"The CSCD team fosters and conducts collaborative and trans-disciplinary research through the lens of systems science and design thinking."

team_group_sq_03.png
blank_BANNER-004.png

Our Team

Terry T-K Huang, PhD, MPH, MBA, Director

Professor and Chair, Health Policy & Management, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, Director, CUNY Center for Systems and Community Design, Co-director, NYU-CUNY Prevention Research Center, Founder, Firefly Innovations.

Focus: Systems-oriented prevention strategies and translational systems science, public health entrepreneurship.

terry.huang@sph.cuny.edu

Karen Florez, DrPH, Deputy Director

Assistant Professor of Environmental, Occupational, and Geospatial Health Sciences at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy

Focus: Sociocultural determinants of diet and diet-related diseases

karen.florez@sph.cuny.edu

Resident Fellows

RESIDENT FELLOWS of the Center are current faculty within the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy.

NON-RESIDENT FELLOWS from both academic and practice-based settings outside of the CUNY, are invited to join the CSCD based on their unique areas of specialization in order to fill expertise gaps and create new collaborations.

Nevin Cohen, PhD, MCRP

Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management and Research Director of CUNY’s Urban Food Policy Institute.

Focus: Urban planning, food policy, and design

nevin.cohen@sph.cuny.edu

Marie Aline Sillice, PhD

Research Assistant Professor at the Center for Systems and Community Design

Focus: Behavioral Health Prevention Intervention and  Technology Applications

marie.sillice@sph.cuny.edu

Nasim Sabounchi, PhD, MS

Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management

Focus: Systems science methodologies, systems engineering and data analytics

nasim.sabounchi@sph.cuny.edu

Sergio Costa, PhD

Lecturer in Community Health and Social Sciences and Director of Online Learning

Focus: Digital innovation in pedagogy and educational technology

sergio.costa@sph.cuny.edu

Katarzyna Wyka, PhD, MA

Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Focus: Mental health, quantitative methods, and evaluation research

katarzyna.wyka@sph.cuny.edu

Ghada Soliman, MD, PhD, RD, LMNT, CDN

Associate Professor of Environmental, Occupational, and Geospatial Health Sciences

Focus: Nutrition assessment, diagnoses and interventions, and translational research

ghada.soliman@sph.cuny.edu

Diana Romero, PhD, MA, MPhil

Associate Professor of Community Health and Social Sciences

Focus: Mixed-methods study designs and Maternal, Child, Reproductive and Sexual Health

diana.romero@sph.cuny.edu

Sean Haley, PhD, MPH

Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management

Focus: Substance use, policy systems research, and healthcare performance evaluation

sean.haley@sph.cuny.edu

Glen Johnson, PhD, MA, MS

Associate Professor of Environmental, Occupational, and Geospatial Health Sciences

Focus: Geo-spatial analysis, ecological health, and quantitative community health needs assessment

glen.johnson@sph.cuny.edu

Sheng Li, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Systems Science and Epidemiology

Focus: Infectious disease epidemiology, systems modeling, and machine learning.

sheng.li@sph.cuny.edu

Chris Palmedo, PhD, MBA

Associate Professor of Media Marketing, & Communications

Focus: Communications, social marketing, public health nutrition

chris.palmedo@sph.cuny.edu

 

Non-Resident Faculty Fellows

Teresa Chahine, ScD

Lecturer in Social Entrepreneurship at the Yale School of Management and Innovation Advisor at Alfanar

Focus: Social entrepreneurship and public health

teresa.chahine@yale.edu

David W. Lounsbury, PhD

Associate Professor of Epidemiology & Population Health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Focus: Community psychology and systems science

david.lounsbury@einsteinmed.org

Melissa Fuster Rivera, PhD, MS

Associate Professor of Social, Behavioral, & Population Sciences at Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine

Focus: Implementation and systems sciences, food policy, and public health nutrition

mfuster@tulane.edu

Emily M. D'Agostino, DrPH, MEd, MA

Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at Duke University

Focus: Cardiovascular epidemiology and community-based interventions

emily.m.dagostino@duke.edu

Margrethe Horlyck-Romanovsky, DrPH

Assistant Professor of Health and Nutrition Sciences at Brooklyn College

Focus: Mixed methods research examining intra-ethnic risk

margrethehr@brooklyn.cuny.edu

Lorna Thorpe, PhD, MPH

Vice Chair of Strategy and Planning in the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone Health

Focus: Chronic disease prevention and public health surveillance

lorna.thorpe@nyumc.org

Christopher Walker, MPASocial Innovations Director at Mercy Corps and Lecturer at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign ServiceFocus: Impact investing and innovative financecwalker@mercycorps.org
Christopher Walker, MPA

Social Innovations Director at Mercy Corps and Lecturer at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service

Focus: Impact investing and innovative finance

cwalker@mercycorps.org

 

Research Staff

Besnik Berisha

Digital Marketing Manager, Web Developer

CUNY Center for Systems and Community Design , CUNY CSCD

Firefly Innovations

NYU-CUNY Prevention Research Center , NYU-CUNY PRC

Besnik.berisha@sph.cuny.eduu

Peter Hong

Research Associate & Community Manager

CUNY Center for Systems and Community Design , CUNY CSCD

Firefly Innovations

NYU-CUNY Prevention Research Center , NYU-CUNY PRC

houlin.hong@sph.cuny.edu

Rachel L. Thompson, MS

Research Associate, Center for Systems & Community Design

Rachel.thompson@sph.cuny.edu

Hanish Kodali, MD, MPHResearch Associate, The Physical Activity and Redesigned Community Spaces (PARCS) StudyHanish.Kodali@sph.cuny.edu
Hanish Kodali, MD, MPH

Research Associate, The Physical Activity and Redesigned Community Spaces (PARCS) Study

Hanish.Kodali@sph.cuny.edu

Javier Otero Peña, PhD candidateResearch Associate, PARCSjavo01@gmail.com
Javier Otero Peña, PhD

Research Associate, PARCS

javo01@gmail.com

Michael Crawley, MPHProject Coordinator, PARCSMichael.Crawley@sph.cuny.edu
Michael Crawley, MPH

Project Coordinator, PARCS

Michael.Crawley@sph.cuny.edu

Louis Olivera Leon, MD

Research Assistant, Center for Systems & Community Design

luis.oliveraleon51@sphmail.cuny.edu

Melinda Hernandez, BA

Research Assistant, Center for Systems & Community Design

Melinda.Hernandez37@myhunter.cuny.edu

Pulwasha Iftikhar, MD

Research Assistant, Center for Systems & Community Design

Pulwasha.iftikhar@sph.cuny.edu

Nisha_Content_1.png
Nisha Content

Project Manager, PARCS Study

nisha.content@sph.cuny.edu

Pui Ying (Polly) Chan, MPH    PhD candidate & Research Associate, NYC Health Justice Network (HJN) of the NYU-CUNY Prevention Research Center (PRC)Puiying.Chan47@sphmail.cuny.edu
Pui Ying (Polly) Chan, MPH

PhD candidate & Research Associate, NYC Health Justice Network (HJN) of the NYU-CUNY Prevention Research Center (PRC)

Puiying.Chan47@sphmail.cuny.edu

 

RECENT ASSOCIATES

Alessandro Ciari, MPHAssistant Director, Center for Systems & Community Design and Firefly InnovationsAlessandro.Ciari@sph.cuny.edu
Cesar_Hernandez_Alcaraz_1.png
Madison_Houser_1.png
Alessandro Ciari, MPH

Assistant Director, Center for Systems & Community Design and Firefly Innovations

Alessandro.Ciari@sph.cuny.edu

Cesar Hernandez Alcaraz

Fulbright Scholar

Cesar.Alcaraz@sph.cuny.edu

Madison Houser

Social Media Manager, Firefly Innovations and Research Associate, PARCS Study

mhouser9510@gmail.com

Marc_Starvaggi_1.png
Lisa_Hitch_1.png
Priscila Lutete, MPH CandidateResearch Assistant, Center for Systems & Community DesignPriscila.Zito87@sphmail.cuny.edu
Marc Starvaggi

Program Analyst

marc.starvaggi@sph.cuny.edu

Lisa Hitch, MPH(c)

Community Manager, Firefly Innovations and Research Associate, PARCS Study

lisa.hitch@sph.cuny.edu

Priscila Lutete, MPH Candidate

Research Assistant, Center for Systems & Community Design

Priscila.Zito87@sphmail.cuny.edu

Weanne Myrrh Estrada, MPHResearch Assistant, Center for Systems & Community DesignWeanne.Estrada@sph.cuny.edu
Weanne Myrrh Estrada, MPH

Research Assistant, Center for Systems & Community Design

Weanne.Estrada@sph.cuny.edu

Olivia Barata-Cavalcanti, DrPH, MIA

Senior Project Manager, Commitment to Healthy Communities

Current: Director of Science & Programmes at World Obesity Federation

Matthew Cato, MPH

Project Manager, PARCS Study

Current: HEOR Research Associate at Phizer

Emily Ferris, MPH

Senior Project Manager, PARCS Study

Current: Senior Manager, Certification, What Works Cities

Megi Gogishvili, DrPH

DrPH, Center for Systems & Community Design

Current: COBATEST Network Coordinator at the Centre for Epidemiological Studies on HIV/AIDS and STIs of Catalonia (CEEISCAT), Spain

Carlos Devia, MA, PhD(c)

PhD Candidate, Center for Systems & Community Design

Current: Senior Clinical Quality Manager, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Tailisha M. Gonzalez, MPH, MS

Research Associate, Center for Systems & Community Design

Current: Instructor of Public Health & Health Services Administration at Lehman College

Mahdi Najafabadi, PhD, MPA, MBA

Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Center for Systems & Community Design

Mahdi.Najafabadi@sph.cuny.edu

Ewelina Swierad, PhD, MA, MS, EdM

Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Center for Systems & Community Design

Ewelina.Swierad@sph.cuny.edu

Center for Systems and Community Design

55 West 125th Street #801 New York, NY 10027 │ cscd@sph.cuny.edu │ 1-(646)-364-0263