Ph.D. Faculty Accepting New Students
The School of Public Health at Georgia State University is accepting applications for Fall 2025 enrollment to its Ph.D. program. Located in the heart of Atlanta at one of America’s most diverse and innovative research universities, the Ph.D. program at Georgia States educates the next generation of public health leaders capable of conducting independent research in academia, governmental public health, health care organizations and the private sector.
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Associate Professor and Director of the Ph.D. Program for Health Policy & Behavioral Sciences; Director, National Center for Sexual Violence Prevention
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Associate Professor and MPH Program Director
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Research Assistant Professor
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Distinguished University Professor, Chair of the Department of Health Policy & Behavioral Sciences, Co-Director of the National SafeCare Training and Research Center (NSTRC)
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Interim Director of the Center for Leadership in Disability, Research Associate Professor
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Distinguished University Professor, Associate Dean for Research, Director of National SafeCare Training and Research Center
Dr. Arias's Q & A
A: Work focusing on Alzheimer's disease and related dementias with a focus on policy, legal, and ethical issues.
Q: What are you looking for in a prospective PhD student?
A: Students who are self-directed and have ambitious goals to conduct interdisciplinary research.
Q: Current Ph.D. Students
A: Yufei Wang, Maria Adjini, Alice Prendergast Boughrum
Q: Tell us about some of the positions your former students have gone on to:
A: MPH students have graduated and become Fellows at the CDC and post-doctoral fellows at GSU.
Dr. Gilmore's Q & A
A: I am also recruiting a PHD student to co-mentor with Dr. Anne Marie Schipani-McLaughlin to work on a NIH-funded project. This project evaluates the efficacy of a brief video and text message intervention to prevent opioid use and reduce PTSD among women who have experienced sexual violence.
Q: What are you looking for in a prospective PhD student?
A: PhD students who do well in my lab are eager to learn, passionate about sexual violence research, organized, and have a good work-life balance!
Q: List your current Ph.D. students
A: Kennicia Fortson (SPH), Tristin Chipman (SPH), Jessica Prince (Clinical Psychology), and Nashalys Salamanca (Clinical Psychology)
Q: Additional Info:
A: Check out my lab website here. I am also the training director of and a mentor on the A-PREVENT T32 Fellowship
Dr. Fang's Q & A
- What projects will students be working on for their funding?
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The PhD student will be funded as part of a collaborative grant with Emory University to Dr. Daniel Whitaker and Dr. Xiangming Fang testing a sexual violence preventive intervention in Universities in Vietnam. The study includes a focus on testing of different implementation strategies and conducting cost-benefit analyses.
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- What are you looking for in a prospective PhD student?
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Ideal candidates will be interested in economic analyses, implementation science, sexual violence, and will have strong quantitative skills.
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Dr. Luo's Q&A
- What projects will students be working on for their funding? If there is no funding, what projects are you working on now?
- My research interests: functional data analysis, functional differential equations, dynamic systems, Bayesian statistics, machine learning; Application in infectious diseases modeling
- What are you looking for in a prospective PhD student?
- Eager to use advanced statistical methods for public health data analysis
- List your current Ph.D. students
- On committee for Amanda Bleichrodt, Hamed Karami
- Tell us about some of the positions your former students have gone on to:
- CDC
Dr. Kirpich's Q&A
- What projects will students be working on for their funding? If there is no funding, what projects are you working on now?
- Statistical modeling, writing code, analyzing data. Grant support.
- What are you looking for in a prospective PhD student?
- Technical background (bachelor's or master's in math, engineering, statistics, or computer science) and programming experience preferred. R and Python skills are also preferred.
- Current Ph.D. students
- Aleksandr Shishkin
- Additional Info:
Dr. Popova's Q&A
- What projects will students be working on for their funding? If no funding, what projects are you working on now?
- Developing and testing messages about tobacco policies, such as flavor ban or nicotine reduction in cigarettes. Doing both qualitative and quantitative research and collaborating on a large team across different universities.
- What are you looking for in a prospective PhD student?
- No prior experience with tobacco research is required. The best students are the ones who are not afraid of challenges, are self-starters, are eager to learn and teach themselves, and enjoy doing science with meaningful real-world applications!
- Current Ph.D. Students
- Vanessa Mallory, Folashayo Adeniji
- Tell us about some of the positions your former students have gone on to:
- Postdoc at Morehouse School of Medicine; Biostatistician at WellStar
- Additional Information:
I am a mentor on the A-PREVENT T32 Fellowship
Dr. Whitaker's Q&A
- What projects will students be working on for their funding?
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I am taking two students on two different projects:
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One PhD student will be funded to be part of GSU’s Prevention Research Center and work on the core research project led by Dr. Ashli Owen-Smith and Dr. Daniel Whitaker. The project focuses on implementation of an intervention using mindfulness-based practices in a refugee community to examine impacts on social connectedness and mental health.
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Another PhD student will be funded as part of a collaborative grant with Emory University to Dr. Daniel Whitaker and Dr. Xiangming Fang testing a sexual violence preventive intervention in Universities in Vietnam. The study includes a focus on testing of different implementation strategies and conducting cost-benefit analyses.
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- What are you looking for in a prospective PhD student?
- smart, organized, and hard working; interested in intervention and implementation science; interested in refugee populations
- Current Ph.D. Students
- Arshya Gurbani, Rashad Kuku
- Tell us about some of the positions your former students have gone on to:
- CDC (2), Academics (GSU and KSU) and industry
- Additional Info:
Dr. Owen-Smith's Q&A
- What projects will students be working on for their funding?
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The PhD student will be funded to be part of GSU’s Prevention Research Center and work on the core research project led by Dr. Ashli Owen-Smith and Dr. Daniel Whitaker. The project focuses on implementation of an intervention using mindfulness-based practices in a refugee community to examine impacts on social connectedness and mental health.
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- What are you looking for in a prospective PhD student?
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Ideal candidates will have an interest in intervention development and testing, implementation science, and refugee populations.
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- Current Ph.D. Students
- Susan McLaren
- Tell us about some of the positions your former students have gone on to:
- Assistant professor, data analyst
Dr. Maloney's Q&A
- What projects will students be working on for their funding? If no funding, what projects are you working on now?
- I am recruiting a PhD student to work on research investigating the negative effects of intersectional stigma and discrimination on HIV treatment and prevention outcomes among adolescent and young adult, Black/African American, gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (YBMSM) in Atlanta – and how peer social networks of YBMSM might provide a source of resilience to negate or minimize these harmful effects.
- What are you looking for in a prospective PhD student?
- The ideal PhD student will have a strong quantitative background and familiarity with (or willingness to learn about) the social and cultural contexts of YBMSM in Atlanta. The PhD student should also have interest in learning advanced epidemiologic research methods, with a focus on social network analysis, infectious diseases, and HIV disparities.
- Current Ph.D. Students
- Alexander Ewing and Benjamin Redmond
Dr. Vinoski Thomas Q&A
- What projects will students be working on for their funding? If no funding, what projects are you working on now?
- Generally, students would support qualitative and mixed-methods research projects focusing on health equity among individuals with disabilities. One area of current research emphasis is body image and mental health among women and girls with disabilities.
- The PhD student will be funded by the Center for Leadership in Disability (CLD) and the Mark Chaffin Centers for Healthy Development to engage in sponsor-funded research within the CLD led by Dr. Erin Vinoski Thomas and Kathleen Baggett. The CLD is one of the nation’s 67 University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs). The CLD’s mission is to translate research into community practices for individuals with disabilities and their families.
- What are you looking for in a prospective PhD student?
- I am looking for a student that has experience working in the area of disability & health equity; preference may be given to students familiar with or previously engaged in the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) network (e.g., UCEDD, LEND, and IDDRC programs).
- Tell us about some of the positions your former students have gone on to:
- Bridgette Schram (PhD 2022) is managing research projects at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago, IL (https://www.sralab.org/researchers/bridgette-schram-phd). I have also supervised DrPH students at GSU: Jessica Franks (DrPH 2023) works as a Health Communications Specialist at CDC, and Stephanie Meredith (DrPH 2024) is a Program Director at University of Kentucky's Human Development Institute.
Dr. Self-Brown Q&A
I am taking one student who will have opportunities to work on two different projects:
- Smoke Free Home SafeCare Project. This is a NCI-funded R01 project to conduct an effectiveness-implementation hybrid trial type 1 across 6 states to examine the impact of integrating two evidence-based programs: Some Things are Better Outside (second-hand smoke [SHS] prevention program) and SafeCare (child maltreatment prevention program), on establishing a smoke-free home for families with young children.
- Project Intersect. This project is a National Child Traumatic Stress Network initiative, funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Project Intersect sustains a statewide network of therapists trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), as well as a separate intensive training in CSEC-specific applications of TF-CBT. Treatment is then provided to clients by therapists who have participated in the training, and the Prevent Lab leads program evaluation for this project.
What are you looking for in a prospective PhD student?
Interest in intervention and implementation science, child abuse prevention, and intervention with trauma-impacted youth; Excited about clinical and community-based research; Comfortable in working with diverse populations as part of a research team; Good time manager
Current Ph.D. Students
Manderley Recinos, Jamani Garner, Kathleen Reuben, Kaleb Whitfield
Tell us about some of the positions your former students have gone on to:
CDC Division of Violence Prevention, Academia, Postdoctoral Fellowships
Additional Information:
I am a mentor on the A-PREVENT T32 Fellowship
Dr. Schipani-McLaughlin Q&A
- The PhD student will be funded to work on a NIH-funded project led by Dr. Amanda Gilmore and Dr. Anne Marie Schipani-McLaughlin. This project evaluates the efficacy of a brief video and text message intervention to prevent opioid use and reduce PTSD among women who have experienced sexual violence.
What are you looking for in a prospective PhD student?
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An ideal candidate will be self-directed and eager to learn, with an interest in intervention development and testing, sexual violence, and alcohol use.
Additional Information:
I am a mentor on the A-PREVENT T32 Fellowship
Dr. Ballard Q&A
- I am taking one student who will be co-mentored by Dr. Shannon Self-Brown. The student will have opportunities to work on various research projects for the Center for Health and Homelessness, which focuses on addressing homelessness in Atlanta as a public health issue. The Center was established in Fall 2024 with a vision of building an interdisciplinary, practice-academic partnership model here in Atlanta with the goal of facilitating research, education, policy development, and best practices to prevent and address the various determinants and consequences of homelessness. Current projects include a community needs assessment, high-impact systematic reviews, and secondary data synthesis and analysis.
What are you looking for in a prospective PhD student?
- Interest in the intersection of health and homelessness and intervention and implementation science; Excited about community-based research and mixed methods approaches; Comfortable in working across disciplines and sectors with different approaches and beliefs
Current MPH students:
- Emily Wallace, Kelsey Boreland, Alyssa Millikin, Viktoriya Landar (Emory University)
Contact Us
Building Address
Urban Life Building
Suite 300
140 Decatur St.
Atlanta, GA 30303
Mailing Address
School of Public Health
Office of Academic Assistance
P.O. Box 3995
Atlanta, GA 30302-3995