Education
MPH, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 1988
MD, National and Capodistrian University School of Medicine, 1983
Overview
I am a public health professor and researcher with over 20 years of experience in formative and qualitative research for the development and implementation of evidence-based acceptable, feasible and sustainable behavioral community-centered public health strategies; and in process and impact evaluation of resulting social and behavioral interventions. I have worked on community-based Aedes aegypti control in Central America and the Caribbean (DR and PR), domestic animal corralling for diarrheal disease and cysticercosis control in Peru, careseeking for febrile illnesses and malaria in West Africa (Liberia and Equatorial Guinea), and water and hygiene behaviors in Bangladesh. More recently I provided technical support to the Democratic Republic of Congo Ministry of Health on their preparedness and community engagement for Ebola prevention and control, and led a qualitative exploration of effectiveness, feasibility and self-efficacy for methods to prevent Zika Virus Disease in Guatemala and El Salvador, Central America. My current work includes formative research on early child development through safe play and song-based learning in peri-urban Peru, a qualitative evaluation of the implementation dimension of the Pennsylvania Hospitals Opioid Learning Action Network, and technical writing for online COVID-19 hygiene resources. My research objectives are
• to understand social, cultural and behavioral factors in community-based disease prevention and control in resource-poor settings
• how to utilize social, cultural and behavioral information in the design of community-based public health interventions, and
• to develop and test community-based health behavior change strategies, involving local communities, private voluntary organizations, national level institutions and other social actors in all aspects of public health programs
Honors and Awards
2018 Teaching Excellence mention by JHSPH Deans for Program Seminar 224.861 based on students’ course evaluations, January 2019
2017 Teaching Excellence mention by JHSPH Deans for Program Seminar 224.861 based on student’s course evaluations, February 2018
2015 Teaching Excellence mention by JHSPH Deans for Program Seminar 224.861 based on students’ course evaluations, February 2016 http://www.jhsph.edu/offices-and-services/office-of-academic-affairs/excellence-in-teaching/#Term 2
2013 Excellence in Global Health Advising Award. Presented on behalf of JHU President Ronald J. Daniels, Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health, April 2013
2013 Teaching Excellence mention by JHSPH Deans for Formative Research Course 224.692 based on students’ course evaluations, June 2013
2009 Teaching Excellence mention by JHSPH Deans for Program Seminar 224.861 based on students’ course evaluations, February 2010 http://www.jhsph.edu/publichealthnews/articles/2010/teaching-excellence_2009-10_Q2.html
2003 The James H. Nakano Citation of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, for an outstanding scientific paper: by Winch PJ, Leontsini E, Rigau-Perez JG, Ruiz-Perez M, Clark GG and Gubler DJ. Community-based dengue prevention programs in Puerto Rico: Impact on knowledge, behavior and residential mosquito infestation. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 67(4):363-370, 2002.