Student Profiles
Stephanie Cook
DrPH candidate Stephanie Cook was a recipient of the Initiative to Maximize Diversity institutional training grant from 2008-2010. She is currently a Ruth Kirschstein Individual National Research Service Award Fellow. Her methodological interests are survey research design, structured diary design and community-based research. Her budding interests are in social network analyses and GIS. Her career goal is to become a professor whose work informs health related programming and policy. Stephanie's dissertation, "Psychological Distress, Sexual Behavior, and Adult Attachment among Young Black Men who Have Sex with Men (YBMSM)," focuses on better understanding the relationship between mental health and sexual behavior and examining adult attachment as a moderator of this relationship.
Sara Shoener
DrPH candidate Sara Shoener's areas of interest are gender-based violence, the sociology of organizations and institutions, social movements, and qualitative program evaluation. Her dissertation focuses on the ways in which government funding shapes the services and social change work of local domestic violence service organizations (sponsor: Dr. Jennifer Hirsch). Before coming to Columbia, Sara worked for a national organization in Washington, DC, providing training and technical assistance to domestic violence attorneys and advocates.
Maria Chao
Maria T. Chao, DrPH, MPA is a UCSF Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital and core research faculty at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. Dr. Chao’s overarching research aim is to investigate how complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) can improve quality of life among underserved populations negatively impacted by health disparities. Her prior research evaluated how race/ethnicity and other social factors affect prevalence of, reasons for, and disclosure of CAM use. Her current research focuses on group-based models of CAM therapies for various chronic pain conditions. She is the principal investigator of two studies evaluating integrative medicine approaches for women’s health conditions. She recently received a National Institutes of Health K01 Career Development Award to develop, implement, and evaluate group-based acupuncture for painful diabetic neuropathy among underserved patients.
Craig Fryer
Craig S. Fryer, DrPH, MPH is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health at the University of Maryland, School of Public Health and an Associate Director of the Maryland Center for Health Equity. Dr. Fryer utilizes mixed methods research to examine the sociocultural context of health and health disparities, with a concentration in community engaged research. His work focuses on racial and ethnic health disparities in substance use and dependence, specifically tobacco and marijuana use among urban youth and young adult populations. Currently, he is Principal Investigator of a five-year, National Cancer Institute, K01 grant that examines correlates of nicotine dependence and symptoms of withdrawal among urban, African American youth. Dr. Fryer earned his doctorate from the Mailman School's Department of Sociomedical Sciences in 2006.
