Dan Brook
Dan graduated with a BS in Biomedical Science from Ohio State and is currently an MD/PhD student interested in infectious disease and clinical epidemiology. He is specifically interested in the impact of buprenorphine prescribing on hepatitis C virus infection.
Payal Chakraborty, MS
Payal received her BS in Neuroscience and MS in Global Health from Duke University. Prior to starting the Epidemiology doctoral program at OSU, she was involved in a variety of projects, such as policy development for adolescent relationship violence in high schools in New Orleans, in-home infrastructure development projects in rural Honduras, and various research studies involving psychiatric and neurological conditions. Payal’s current research interests lie in infectious diseases and reproductive health, and the application of epidemiologic findings to clinical and policy interventions.
Shibani Chettri, MPH
Shibani received her B.S. in neuroscience with a minor in Spanish from The Ohio State University. She graduated with her MPH in Epidemiology from OSU in May 2018. For her Master’s Thesis, she examined the trends of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) in urban vs rural areas of Ohio. Shibani’s research interests include women’s reproductive health, infectious disease epidemiology, and the cross-section between technology and decision making.
Sara Conroy, MS
Sara received her B.A. in Psychology and Theology from Ohio Dominican University. In 2015 she earned an MS in Statistics and in 2016 an MS in Biostatistics from The Ohio State University. Sara’s research interests include maternal and child health, epidemiological methods, and the impact of structural racism on health. She is also married with 3 children who have helped her remember to enjoy the small things and take time off.
Courtney Dewart, MPH, RN
Courtney is a registered nurse and received her BSN from Indiana University and MPH in Hospital and Molecular Epidemiology from the University of Michigan. Courtney has 4 years of clinical experience working as a public health nurse prior to her graduate education. Her research focuses on infectious disease epidemiology, including healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance.
Brittney Keller-Hamilton, MPH
My primary research interest is in preventing the onset of tobacco use among youth and young adults. I find tobacco research worthwhile because it remains the leading cause of preventable death in the USA, and it is a big driver of health disparities. This line of research also holds my interest because the tobacco industry is always evolving in an attempt to find new users; you have to stay up-to-date to keep making progress in the field. Most of my experience so far is in managing a large adolescent cohort study measuring predictors of tobacco initiation. Recently I have also started managing studies focused on tobacco use among young adults or adults with serious mental illness.
Chloe Beverly Hery, MS
Chloe received her B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience from Northeastern University and an M.S. in Epidemiology from The Ohio State University. Prior to pursuing her M.S., Chloe worked as a research assistant at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in the Division of Sleep Medicine for 3 years investigating the cardiometabolic consequences of insufficient sleep. This background formed her research interests in sleep, women’s health (including, but not limited to: cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, multiple comorbidities), and factors affecting quality of life. Her current research focuses on longitudinal analysis and trajectories of sleep in aging women.
Angela Hetrick, MPH
Angela received her B.S. in Mathematics from North Carolina State University in 2011. Prior to beginning the MPH-Epidemiology program at the Ohio State University, Angela served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Aboabo, Ghana from 2014-2016. Her experiences with HIV and malaria education laid the groundwork for pursuing a career in epidemiology. Her research interests lie in the intersection of spatial analyses, substance use, and infectious diseases in both domestic and international settings.
Robert B. Hood, MPH
Robert earned his BS in Biology and Public Health from Baldwin Wallace University and his MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Georgia. While at UGA, Robert studied lung and liver cancer and was interested in environmental and viral causes of cancer. As a doctoral candidate at OSU, Robert is interested in epidemiological methods. He applies his interest in methods to a few areas including infectious disease, cancer, and reproductive health. For his dissertation work, Robert is studying Hepatitis C virus and adverse birth outcomes in the US.
Andreas Teferra, MS, MSN
Andreas is mainly interested in lung health and the impacts of smoking in underserved communities and minorities. He’s also keen on concepts of social epidemiology and the application in the betterment of health in lower income countries and communities.
Zachary Weber, MS
Zack earned his MS in biostatistics at Grand Valley State University. Since, he has begun studies on obesity and nutrition, specifically focusing on children and adolescents. His latest research has focused on the association between adverse childhood events and changes in BMI in early and middle childhood.
Xiaochen Zhang, MB, MPH
Xiaochen received her Bachelor of Medicine from China Medical University. She graduated with her MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Temple University. Prior to starting doctorate program, Xiaochen worked as a clinical research coordinator in cancer centers to provide exercise interventions to cancer patients to improve their health outcomes and quality of life. Her research focused on modifiable lifestyle risk factors and cancer prevention.