Menu
Contact Us
Minority Health and Health Equity Research Center
PSB 307
2601 Gentilly Boulevard
New Orleans, Louisiana 70122
Ph. (504) 816-4001
Office Hours:
M-F 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
PIs: Dr. Barbara Allen, Dr. Alison Cohen, Dr. Michelle Smith
CoPI: Dr. Kenya Goodson
Project Team: Austin Banks Jr., MBA (project manager), Juliet Nussbaum, MPH (epidemiologist), Dr. Sherman Horn III (Environmental GIS Analyst)
The CoDA (Collaborative Data Analysis) study seeks to support Louisiana residents to use government data to explore health inequities and environmental factors. Through collaborative workshops, community members work alongside academic researchers to analyze government-sourced data, such as cancer registries and Medicaid records, to better understand patterns of illness in their local areas. This inclusive process ensures that scientific insights are directly applicable to community concerns, with the goal of informing local policy and regulatory change. The project also aims to build lasting capacity for environmental health justice work, with public events and a replicable online manual for communities to continue this work independently. This project is funded by the National Science Foundation.
Mission: The CoDA Environmental Justice Research project focuses on bridging the gap between environmental data and impactful policy changes that address systemic health inequities in Louisiana.
Vision: We aim to foster a healthier, more just Louisiana by promoting science-based policy reforms that respond to community needs.
Dr. Michelle Smith (Dillard University)
Dr. Michelle R. Smith, PhD, MPH, is the Director of the Minority Health & Health Disparities Research Center at Dillard University and one of three Principal Investigators for the CoDA project. With over 20 years of public health experience, she has led efforts to address health disparities and promote health equity. Prior to joining Dillard, she served as the Director of the Office of Health Equity at the Arkansas Department of Health, where she developed programs to improve minority health outcomes. Dr. Smith holds a PhD in Public Policy from the University of Arkansas, an MPH from Tulane University, and a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Dillard University
Dr. Barbara Allen (Virginia Tech)
A sociologist of scientific knowledge, Dr. Barbara Allen’s research engages the public in shaping public health and environmental science to promote policy participation and change. In 2022, with CoDA project team member Dr. Alison Cohen and others, she completed a 10-year transformative participatory health project in one of France’s most polluted industrial zones near Marseille. Her first book, Uneasy Alchemy: Citizens and Experts in Louisiana’s Petrochemical Disputes (2003, MIT Press), documented the dynamics between local residents and allied experts in the area commonly referred to as “Cancer Alley,” a region in Louisiana along the Mississippi River known for its concentration of petrochemical industries and environmental health concerns.
Dr. Alison Cohen (University of California San Francisco)
Specializing in applied epidemiology, Dr. Alison Cohen works to uncover the social and environmental factors behind health inequities and identify potential interventions to mitigate them. Her work, grounded in community-based participatory research, engages with local organizations and communities to ensure policy-relevant outcomes. As an affiliated faculty member at the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, Dr. Cohen’s research spans public health and other sectors, including education and civic engagement, in both national and international settings. She aims to use research-practice partnerships to drive meaningful change in health equity.
Juliet Nussbaum (Dillard University)
Juliet Nussbaum is an epidemiologist at the Minority Health & Health Equity Research Center at Dillard University. She holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) with a focus on epidemiology and biostatistics. Juliet brings nearly five years of experience as an infection prevention and control specialist in healthcare settings, where she applied epidemiological methods and translated scientific research into actionable practices, designing and implementing evidence-based guidelines, educational resources, and hospital policies. Juliet provides statistical analysis and data management for the CoDA project.
Dr. Kenya Goodson
Dr. Kenya L. Goodson is an environmental engineer and educator whose career bridges public health, environmental regulation, and science policy. Her experience with communities in rural Alabama includes working as a Public Health Environmentalist for the Alabama Department of Public Health and as a climate organizer with Hometown Organizing Project. Her research experience includes studying the impact of stormwater on wastewater treatability of emerging contaminants and evaluating pollution reduction efficiencies of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for a stormwater implementation plan. Dr. Goodson is an active advocate for climate mitigation, environmental justice, and water conservation, currently serving as the Board President of the Cahaba River Society. She is currently a Co-Investigator for the CoDA project.
Miriam Simon (University of California San Francisco)
Miriam Simon is a second-year medical student at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine with a background in microbiology research, assay development, and genomics. She previously conducted pediatric lung disease research at UCSF’s DeRisi Lab, focusing on transcriptomics and the microbiome. Miriam is currently part of the CoDA research team, where she is exploring environmental health injustices in Louisiana. She is passionate about advancing health equity through her research and future clinical work.
Austin Banks Jr (Dillard University)
Austin Banks Jr. is a graduate of Southeastern Louisiana University with a Bachelors of Science as well as a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Southern University. He is currently pursuing a degree in Nursing at Chamberlain University of New Orleans. Passionate about healthcare and environmental justice, he serves as Project Manager at the Minority Health & Health Equity Research Center, where he supports vital research projects focused on community health and environmental challenges in Louisiana.
Dana Gumas (Dillard University)
Dana Gumas brings over three decades of executive administrative experience, including 21 years with the State of Louisiana before retiring in 2020. She joined Dillard University nearly five years ago, contributing her expertise to support its mission as one of the nation’s leading HBCUs. Dana also plays a key role in supporting the CoDA project with her administrative skills.
Dr.Sherman Horn III (Center for Human Environmental Research)
Dr. Sherman Horn III is an archaeologist and geographic information systems (GIS) specialist interested in the ever-evolving relationships between people and where they live. He is an archaeological project manager at Goodwin & Associates, Inc., and Director of Archaeological Research at the Center for Human Environmental Research in New Orleans. Dr. Horn’s research in Mesoamerica and the US Gulf Coast centers the traditional ecological knowledge of community partners to understand past human-environment interactions and elevate strategies that promote resilience to environmental change. He received a PhD in anthropology from Tulane University and serves as Environmental GIS Analyst for the CoDA project.
© 2024 – All Rights Reserved
