2023: A Look Back at Our  Accomplishments

With over 85 primary faculty members across our four departments, Rutgers School of Public Health is setting new records in expanding the scope of our research and educational expertise. Each faculty member contributes to a broader and deeper understanding of public health issues, making our collective efforts more impactful than ever. Keep scrolling to meet our newest faculty. 

Jon-Patrick Allem, Ph.D., M.A., has joined the Rutgers School of Public Health’s Department of Health Behavior, Society, and Policy as an associate professor. He is also an associate professor of general internal medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and a core member of the Rutgers Institute for Nicotine & Tobacco Studies. Allem's research harnesses digital data sources and cutting-edge methodologies to improve population health surveillance and policy. 

Ellen Francis, Ph.D. has joined the Rutgers School of Public Health’s Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology as an assistant professor. Francis's research integrates biochemical and clinical information to refine metabolic profiles during pregnancy, with the goal of improving how we identify maternal-offspring pairs at risk for poor metabolic health later in life. Through the use of 'omics data generated from blood and placenta, she seeks to provide a more precise understanding of the developmental origins of health and disease. Using approaches from lifecourse epidemiology, systems biology, and computer science, she contributes to the identification of modifiable targets and mechanisms leading to premature cardiovascular morbidities.

Elizabeth Handorf, Ph.D., has joined the Rutgers School of Public Health’s Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology as an associate professor. She is also a researcher at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Handorf’s research focuses on methods for observational data, such as those derived from the Electronic Health Records, registries, and insurance claims. She also develops methods for cost-effectiveness analysis of medical interventions. Her further research interests include a wide variety of other topics in biostatistics, including machine learning, risk prediction models, survival analysis, and design of epidemiological and interventional studies.

Mobolaji Ibitoye, Dr.PH., M.P.H. has joined the Rutgers School of Public Health’s Department of Urban-Global Public Health as an instructor. Ibitoye is a social and behavioral public health researcher whose work addresses sexual and reproductive health. Her research explores how various structural, social, behavioral, and biological factors interact to affect the sexual and reproductive health of populations internationally and domestically. Ibitoye employs both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to gather valuable insights into the sexual and reproductive health needs of underserved populations in various settings in sub-Saharan Africa and the U.S. Her current research is focused on understanding the fertility desires and the interpersonal processes that translate the desire to avoid or delay pregnancy into decisions on modern contraception among men and women in sub-Saharan Africa as well as among African immigrants in the U.S.

Kymberle Landrum Sterling, DrPH, has joined the Rutgers Institute for Nicotine & Tobacco Studies as the associate director for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in July 2023. She will also join the Rutgers School of Public Health as an associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior, Society, and Policy and Assistant Dean for Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion for Faculty & Talent Development. Sterling’s research focuses on adolescent and young adult tobacco use, tobacco-related health disparities, and tobacco regulatory sciences, with particular emphasis on cigars. 

Lan Luo, Ph.D., has joined the Rutgers School of Public Health’s Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology as an assistant professor. Luo’s research focuses on developing real-time analytics to meet the methodological requirements associated with the analysis of streaming data. These include large-scale databases that are periodically updated and mobile health data. In particular, Luo is interested in developing online analysis toolboxes with a main focus on statistical inference. Luo’s research pursuits also encompass adaptive experimental design, longitudinal mediation analysis, and epigenetic clocks.

Emily V. Merchant, Ph.D., has joined the Rutgers School of Public Health’s Department of Urban-Global Public Health as an assistant professor. As a faculty member focused on contributing to the education program at the school, Merchant is excited to lead students in active discussions and activities on global food and culture, food systems, global public health, and more as well as use her research portfolio as a vehicle to increase student engagement both in and out of the classroom. She will also be helping lead the public health nutrition concentration. 

Megan Rockafellow Baldoni, Ph.D. M.P.H., has joined the Rutgers School of Public Health’s Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and Justice as an assistant professor. She is also the administrative director of research and evaluation for the Rutgers School of Public Health Center for Public Health Workforce Development. Rockafellow Baldoni’s research interests include evaluating and enhancing the effectiveness of occupational health and safety and public health training programs.