicity.
Gloria DiFulvio
Degree: B.A. Binghamton University 1988; MPH, MEd University of Massachusetts, Amherst 1993; Ph.D. University of Massachusetts, Amherst 2004
Workplace: University of Massachusetts
Title: Lecturer, School of Public Health
Courses Taught Online: PUBHLTH 601 Application of Social and Behavioral Theories in Public Health Interventions
Email: gloria@schoolph.umass.edu
Gloria DiFulvio is a lecturer in the Community Health Education, Management and Policy program. She has over 15 years of practice in community health education program development, implementation, and evaluation within higher education and community-based settings. As a researcher and trainer, she has worked with local, regional, and national organizations to advance and evaluate public health prevention initiatives in the area substance abuse, violence and HIV/AIDS. Currently, she works with college and university professionals nationally through a contract with the U.S. Department of Education’s Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug and Violence Prevention.
Jonathan Engel
Degree: Ph.D.
Workplace: Baruch College, CUNY
Title: Professor of Public Affairs
Courses Taught Online: PUBHLTH 621 Health Care Organization and Administration, PUBHLTH 753 Current Topics in Public Health Practice
Email: engeljw@gmail.com
Phone: (937) 258-0135
Dr. Engel's research focuses on the historical development of healthcare policy. He has written a number of books, on topics ranging from health policy debates in the 1930s and 40s to histories of Medicaid, AIDS, and psychotherapy. He is currently writing a history of the U.S. health system since 1970.
Daniel Gerber
Degree: M.P.H., Ed.D.
Workplace: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Title: Assistant Professor and Program Director of the Five College Culture, Health, and Science Program
Courses Taught Online: PUBHLTH 601
Application of Social and Behavior Theories in Public Health Interventions
, PUBHLTH 691S Sem-PHP Capstone Experience
Telephone: 413-545-1003
Email: gerber@schoolph.umass.edu
Campus Address: 308 Arnold House
Daniel S. Gerber is an Assistant Professor in Community Health Education. His research and practice is in the area of community development and community building. He serves as a member of the Holyoke Community Health Planning Commission with the mission of leading the way towards building a community-accountable, integrated public/private health care system to improve the health of all Holyoke residents. He is also an active member of the Community Health Network Area (CHNA), and the advisor to the school's graduate student organization. He has over twenty-five years of international experience in planning, training/teaching and managing health education programs utilizing adult learning theory and methodology. His expertise is in: health education (child survival, HIV/AIDS prevention, family planning, maternal and child health, water and sanitation, and nutrition education), empowerment training and facilitation, evaluation of health programs, and cross-cultural training. He has been awarded two fellowships in Service-Learning, and Teaching and Learning in Diversity by the Center for Teaching.
Current research interests and professional practice include community health planning, development and evaluation, both in local communities and internationally, interest in substance abuse prevention, child health promotion, and small group dynamics.
Myles Jacobson
Degree:B.A., Brandeis University, 1966; J.D., Boston College School of Law, 1977
Workplace: Private practice
Title: Attorney
Courses Taught Online: PUBHLTH 780 Public Health Law
Email: mylesdj@gmail.com
William Katz
Degree: AB Dartmouth College,MBA Amos Tuck School, Dartmouth College, DBA George Washington University
Workplace: Katz & Associates, Inc.
Title: President
Courses Taught Online: PUBHLTH 628 Health Care Finance , PUBHLTH 524 Introduction to Health Politics and Policy
Email: lwkatz@cox.net
William Katz's professional interests include health care finance, policy development and implementation; strategy development.
Barry Klenowski
Degree: BS, University of Massachusetts; JD and MSEL (Master of Studies in Environmental Law), Vermont Law School; Member of the Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Bar
Workplace: 37th Judicial District of Pennsylvania
Title: Judicial Law Clerk for the Honorable Paul H. Millin, President Judge
Courses Taught Online: PUBHLTH 565 Environmental Health Practice
Email:bklenowski@schoolph.umass.edu
Attorney Klenowski worked for a number of years as an environmental heath consultant in the Boston area. He worked on the Big Dig/Central Artery project in Boston, collecting samples related to worker exposure assessments and has performed indoor air quality surveys for various schools and businesses in Eastern Massachusetts. He also worked at a law firm specializing in water law and water rights administration in Aspen, Colorado. He is an active member of the American Inns of Court.
Cynthia Klenowski
Degree: BA in Environmental Studies, University of Pittsburgh; JD and Master of Studies in Environmental Law, Vermont Law School; admitted to the bar of Pennsylvania in May, 2004
Workplace: Judge’s Chambers of the Warren County Courthouse in the 37th Judicial District of Pennsylvania
Title: Judicial Law Clerk for the Honorable William F. Morgan
Courses Taught Online: PUBHLTH 565 Environmental Health Practice
Email: cynthia@klenowskilaw.com
Attorney Klenowski was formerly employed as a law clerk for the private practice of Barbara C. Litten. She was an intern with the Vermont Law School Clinic for Environmental Law and Policy and was an enforcement intern with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES).
Linda Landesman
Degree: BA, University of Michigan, 1971; MSW, 1974; DrPH in Health Administration, Columbia School of Public Health, 1990
Workplace: New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation
Title: Assistant Vice President
Courses Taught Online: PUBHLTH 750 Public Health Emergency Management
Email: LindaLandesman@aol.com
Dr. Linda Landesman, a native of Michigan, has over 25 years of experience in social services, health care and emergency preparedness. Dr. Landesman practiced clinical social work for 10 years before pursuing a DrPH in health policy and management from the Columbia School of Public Health. Her doctoral dissertation focused on hospital preparedness for chemical accidents and won the Doctoral Dissertation Award from the Health Services Improvement Fund in 1990.
Dr. Landesman is currently an assistant vice president at the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation where she is responsible for over $540 million in programmatic contracts. She has promoted an increased public health role in disaster preparedness and response since 1982, through the development of national EMS response standards and national APHA policy, conducting research, organizing meetings, teaching, and consulting. Dr. Landesman led the CDC - ASPH sponsored effort to develop a national curriculum in the public health management of disasters, resulting in the course that she teaches at UMass Amherst.
Dr. Landesman's professional interests include public health management of disasters; Health manpower; Graduate Medical Education; Health services and clinical research.
Claudia Mikail MD, MPH
Degree: BA Princeton University, MD Mount Sinai School of Medicine, MPH Columbia University
Workplace: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Title: Clinical Assistant Professor
Courses Taught Online: PUBHLTH 753 Current Topics in Public Health Practice
Telephone: (818) 591-8721
Email: amherstgenetics@yahoo.com
Dr. Claudia Mikail is a Clinical Assistant Professor in SPHHS at UMass Amherst.She received her B.A., summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Princeton University and her M.D. degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. She completed residency training in General Preventive Medicine and Public Health at University Hospital, State University of New York at Stony Brook, School of Medicine and was awarded her M.P.H. degree from Columbia University. She completed a subspecialty NIH fellowship in Medical Genetics at UCLA, where she trained in clinical genetics (prenatal, pediatric, and adult) and researched the genetic epidemiology of Type II diabetes. A diplomate of the American Board of Preventive Medicine and member of the American College of Medical Genetics, Dr. Mikail teaches courses in public health genetics and pathophysiology in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, where she sits on the Genetics Curriculum Development Committee. She also practices clinically. In her spare time, Dr. Mikail plays classical piano, composes music, and serves on the board of a charitable organization.
Philip Nasca
Degree: PhD, Epidemiology
Title:Professor Emeritus with the School of Public Health and Health Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
Email: pcn@schoolph.umass.edu
Research Interests: Epidemiology of cancers of the breast and female reproductive organs; epidemiology of childhood cancers; use of available data to plan and evaluate cancer control programs.
Jon Olson
Degree: Dr.PH
Workplace: Connecticut Department of Public Health
Title: Epidemiologist
Courses Taught Online:PUBHLTH 630 Principles of Epidemiology
Email: jcolson@schoolph.umass.edu
Prof. Jon Olson studied music theory, pre-medical courses, and the "great books" while obtaining his BA at Columbia University. He still plays the piano and trumpet and reads good books when given the chance. He has a doctorate in podiatric medicine and was in podiatry practice for several years. He obtained a Master of Public Health from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, with a thesis based on sex of first child and breast cancer survival in young women (related to the fetal antigen hypothesis; this interesting study failed to confirm its hypothesis). His doctorate in public health, in epidemiology, was from the University of Pittsburgh. As part of the Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications (EDC) Study in type 1 diabetes, he investigated the correlates and predictive power of several measures of subclinical macrovascular disease for clinical coronary artery disease and other endpoints. Aside from being on the adjunct faculty at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Olson is presently an epidemiologist in the Connecticut Department of Public Health in the Office of Health Care Quality, Health Statistics, and Analysis. He serves as co-chair of the statewide Best Practices Work Group, and as a member of the Adverse Events Work Group. He lives and works in the Hartford, Connecticut area.
Anna Orlova Ph.D.
Degree: Ph.D.
Workplace: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Title: Clinical Associate Professor
Courses Taught Online: PUBHLTH 757 Public Health Informatics
Email: aorlova@jhsph.edu
Anna Orlova , PhD is a Visiting Associate Professor, Division of Health Sciences Informatics, Johns Ho p kins School of Medicine and an Associate, De p artment of Health Policy and Management, Johns Ho p kins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is also a Clinical Associate Professor at the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts , Amherst , and an Executive Director, Public Health Data Standards Consortium (PHDSC).
Dr. Orlova serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the National Library of Medicine's Training Program on Health Sciences Informatics at the Johns Ho p kins and a lead faculty at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Public Health Informatics Program at Johns Hopkins as well.
Dr. Orlova received her PhD from the Moscow State University, Russia in 1985 and began her informatics career at the All-Union Institute of Scientific and Technical Information in Moscow , Russia . During 1988-1991 she was a Princi p al Investigator for the develo p ment of the USSR Information Systems on Industrial Wastes for the Ministries of Geology, Non-Ferrous Metallurgy, Coal Industry, Petrochemical Industry and the USSR State Committee for Gold and Diamond Industries. During 1992-2001 she worked on lead p oisoning p revention first at Princeton University and then at John Hopkins before returning back to informatics career.
Dr. Orlova' informatics interests are in the areas of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) a p p lications for p ublic health, clinical and p ublic health systems intero p erability and p ublic health data and system standardization. She has been teaching p ublic health informatics courses at the Johns Hopkins since 2002. She is an author and co-author of the numerous scientific p ublications and p resentations at the national and international health information technology forums.
Penelope S. Pekow
Degree: A.B. Brown University, 1977; M.S.P.H. University of North Carolina, 1982; Ph.D. University of North Carolina, 1991.
Workplace: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Title: Research Assistant Professor, Co-Director of Biostatistics Consulting Center, UMass, Amherst
Courses Taught Online: PUBHLTH 540 Introductory Biostatistics
Telephone: 413-545-1872
Email: ppekow@schoolph.umass.edu
Campus Address: Room 406, Arnold House
Splitting her time between the University and the Division of Healthcare Quality at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA, Dr. Pekow's primary focus is on the design, conduct and analysis of medical and health services research. Current and recent projects include: treatment for osteoporosis following fracture; a series of projects to improve recognition and management of osteoporosis; Error reporting in the Emergency Department; a clinical trial of early treatment of diabetes in cystic fibrosis patients; patterns of care of uterine leiomyoma: association of provider characteristics and the use of episiotomy in vaginal delivery.
Susan R. Sturgeon
Degree: B.S. University of Connecticut, 1978; M.P.H Yale University, 1982; Dr.P.H. Columbia University, 1992.
Workplace: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Title: Associate Professor
Chair of the Department of Public Health
Telephone: 413-577-1364
Email: ssturgeon@schoolph.umass.edu
Campus Address: 407 Arnold House
Research Interests: Biomarkers in epidemiologic research; hormonal factors and cancer risks; geographic variation in cancer risks.
Jean E. Swinney
Degree: RN, PhD
Workplace: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Title: Assistant Professor
Telephone: 413-545-3793
Email: jswinney@nursing.umass.edu
Campus Address: 228 Arnold House
Dr. Swinney's Research interests are health care issues involving African Americans, perception of health and alternative methods of healing.
William H. Wiist
Title: Clinical Professor, Online Public Health Practice MPH Program; Chair and
Professor, Department of Health Sciences.
Workplace: Northern Arizona University
Education/Credentials : D.H.Sc. and M.P.H. from Loma Linda University School of Public Health, 1975
Research interests:
1) The relationship between religion, spirituality and health.
2) The effect of corporate practices on health policy.
Teaching interests:
1) Relationship between health and spiritualitylreligion.
2) Macrosocietal factors in health.
3) Psychosocial theoretical foundations of public health.
4) Program planning and evaluation.
Course Taught Online: PUBHLTH 704 Health Program Planning
PUBHLTH 790A Relationship Between Health, Religions and Spirituality
Telephone: 928-266-0578
E-mail: wwiist@schoolph.umass.edu
Dr. Wiist has over 30 years of postdoctoral experience in public health as a faculty
member, health department administrator, researcher, director of a not-for-profit agency,
consultant and as the chair of a distance education Ph.D. program. He earned a doctorate
in health science and an MPH with an emphasis in health education. He fulfilled a twoyear
NHLBI postdoctoral fellowship in behavioral epidemiology. He has obtained over
$4 million in grants from federal and state agencies and private foundations for research
and programs. He has conducted research about religion and health, pediatric
development screening, coronary heart disease prevention, youth violence prevention,
intimate partner violence prevention, and drug abuse prevention. While an administrator
in a large urban health department he directed programs in injury prevention, cancer
prevention and sexual assault. He has conducted research in public health clinics, a
pediatric clinic, schools, churches, and community centers with children, adolescents,
older adults, prenatal patients, and African-American and Latino populations. He ha's
administered programs in breast, cervical and prostate cancer screening and firearm,
bicycle, falls, and motor vehicle injury prevention. His policy development experience
includes having written the specifications for the bicycle helmet ordinance of the fourth
largest U.S. city. He has administered survey questionnaires to over 10,000 participants
via telephone, postal mail, Web, e-mail and in-person. He has held positions in state and
national public health professional organizations, including current membership as an
officer of the APHA Trade and Health Forum. He is authoring a book about corporations
and health for Oxford University Press.
