Teaching

  1. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Co-Instructor. Course: HPM 523 - Homelessness & Health: Lessons from Health Care, Public Health, and Research, Spring 2021-present.
    • Description: Timely action and critical reflection in the areas of poverty, racial/ethnic health inequities, and homelessness are necessary. With more than 500,000 individuals experiencing homelessness in the United States at any given time and approximately 1.4 million individuals relying on emergency shelters over the course of year, homelessness continues to be a significant problem in the United States (US). Recent events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and social uprisings against racial injustices compel public health to better understand the vulnerabilities of our neighbors experiencing homelessness. While homelessness in the US is a complex issue intersecting the fields of health care, public health, and policy, this course will lead students through a concise introduction. We will examine pathways to homelessness, disproportionately affected communities, and unique health care needs including COVID-19. The history of Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) programs and examples of model programs will be discussed. Strategies for incorporating trauma-informed care into practice will be identified. There will be a specific focus on the fundamentals of research in homelessness and health, including innovative directions and ethical considerations. Individuals with lived experience of homelessness, clinicians and practitioners will share their perspectives. Active learning and solution-oriented approaches to challenging and persistent issues for homeless persons will be used.
  2. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Lecturer. Course: ID 254 - Political Epidemiology: Oppression and Resistance as Determinants of Health. Fall 2022-present.
    • Description: This course examines the social and political determinants of health, focusing on historic and ongoing systems of structural discrimination and exclusion which harm health and threaten health equity. It is intended to be an introductory course and will use examples from both the United States and a number of other countries/regions to explore how power and politics shape health and health equity. Through a series of lectures by scholars of health justice, this course will enable students to analyze how history and institutional dynamics shape health as well as scientific knowledge about health. Using casestudy presentations and referencing a range of theoretical frameworks, from settler colonialism to racial capitalism, the course aims to show how research can support advocacy and community efforts to advance health justice. While the course predominantly focuses on structural racism and health, it will also underscore the need to take account of structural discrimination based on ability/disability status, sexual orientation and gender identity, and legal status, to name a few.
  3. Harvard Medical School, Co-Lecturer. Course: Essentials of Primary Care, Immigration as a Structural Determinant of Health. Oct 2023.
    • Description: An expansive body of public health literature describes the health inequities that immigrants face. Central to the origins of these inequities, and to their potential remedies, are the structures of violence at their root. In this session, we unpack immigration as a structural determinant of health through case examples, exposing layers of intersecting structural inequities, which are enforced and reinforced by political, economic, legal and social frameworks. The first case will explore the experience of the immigrant in the workplace and the compounding pressures of economic, legal and social structures of violence. A second case draws on the ongoing humanitarian crisis precipitated by failures in policy and leadership in Massachusetts, wherein we describe dominant narratives and their political impact, and the work of a community coalition of immigrant-led organizations, which has been responding to the crisis. In both cases we describe ways in which health care professionals can support immigrants, explore the special case of asylum medicine, and consider the challenges of using our privilege as health professionals to be in solidarity with immigrants and subvert structural violence together.
  4. Harvard Medical School, Nanocourse Co-Instructor. Course: Public Health 101 Series: Homelessness and Health-Lessons from Health Care, Public Health and Research, Spring 2020.
    • Description: Homelessness in the United States is a complex issue intersecting with health care, public health, and policy. Examine the fundamentals of health and innovative research outcomes among homeless populations. Identify unique health care and social needs and strategies for incorporating trauma-informed care into practice. Individuals with lived experience of homelessness and clinicians and practitioners will present. Active discussions, interactive learning, and solution-oriented approaches to challenging and persistent issues for homeless persons will be used.
  5. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Graduate Teaching Fellow. Course: DrPH Doctoral Seminar, Fall 2018-Spring 2019.
    • Description: Mentor and assist DrPH candidates preparing their doctoral thesis. This seminar is intended to advance thinking about one’s doctoral projects including technical background, intended work plans, potential partner organizations, doctoral committee members, funding strategies, and timeline. Students are also mentored through the process of collaborating with doctoral committee chairs and members to write proposals and prepare for their oral qualifying examinations.
  6. Harvard Medical School Asylum Network, Volunteer FacultyAsylum Evaluation of Minors: Case Presentation, December 2019. 
    • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Description: Provide training and guidance to medical students interested in medical and psychological asylum evaluations.
  7. Fordham University, Master of Science in Health Administration, Guest Lecturer. Course: Population Health: Public Health & Outcome Measures (HADM 5700), Spring 2019-2021. Lecture: Behavioral Health as an Aspect of Public Health.
  8. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Graduate Student Teaching Fellow. Course (masters-level): Critical Thinking and Action for Public Health Professionals, Fall 2018.
    • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Description: In collaboration with Professor David Williams, provide guidance and instruction to students on a teaching module regarding the social determinants of disparities in birth outcomes. This module provides students the opportunity to apply public health methods and concepts to elucidate the social determinants of health underpinning global and domestic trends in infant mortality and birth outcomes. Projects and assignments center are grounded in the overarching question: Given there is no single, simple, easy solution to reducing infant mortality and eliminating Social Inequities, what are evidence-based and tangible next steps?
  9. University of California at San Francisco, School of Nursing, Assistant Clinical Professor. Course (masters-level): Global Health Independent Study, Summer 2016.
    • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Description: Precept nursing students on month-long clinical rotations in rural clinics in Chiapas, Mexico in collaboration with Partners In Health. Students learn from and support the work of local nurses and physicians to provide primary and urgent care in resource-poor settings. Students implement specific projects and research selected by local clinical teams. In addition, students promote leadership, inter-disciplinary collaboration and themes of social justice, while gaining practical experience in global health.
  10. University of Massachusetts at Boston, College of Nursing & Health Sciences, Assistant Clinical Professor. Course (masters-level): Advanced Health Promotion-Practicum, Spring 2015.
    • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Description: Students analyze the clinical application of theories and research from nursing, health promotion, and disease prevention. Data grounded in epidemiological sources, health histories, family assessments, physical examinations, and diagnostic tests are examined as the basis for case finding and identification of risk factors. Students begin to institute primary and secondary interventions, demonstrate interdisciplinary communication skills, examine collaborative community partnerships, and analyze the dimensions of nurse practitioner professional leadership role in the urban community.