Our Unique Strengths

Community Engagement

CHE faculty and students value collaboration with communities across campus, around the state, and beyond. Many participate in community-engaged research, teaching and practice, applying arts-based and multimethod approaches that prioritize community needs and interests. CHE faculty have developed strong relationships with community-based organizations and routinely partner with institutions that shape public health such as the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, local planning and community development agencies. These partnerships enrich our program by bringing adjunct faculty and guest lecturers into the classroom and by offering practicum opportunities in community settings.

Dr. Gloria DiFulvio collaborates with communities to evaluate behavioral health programs. Dr. Elizabeth Evans partners with community-based treatment providers, the carceral-legal system, and public health departments to address the overdose epidemic and infectious disease. Dr. Susan Shaw leads research on chronic disease and health literacy in partnership with a local community health center.

Other faculty with longstanding community partners include: Dr. Kathryn Derose, Dr. Aline Gubrium, Dr. Daniel López-Cevallos, and Dr. Krishna Poudel. 

Health Equity Focus

Join together with our internationally-recognized faculty to improve community health and achieve health equity. Our faculty build on longstanding collaborations with community, government and health care organizations to understand and address root causes of health inequities with community-led solutions. Priority topics include racism and health, food insecurity, substance use and mental health, HIV/AIDS, and LGBTQ+ health. Our research demonstrates that health equity requires equitable community partnerships and the redistribution of resources based on principles of health justice.

For example, Dr. Linnea Evans studies racism and social exclusion processes that link racial and ethnic minoritized groups, particularly Black Americans, to disadvantaged health. This research is guided by critical theories of race and racism and examines stress pathways that emanate from institutions and interactions shaping the daily lives of Black Americans. Dr. Krystal Kittle examines dynamics of exclusion and belonging among LGBTQ+ community members who are providing care for people with dementia. Dr. Kate Jaffe studies the social and ethical dimensions of medical research and health inequities related to substance use. Dr. Susan Shaw leads the UMass Amherst Center for Community Health Equity Research, which brings together faculty from across campus who share research interests in health equity. 

Global Health

From globally transmitted infectious disease to locally-informed responses, global health demands nuanced understandings of local conditions coupled with the nimble application of information and evidence-based techniques. Our faculty have particular expertise in HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, food insecurity, strengthening health systems, migration and health, access to health care, and community participation in health. 

For example, Dr. Kathyrn Derose has worked with local partners in the Dominican Republic to develop and implement a sustainable intervention to improve food security among people with HIV and thereby improve HIV clinical outcomes as well as nutritional, psychosocial and behavioral mediators.

Dr. Daniel López-Cevallos studies community participation in health (or lack thereof), particularly communities that have been historically marginalized from decision-making processes in both the US and Ecuador. He also works at the intersection of migration and health issues, documenting the impacts of more stringent immigration enforcement in the US, and the application of legal commitments to protect the health of immigrants in Ecuador.

Dr. Krishna Poudel leads the Institute for Global Health, which supports interdisciplinary approaches to global health challenges, through both education and research.

Arts-based Research and Teaching

CHE faculty seek to develop new theoretical frameworks and innovative interventions by analyzing the subjective meanings and interpretations that local cultures give to health experiences. In pioneering the use of multi-modal and arts-based methods, such as digital storytelling, our research and teaching aim to create spaces in civil society and other forums for expressing generative themes and the collective issues of community members, towards the goal of promoting dialogue, bolstering wellbeing, and addressing social inequities.

For example, Dr. Aline Gubrium has extensive experience in innovative research methodologies that focus on narrative, participatory, and arts- and culture-centered approaches. Gubrium’s research lies at the intersection of ethnography, critical narrative intervention, and action. She was funded by the Ford Foundation for the “Hear Our Stories: Diasporic Youth for Sexual Rights and Justice” project, which centered digital storytelling as a critical narrative intervention for conducting sensory ethnography on sexual and reproductive health inequities and to advocate for sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice in collaboration with young pregnant and parenting Latinx women.