CHHS Faculty

Dr. Erin Maughan's research focuses on measuring the effectiveness of school nursing and school health programs that support the need of students (K-12) living in vulnerable situations. Her particular research focus looks at the infrastructure needed to support appropriate school nurse staffing and identifying indicators that best measure the effectiveness of school nursing and school health. Dr. Maughan uses her professional work experience and expertise in mix-method and qualitative designs to not only strengthen the evidence related to school health, but also obtain the data needed to change health and education policy.

Drawing on 20 years of practice as a nurse-midwife, Dr. Karen Trister Grace’s research interests are in reproductive coercion, intimate partner violence (IPV), pregnancy intention and health disparities. Dr. Grace recently conducted research addressing solutions to housing instability for IPV survivors, as well as a mixed methods study exploring reproductive coercion in Latina women. She has an interest in birth outcomes related to IPV and reproductive coercion, and the intersection with unintended pregnancy. Dr. Grace is the lead editor of the 3rd edition of the “Prenatal & Postnatal Care: A Person-Centered Approach” textbook.

Congratulations to the 2021 College of Health and Human Services Faculty and Staff award winners.

Drs. Germaine Buck Louis, Lynn Gerber, Andrew Guccione, Jack Hadley, Rosemary Higgins, and Kathryn Jacobsen were recognized in a recently released list of the top 2% of the most-cited scientists in various disciplines.

Dr. Michelle S. Williams is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Global and Community Health at George Mason University. Dr. Williams’ research is focused on developing culturally appropriate health behavior interventions for cancer prevention and control that will lead to a reduction in cancer disparities. Since 2009, Dr. Williams has been conducting research in Ghana, West Africa that is focused on cervical cancer prevention.

Dr. Carolyn Drews-Botsch is Professor in the Department of Global and Community Health. Her research has focused on the epidemiology of pediatric conditions and the factors, particularly in the perinatal period, that contribute to their etiology.  Specifically, her work seeks to understand these conditions, and carefully apply modern epidemiologic methods to studies of these conditions. Her research program has included work in a variety of related fields including congenital cataracts, fetal growth restriction – particularly in relationship to placental development, intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorders.  

Dr. Daphne King is an Assistant Professor and MSW Online Program Director in the Social Work Department/College of Public Health. King’s research interests are self-esteem issues in teens and adolescents, mental health concerns and treatment modalities for women of color, specifically African-American women, and the impact engagement in Christianity or spiritual practices have on self-esteem.

Dr. Marti Kubik has an 18-year history of extramural-funded research with a focus on youth and families and low-income and minority populations. Nationally recognized in the field of childhood obesity prevention, Dr. Kubik’s work has advanced understanding of the school food environment, contributing to school nutrition policy at state, national and international levels. Other research examined the role of school nursing in obesity prevention. New work piloted a trauma-informed, resilience-based multi-level intervention to reduce violence among urban youth. She has over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals and is a past standing member of the NIH Community-Level Health Promotion Study Section.

Dr. Freedman is an experienced social work educator and licensed independent social worker. He has been involved in social work education for over fifteen years and is a associate professor and BSW program director with the Department of Social Work at George Mason University.

Dr. Hong Xue is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy. His primary research interests are in health economics, nutritional epidemiology, systems science and modeling, (childhood) obesity, mHealth, and big data and machine learning.