ABOUT THE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN MATERNAL & CHILD HEALTH LEADERS

    About Our Center

    Welcome to the Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health at the Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine. The program is housed within the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Social, Behavioral, and Population Sciences (SBPS) Department. We are proud to be one of 13 federally funded training programs by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB).

    The Tulane CEMCH provides professional development opportunities to Maternal and Child Health (MCH) practitioners – current and future.

    Mission: Expand and strengthen the MCH workforce in the state of Louisiana and beyond.

    Purpose: Improving the health status of women, infants, children, youth, and families in Louisiana and the United States.

     

    Goals:

    1. Strong MCH-focused academic program for student preparation into the MCH workforce, consistent with MCH national and program competencies
    2. Innovative leadership training and professional and career development
    3. Personal development workshops focused on attributes important for personal and professional growth and success
    4. Opportunities for MCH student exposure to research projects and translation of research to practice, with a strong emphasis on evaluation and accountability
    5. Mutually beneficial partnerships with MCH-related community organizations and MCH governmental agencies

Faculty & Staff

The Tulane CEMCH works with a number of SPHTM faculty to advance MCH science, research, practice and policy, and achieve optimal maternal, infant, child, adolescent, and family health outcomes in the United States and Louisiana. Linking faculty and students in a research environment fosters a greater understanding of research techniques and awareness of national research priorities for our future public health professionals. Our diverse body of student and faculty provide a stimulating and innovative environment for MCH research and a link to practice. The CEMCH also provides support to teaching and exposure to practice that focuses on training students for leadership-oriented public health roles that embody the MCH competencies.

    Alessandra Bazzano, PHD, MPH

    Associate Professor and Director of CEMCH

    Expertise: Maternal and child health, nutrition, reproductive and sexual health, qualitative methods

    Research: Maternal and child health in low income settings with special emphasis on behavioral and social aspects of maternal and newborn care in the community setting and care seeking for illness, community based nutrition, women’s reproductive and sexual health and access to care

    Shokufeh Mojgani Ramirez, PhD, MPH

    Assistant Professor, Associate Director of CEMCH, and Director of MCH Academic Program

    Expertise: Public health practice, racial health equity, workforce development

    Research: Preparing the public health

    Danielle L. Broussard, PhD, MPH

    Research Assistant Professor

    Expertise: Maternal and child health, women’s health, minority health, health equity, applied public health

    Research: Quantitative and qualitative projects spanning maternal and child health, women’s health, and community health, with an emphasis on health equity and addressing the social determinants of health

    Teaches required MCH Course SBPS 6490 Key Policies and Programs in Maternal and Child Health 

     

    Gretchen Clum, PhD, MS

    Associate Professor and Interim Chair

    Expertise: Violence and traumatic stress, adolescent and women’s health, mental health, HIV prevention, nutrition and physical activity

    Research: Relationships among stress and health outcomes in women, adolescent health, risk behaviors, PTSD, HIV prevention

    Mark Dal Corso, MD, MPH

    Associate Professor

    Expertise: Child health, preventive medicine

    Research: Immigrant health

    Francoise Grossmann, RN, MPH

    Assisstant Professor

    Expertise: Women’s health, obstetrics, asynchronous Internet learning

    Research: Preconception education, international women’s health, health across the lifespan

    Teaches required MCH Course SBPS 6510 Essential Issues in Maternal and Child Health

    Karis Schoellmann, MPH

    Assisstant Professor

    Expertise: Applied public health, health promotion

    Research:Formative market research, preconception health, sudden unexpected infant death (SUID), upstream provider influencers

    Teaches required MCH course SBPS 7510 Maternal and Child Health: The Life Course Perspective

    Katherine Theall, PhD, MPH

    Professor

    Expertise: Social epidemiology, women’s reproductive health, research methods in social and behavioral sciences

    Research: Women and children’s health, community and social network influences on health outcomes, race and gender inequities, substance use and mental health, social epidemiologic theory and methods

    Dovile Vilda, PhD, MSc

    Research Assistant Professor

    Expertise: Policy analysis, maternal and child health, women’s health equity, reproductive health and rights

    Research: Role of social determinants and state-level policies in contributing to the higher rates of maternal and infant mortality mixed methods

    Teaches required MCH course SBPS 7250 Evidence-Based Methods in Social and Behavioral Sciences

    Maeve Wallace, PhD, MPH

    Assistant Professor

    Expertise: Reproductive and perinatal epidemiology, maternal and child health

    Research: Social, structural, and policy determinants of maternal and child health and health inequities including structural racism, violence, health policy and human rights

    Teaches required MCH course SBPS 7250 Evidence-Based Methods in Social and Behavioral Sciences