Our faculty are driving change through their research and leadership.

The future of social work and public health depends on leading evidence-based research; moving that research into practice; and preparing students to excel in their work. Brown School faculty excel in these pursuits, and the work they are doing is vital for creating change.

Browse Our Faculty

Name

Faculty Type

Eunhye Ahn
Peg Allen
Theresa Anasti
Wendy Auslander
Ellis Ballard
Kate Barbier
Abigail Barker
Pamela Begay
Manasseh Begay
Rachel Brathwaite
Derek Brown
Laura Brugger
Sheretta T. Butler-Barnes
Leopoldo J. Cabassa
Charlene Caburnay
Heather Cameron
Lorien Carter
Yung Chun
Todd Combs
Elizabeth Dodson
Brett Drake
Alexis Duncan
Tonya Edmond
William Effah
Amy Eyler
Vanessa Fabbre
Dan Ferris
Marcia Ford
Patrick Fowler
Paz Galupo
Rachel Garg
Janelle Gibson
Jeremy Goldbach
Anna Goldfarb Shabsin
Shenyang Guo
Cal J. Halvorsen
Ross Hammond
Jennifer Harpring
Jenine Harris
Tyriesa L. Howard
Jin Huang
Aytakin Huseynli
Lora Iannotti
Jason Jabbari
Sean Joe
Kim Johnson
Melissa Jonson-Reid
Joe Jovanovich
Jack Kirkland
Samuel Kizito
Trish Kohl
Matthew Kreuter
Husain Lateef
Rebecca Lengnick-Hall
Jessica Levy
Ryan Lindsay
Douglas Luke
Ragini Maddipati
Phillip Marotta
Julie Mastnak
Stephanie Mazzucca-Ragan
Virginia Mckay (Ginger)
Mary McKay
Caitlin McMurtry
Octavio Mesner
Molly Metzger
Nancy Morrow-Howell
Proscovia Nabunya
Mitra Naseh
Sojung Park
Molly Pearson
Diana Parra Perez
Byron Powell
Enola Proctor
Jason Purnell
Mark Rank
Harmony Rhoades
Alison Rico
Stephen Roll
Barry Rosenberg
Joshua Rusow
Dalychia Saah
Vetta Sanders Thompson
Ilana Seff
Ozge Sensoy Bahar
Margaret Sherraden
Michael Sherraden
Morgan Shields
Fred Ssewamala
Jewel Stafford
Lindsay Stark
Joe Steensma
Susan Stiritz
Rachel Tabak
Emmanuel Tetteh
Atia Thurman
Kim Thuy Seelinger
Jean-Francois Trani
Dorian Traube
Brad Tucker
Nhial Tutlam
Katie VonDeLinde
Jules Wood

Faculty
Practice Professors
Research Professors
Teaching Professors, Senior Lecturers & Scholars
Emeritus Faculty
Faculty Recruitment

Eunhye Ahn

Assistant Professor

Child Abuse and Neglect

Administrative Data

Data Science

Machine Learning Fairness

Peg Allen

Research Assistant Professor

Evidence-based public health

Chronic disease prevention

Public health workforce development

Implementation science

Theresa Anasti

Assistant Professor

Nonprofit organizations

Harm reduction

Sex work

Street level bureaucracy

Wendy Auslander

Barbara A. Bailey Professor of Social Work

Health behavior and health promotion

Childhood abuse and adolescent risk behaviors

Trauma treatment

Diabetes and HIV prevention

Intervention research methods

Ellis Ballard

Assistant Professor of Practice

Systems science

Participatory methods

Communities of practice

Disability inclusion

Kate Barbier

Lecturer

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Program planning and implementation

Systems change

Health care (behavioral health, primary care, reproductive and sexual health)

Racial and health equity

Our affiliated research centers and institutes enable us to dive deep into complex issues.

Sheretta T. Butler-Barnes, Director

Professor of Social Work

The Black Families, Racism, and Resilience (BFRR) Lab addresses how culturally strength-based assets can support Black children, youth, and families. Our lab studies how attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors change over time. Understanding development through a cultural-ecological lens helps educators, practitioners, and scholars to understand how policies, laws, and day-to-day interactions shape attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of Black Americans. Inequitable experiences will affect how Black Americans view themselves and perceive the world depending on their social positioning, which includes race, ethnicity, gender, social class, and sexual orientation. Our purpose is to empower Black American communities with culturally responsive and empowering solutions.

Visit the BFRR WebsiteBlack Families, Racism, and Resilience (Bfrr) Lab

Matthew Kreuter, Director

Kahn Family Professor of Public Health

The Centene Center for Health Transformation is an innovative industry-academic collaboration between the Brown School, Duke University and Centene Corporation, a leading Fortune 500 managed care company. The center focuses efforts on translating evidence-based healthcare methods into real-world settings to actively improve the lives and health of vulnerable populations.

Visit the Centene Center WebsiteCentene Center for Health Transformation

Vetta Sanders Thompson, Co-Director

E. Desmond Lee Professor of Racial and Ethnic Diversity

Angela L. Brown, Co-Director

Associate Professor of Medicine, Cardiovascular Division in the Department of Medicine

The Center for Community Health Partnership & Research aims to reduce disparities and improve health and wellness in the region by supporting collaborations between community and university partners.

Visit the CHPR WebsiteCenter for Community Health Partnership and Research

Elvin Geng, Director

Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine

The Center for Dissemination and Implementation at the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis promotes the adoption of proven treatments, programs and strategies for routine practice.

Visit the CDI websiteCenter For Dissemination And Implementation

Barry Rosenberg, Director

Professor of Practice

Founded in 2020, The Center for Human Service Leadership (CHSL), supported by Washington University and the Missouri Foundation for Health was created to help implement the Delmar Divine vision and strengthen the nonprofit organizations that have made Delmar Divine their home.

Visit the CHSL websiteCenter for Human Service Leadership

Melissa Jonson-Reid, Director

Ralph and Muriel Pumphrey Professor of Social Work Research

Founded in 2018, the Center for Innovation in Child Maltreatment Policy, Research and Training is dedicated to advancing science to prevent child maltreatment and, when prevention is not possible, to effectively intervene to promote healthy outcomes. It is grounded in the idea that research, practice and training efforts must be related and of equal importance to assure that policy and practice are informed by the latest science.

The Center will attend to the most pressing needs of the field and employ collaborative real-world approaches in its science. Two of its large research projects focus on testing innovative means of improving maltreatment screening capacity through advancing the use of integrated administrative data to inform child welfare and cross-system response; as well as improving the science around screening newborns for risk of maltreatment and engagement of new parents in services.

Visit the CICM websiteCenter For Innovation In Child Maltreatment Policy, Research And Training

Leopoldo Cabassa, Co-Director

Professor

Byron Powell, Co-Director

Assistant Professor

Founded in 1993, the Center for Mental Health Services Research (CMHSR), through its national network of research partners, works with social service and mental health agencies to build a base of evidence to address the challenges of delivering mental health services to vulnerable populations. CMHSR was the nation’s first Social Work Research Development Center, and is home to two NIMH-funded training programs.

Visit the CMHSR websiteCenter For Mental Health Services Research

Douglas Luke, Director

Irving Louis Horowitz Professor in Social Policy

Founded in 2001, the Center for Public Health Systems Science (CPHSS) works to create sustainable solutions to public health problems. Through innovative research and evaluation, their work creates a better understanding of how policies and organizational systems affect key issues in public health, such as tobacco control and chronic disease prevention.

Visit the CPHSS websiteCenter For Public Health Systems Science

Michael Sherraden, Director

George Warren Brown Distinguished University Professor

Founded in 1994, the Center for Social Development (CSD) undertakes domestic and international research testing social innovations and uses evidence to inform policy and practice. The center is well known for innovations in asset building for family security and development. Many other initiatives are underway in the following areas: Financial Inclusion; Civic Engagement and Service; Thriving Communities; Child and Youth Development; Social Justice, Environment and Social Development; and Race, Inequality and Social Mobility.

Visit the CSD websiteCenter For Social Development

Tonya E. Edmond

Professor, Brown School

Lindsay Stark, Co-Director

Associate Professor

Founded in 2009, the Center for Violence and Injury Prevention (CVIP) promotes healthy young families and healthy young adults by advancing evidence-based, real-world strategies to prevent child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, sexual violence and suicide attempts. CVIP is the only center of its kind to be housed in a school of social work.

Visit the CVIP websiteCenter For Violence And Injury Prevention

Lora Iannotti

Professor

Founded in 2017, the E3 Nutrition Lab at Washington University in St. Louis’s Brown School leads research focused on improving maternal and young child nutrition in resource-poor settings to promote healthy growth and development.

E3 Nutrition Lab approach applies a transdisciplinary lens to nutrition and public health blending methods and technical content areas from public health nutrition, gender, anthropology, economic development, and evaluation science. Research themes within Washington University’s portfolio include: small livestock development for improving young child nutrition; animal source foods during complementary feeding period; implementation science; and evaluation research.

E3 Nutrition Lab team seeks solutions to maternal and child nutrition which are:
Environmentally Sustainable
Equitably Accessed
Evolutionarily Appropriate

Visit the E3 Nutrition Lab websiteE3 Nutrition Lab

Founded in 2015, the Evaluation Center is committed to helping organizations understand their work and why it matters. The center specializes in client-driven evaluation and training for non-profit organizations, funders, universities and government agencies, to help determine whether organizational goals and program outcomes are being achieved.

Visit the Evaluation Center websiteEvaluation Center

Mitra Naseh, Director

Assistant Professor

Founded in 2020, the Forced Migration Initiative aims to lead and coordinate social work and social welfare research, education, and training to improve the quality of life and well-being for internationally forcibly displaced people. The Initiative for Social Work and Forced Migration serves as a virtual hub for social work scholars in international forced migration. The initiative aims to develop certificate programs that recognize scholars and service providers who adhere to the initiative’s standards. Moreover, the initiative will participate in international student exchange programs, attract interested graduate students, and convene conferences. Furthermore, the initiative will participate in open-source data collection and sharing in forced migration studies.

Visit the FMI websiteForced Migration Initiative

Nancy Morrow-Howell, Co-Director
Betty Bofinger Brown Distinguished Professor of Social Policy
Brian D. Carpenter, Co-Director
Founded in 1998, the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging works to advance a global society where people of all ages have maximum opportunity for health, security and engagement. The global population ages 65 and older is growing faster than all other age groups. Affecting nearly all sectors of society, population aging is one of the most significant social transformations of the twenty-first century. We expand education on issues relevant to individual and population aging; engage a diverse network of researchers in dialogue, lectures, learning groups and funding collaborations; and we are committed to supporting aging initiatives throughout St. Louis and Around the World.

Visit the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging websiteHarvey A. Friedman Center for Aging

Matthew Kreuter, Director

Kahn Family Professor of Public Health

Founded in 1996, the Health Communication Research Laboratory (HCRL) is one of the leading centers in the U.S. dedicated to the research, development and dissemination of health communication programs that enhance the health of individuals and populations. The HCRL seeks to eliminate health disparities by increasing the reach and effectiveness of health information to low-income and minority populations.

Visit the HCRL websiteHealth Communication Research Laboratory

Enola Proctor, Director

Shanti K. Khinduka Distinguished Professor, 2014-2018

The Implementation Research Institute (IRI) was established to advance the field of implementation science in mental health by enhancing the career development of early to mid-career investigators.

Visit the IRI websiteImplementation Research Center

William G. Powderly, Director

Dr. J. William Campbell Professor of Medicine 
Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Sciences

The Institute for Public Health harnesses the strengths of Washington University in St. Louis to address the complex health issues and health disparities facing the St. Louis region and the world.

Visit the IPH websiteInstitute For Public Health

William G. Powderly, Director

Dr. J. William Campbell Professor of Medicine 
Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Sciences

The Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences (ICTS) delivers programs and services designed to accelerate the translation of research findings into real-world applications to improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

Visit the ICTS websiteInstitute Of Clinical And Translational Sciences

Fred M. Ssewamala, Director

William E. Gordon Distinguished Professor

Proscovia Nabunya, Co-Director

Ozge Sensoy Bahar, Co-Director

Founded in 2013, the International Center for Child Health and Development (ICHAD)’s mission is to contribute to the reduction of poverty and the improvement of health and overall developmental outcomes for youth and families in low-resource communities, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa.

The center conducts rigorous applied research focused on family-level economic strengthening and empowerment interventions that tackle the interactive effects of poverty, disease, and health-related risk factors for youth. ICHAD also seeks to increase public awareness and support for asset-based social programs, as well as to promote research-driven policy and programming.

Visit the ICHAD websiteInternational Center For Child Health And Development

Pamela Begay, Director

Founded in 1990, the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies promotes preparation of professionals to assume leadership positions in social services and governmental institutions dedicated to improving the lives of American Indians.

Visit the Buder center websiteKathryn M. Buder Center For American Indian Studies

Jeremy Goldbach
Masters & Johnson Distinguished Professor in Sexual Health and Education
Founded in 2022.

Visit the SHAG Center websiteSexuality, Health and Gender Center

Fred M. Ssewamala, Co-Director

William E. Gordon Distinguished Professor

Mary McKay, Co-Director

Executive Vice Provost

Founded in 2016, the SMART Africa Center (Strengthening Mental Health and Research Training) is a transdisciplinary collaborative center aimed at reducing gaps in child mental health services and research in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda. Funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the SMART Africa Center utilizes a population approach to child mental health.

The center brings together a consortium of academic, government, NGO and community stakeholders in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and the United States to focus on addressing the child mental health burden and service gaps in sub-Saharan Africa, including implementation and scale-up of evidence-based practices.

Visit the SMART Africa Center websiteSmart Africa Center

Ellis Ballard, Director

Founded in 2009, the Social System Design Lab (SSDL) advances the science and application of system dynamics in organizations and communities. The SSDL specializes in developing participatory methods and workshops for engaging communities and organizations to design innovative solutions in complex social systems using causal maps and formal models with computer simulation.

Visit the SSDL websiteSocial System Design Lab