The provost and the senior vice chancellor for the health sciences at the University of Pittsburgh have announced a large group of new Black faculty members who comprise the first cohort of its Race and Social Determinants of Equity, Health, & Well-Being Cluster Hire Initiative. Following are brief biographies of the new hires.
Amanda Boston is an assistant professor in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in the department of Africana studies. Her current projects explore gentrification’s racial operations in her hometown of Brooklyn, New York, and their role in the making and unmaking of the borough’s Black communities. She is a graduate of Duke University and holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Brown University.
Rhea Bowman is the School of Pharmacy’s newly appointed director of communications and an assistant professor in the department of pharmacy and therapeutics. Dr. Bowman earned a doctor of pharmacy degree and a bachelor’s degree in nonfiction English writing from the University of Pittsburgh.
Brittany L. Brown-Podgorski is an assistant professor of health policy and management in the Graduate School of Public Health. Her research examines the impact of state-level laws and regulations on social determinants of health and health outcomes. She is particularly interested in how the state policy environment and political economy influence health disparities among minoritized populations.
Tiffany Clark was appointed as an assistant professor of psychiatry in the School of Medicine. Dr. Clark earned her medical degree from Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. She completed her psychiatry residency at Temple University in Philadelphia.
Darlène Dubuisson was appointed as an assistant professor of anthropology in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. She received her Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2020. Her research interests span sociocultural anthropology, activist and engaged anthropology, and feminist and Black studies.
Paris Ekeke has joined the faculty of the newborn medicine program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She earned her medical degree from Ohio State University, followed by a pediatric residency at Northwestern University and the Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Dr. Ekeke also earned a master’s degree in epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.
Nancy Gauvin is an assistant professor in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. She is leading the department of communication science and disorder’s Communication and Health Equity Outcomes Research Initiative. Dr. Gauvin is a graduate of the University of Central Florida in Orlando. She earned a master’s degree and an educational doctorate at Nova Southeastern University.
Ashley Hill is an assistant professor of epidemiology in the Graduate School of Public Health. Her research aims to reduce disparities in sexually transmitted infections among young people. Dr. Hill is a graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta. She earned a master of public health degree from Georgia Southern University and a doctorate in epidemiology from Texas A&M University.
Katrina Knight has joined the Swanson School of Engineering’s department of bioengineering. She was a postdoctoral associate in the department of obstetrics, gynecology & reproductive sciences. Dr. Knight is a graduate of Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina. She holds a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.
Mosopefoluwa (Sope) Lanlokun was appointed an assistant professor of pediatrics in the School of Medicine. Dr. Lanlokun’s research interests include asthma and food allergies, particularly with regard to the role of social determinants of health. Dr. Lanlokn was born in Nigeria but grew up in Maryland. She earned her medical degree at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Amanda McCoy has joined the School of Medicine’s department of orthopaedic surgery as an assistant professor in the Division of Pediatric Orthopaedics. Dr. McCoy earned a master of public health degree from the University of North Carolina and her medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine.
Melody Mickens joins the School of Medicine’s department of physical medicine and rehabilitation as a clinical assistant professor and licensed clinical psychologist. Dr. Mickins is a graduate of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University
Terri Newman joined the School of Pharmacy as an assistant professor of pharmacy and therapeutics. Her research has focused on conducting large pharmacoepidemiology studies to evaluate health and economic outcomes associated with the use of anticoagulants and antidiabetic treatments.
Martina Anto-Ocrah joined the School of Medicine as an assistant professor of general internal medicine. Dr. Anto-Ocrah’s research interests are focused mainly on under-resourced settings and vulnerable populations, and center around reproductive epidemiology, behavioral neurology, and global emergency medicine research methods.
Onome Oghifobibi is a neonatology fellow pursuing organized research training in the area of resuscitation medicine. His research focuses on defining the mechanisms underpinning cerebral blood flow dysregulation after asphyxial cardiac arrest. He holds a degree in surgery from the Univerity of Benin and a master’s degree from the University of Oxford in England.
Taofeek Owonikoko is a professor of medicine in the School of Medicine’s Division of Hematology/Oncology. He was teaching at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University in Atlanta. His research interests are in pre-clinical biomarker discovery in lung cancer and other solid tumor types. He earned his medical degree at Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria and a Ph.D. from Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Kathryn Reed was appointed as an assistant professor and vice chair for equity, inclusion, and community engagement in the department of physician assistant studies in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. She is the founder and president of the National Society of Black Physician Assistants. Reed earned a bachelor’s degree in emergency medicine and a master degree in physician assistant studies from the University of Pittsburgh
Sandra Stinnett joins the University of Pittsburgh from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and has been appointed as an assistant professor in the School of Medicine’s department of otolaryngology. She is particularly interested in the use of laser treatment in laryngeal disorders. Dr. Stinnett is a graduate of Stony Brook University in New York. She earned her medical degree at the University of Miami.
Yetsa Tuakli-Wosornu joined the School of Medicine’s department of physical medicine and rehabilitation as an assistant professor. She is a board-certified physiatrist specializing in interventional spine and sports medicine treatments. Dr. Tuakli-Wosornu is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Medical School. She holds a master of public health degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
