Meet our amazing leader in the PS LGBTQ+ Lab!! Dr. Patterson is this teams Principal Investigator and keeps this ship afloat. Her hard work and daily dedication to the team motivates us to put our best work forward. Thank you for all you do Joanne, we really couldn’t do it without you! Read more about her below.
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Title: Assistant Professor, Div. Health Behavior and Health Promotion PhD in Health Behavior and Health Education, 2019, The University of Tennessee
Date: 07/11/2023
Hometown and Public Health interest:
I am originally from Berwick-upon-Tweed, a small town in North England, but I moved to Columbus, Georgia as a teenager. I’m invested in research to reduce cancer rates and risk factors experiences by LGBTQ+ populations living in the United States.
What drew you to a public health education?
I began my public health education through my social work practice. Working in community-based nonprofits, I quickly learned that macro/population-level interventions are needed to complement micro/individual-level and clinical interventions to truly reduce cancer health inequities. Thankfully, I had a great supervisor who pointed me in the way of a dual-degree as an MSW/MPH student.
What makes you passionate about addressing health disparities in your research?
I believe that everyone has the inherent right to live a full and healthy life, to make independent choices about their health and wellness, and to have the resources available and accessible to them to support that health decision-making. LGBTQ+ people experience systematic and structural discrimination that affects their health, health decision-making, and healthcare access. It’s not okay. My goal is to help level the playing field for LGBTQ+ people to reduce inequitable cancer rates experienced by LGBTQ+ populations and improve health during cancer survivorship.
What are your goals for the future?
· To contribute science that informs interventions (including policy, communications, and behavioral interventions) to improve cancer health equity for LGBTQ+ people.
· To produce work that’s impactful enough to warrant an interview by NPR’s Robin Young!
· To engage as many students as possible in public health research through our PS LGBTQ+ Health Equity Lab
· To end my career knowing that I provided excellent mentorship to students from minoritized and underserved groups. I didn’t quite know how to seek mentorship, research experiences, or financial support during my undergraduate and graduate training, and it’s my goal to share what I’ve learned along the way to undergrad, graduate, doctoral, and postdoc students and trainees.
How do you spend your time outside of academia?
I enjoy farmer’s markets; playing cards and entertaining guests with my wife; walking our dog, Nova; and creative writing. Here’s a short poem on how I see what I do:
on science & teaching
Listening.
giving Voice to stories
Our lives in words, numbers.
Heart in hands. Undone:
art – practice – science – art
the teacher always
Being. taught
-JGP 04-17-2023
What advice would you give to students pursuing public health?
Dig into the subjects, skills, and tasks that light you up. Love numbers? Epi or Biostats may be for you. Do you like to unravel context? Are you a good listener? Consider qualitative work. Are you the conversationalist at community gatherings? Do you like to bring people together? Consider applying community engaged methods in your research or practice. Try out scientific and practical experiences by seeking research assistantships, internships, and volunteer positions while in your program. The experience you build while attaining your degree will directly affect your capacity to talk about your interests and skills on the job market. Talk with your peers, faculty, and practice mentors about what you think you want to do. Remember: Life is too short to pursue a career that doesn’t light a fire in your belly. Use this time to figure out what that is and try it on.
That said, don’t make work your whole life. Develop work-life boundaries. Make time for play. When you can, buy yourself flowers, or fancy coffee, or the “good” bread – whatever is a treat for you. Set up dates with family and friends. Sleep. Please sleep. Also, meals and water are critical for keeping up your energy. Don’t forget those either!