Students
Amir Abdolahi received his B.A. degree from the University of Virginia in Biology and Mathematics and MPH degree in Epidemiology from Eastern Virginia Medical School. His research interests include addiction studies and clinical trials in Parkinson's Disease. Post graduation, Amir is interested in the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service program or doing clinical research for pharmaceuticals. When Amir is not indulged in his studies and pulling all-nighters, his hobbies include disk-jockeying, serving as a volunteer EMT, and teaching taekwondo, which he currently holds a 4th degree black belt in.
Elizabeth Brownell has an undergraduate degree in anthropology and a M.A. in social anthropology. Elizabeth is a doctoral candidate conducting research among breastfeeding women. Her dissertation will assess the effect of early postpartum Depo Provera receipt on breastfeeding outcomes. Other interests include: reproductive epidemiology, maternal child health and pharmacoepidemiology.
Kristin Evans grew up in Waterloo, NY. She received a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Le Moyne College (2001) and a master’s degree in Nutrition and Exercise Science from Marywood University (2006). Her main research interests are the role of nutrition in chronic and other diseases, and the influence of social and environmental factors in child and adult obesity. Kristin recently completed a summer fellowship at University of Rochester’s Center for Community Health. She contributed to the Center’s work in assessing the opportunities for physical activity and play for urban children as part of a larger child obesity prevention campaign.
Natalia Golub is an M.D. / Ph.D. student in the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine. Natalia is in her first year of the Epidemiology PhD program. Her mentor is Edwin VanWijngaarden. Her research interests include disparities in access to and quality of healthcare, refugee health, preventive medicine, and pediatrics.
Megan Herr received a B.S. in Natural Science Individualized Studies with minors in Chemistry and Biology from Daemen College in May 2009. Megan is a first year doctoral student in the epidemiology program.
Claire Hoffmire graduated Summa cum Laude with a B.S. in Cell and Developmental Biology in 2006 from the University of Rochester. Claire is a doctoral candidate with a pre-doctoral fellowship in preventive cardiology. She is working on her dissertation, entitled “The Relationships between Sleep Disturbances, Autism Co-Morbidity, Emotional and Behavioral Problems, and Medical Characteristics among Children with Down Syndrome in New York State.” Claire’s research interests are broad and include sleep, pediatrics, and women’s health, with an emphasis on preventive cardiology and cardiovascular risk within these fields.
Courtney M. C. Jones, MPH graduated summa cum laude from SUNY Brockport in 2005 as a Health Science and Psychology double-major. Before entering the epidemiology doctoral program, Courtney completed her MPH at the University of Rochester in 2008. During this time she also worked as the Health Project Coordinator for a multi-center study which sought to evaluate the American College of Surgeons trauma triage criteria. Courtney's current research interests include the epidemiology of traumatic injuries, with a particular interest in geriatric injury epidemiology and the injury epidemiology of motor vehicle collisions.
Roni Kobrosly was raised in Austin, TX and received a B.A. from Rice University in Houston. In 2008 heI graduated from the University of Michigan's M.P.H. program with a focus in Epidemiology. Roni is currently a PhD candidate in the Epidemiology program. His two primary interests include environmental health relating to heavy metals and the social and economic determinants of health. In his spare time he wonders why it is that he seems to be moving to progressively colder and colder environments!
Denisse B. Licón, MPH, CHES graduated with honors as a Psychology major, minoring in Community Health Education and Forensic Sciences at New Mexico State University in 2003. Denisse completed her MPH in 2005 with a minor in Experimental Statistics at New Mexico State University. She then worked for the New Mexico Department of Health as a Health Educator for the Immunizations Program before entering the PhD program in Epidemiology here at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. Denisse's current research interests include infectious disease epidemiology and immunizations with a focus on HPV and the HPV vaccine.
Kimberly McKee has a B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross and an MPH from the University of Rochester. She is a second year student in the Epidemiology Program and is interested in health disparities as they relate to environmental epidemiology and social determinants of health.
Dana Olzenak received her MS degree in Physical Therapy from D’Youville College and her DPT, a clinical doctorate degree, from Drexel University. In addition, she earned her MBA from Clarkson University with a focus in human resource management. Dana has practiced as a physical therapist in a variety of settings, however most recently in the area of outpatient pediatrics and early intervention. Prior to entering the PhD program in Epidemiology, she taught in a physical therapy program in the areas of clinical education and pediatrics and coordinated student internships. Dana’s research interests include pediatric health disparities and the role of exercise in physical disability and obesity in children.
In 2006, Lauren Parlett received her B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Johns Hopkins University. Before coming to Rochester, she worked as a laboratory technician in two yeast labs at Hopkins. Currently, Lauren is a doctoral candidate working in the Center for Reproductive Epidemiology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Her dissertation topic is not yet fully formulated, but will integrate her research interests which include environmental epidemiology and women's health.
Erin Philbrick completed her undergraduate studies at University of Rochester in 2009 with a double major in Biology and Health and Society. Erin is a doctoral student with a concentration yet to be decided. Her hobbies include watching baseball, doing crosswords and KenKens and reading mystery/suspense novels.
Jyoti Shankar is a physician by training. Her dissertation research focuses on the interaction between endocrine signaling pathways and the immune system in breast cancer patients. Her research interests include molecular and evolutionary epidemiology of cancer, immune modulation and endocrinology.
Adam Simning graduated in 2005 from Pomona College, CA, with a degree in Molecular Biology. Adam is a member of University of Rochester’s M.D./Ph.D. Program and is conducting his dissertation on anxiety and depression among elderly public housing residents. He is planning to pursue an academic career in Geriatric Psychiatry. His hobbies involve reading at libraries or bookstores, yard “work,” and visiting parks with his wife.”
Kathleen Spellane received a B.A. in Economics from LeMoyne College and an MBA from the University of Rochester. Prior to entering the PhD program in Epidemiology, Kathleen worked in management capacities in treasury and corporate finance in both the computer and utility industries. Currently, Kathleen is a doctoral candidate whose research interests include the role of exercise in disease prevention and the comparative effectiveness of medical therapies in the context of disease prevention.
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