Welcome, new students and staff!
This Fall, SIG is pleased to welcome new Fellows, interns, a doctoral student, and a post-doctoral researcher. From reducing overdose deaths to investigating gendered impacts of policing on health outcomes to mass incarceration, students and staff will be working on several meaningful projects to advance the mission of SIG in addressing global health and equity through science.
MSW Student Interns
Joy Zhang
At SIG, Ms. Zhang will work on qualitative interview coding for the HEALing Communities Study and quantitative data analysis on a new study led by Dr. Dawn Goddard-Eckrich, which aims to examine the availability of COVID-19 testing and the impact of COVID-19 on the availability of naloxone and buprenorphine comparing pharmacies in racially diverse communities.
I am thrilled to work with the SIG team and gain research experience by providing support for research projects.
Jessica Johnson
Jessica K. Johnson is a Master’s student at Columbia University’s School of Social Work and Mailman School of Public Health. She will be working on the HEALing Communities Study (HCS) under the supervision and guidance of Dr. Dawn Goddard-Eckrich.
Read Jessica Johnson's biography.
Maegan Ramchal
Maegan Ramshal will be working on the WINGS adaptation for the Caribbean and on the HEALing Communities Study (HCS). Maegan is a first-year MSW student studying advanced clinical social work with a focus in health, mental health, and disabilities.
Read Maegan Ramshal's biography.
Jessica Nance
Jessica Nance is an MSW student.
Esther Park
Esther Park is an MSW field placement student.
T32 Pre-doctoral Students
The T32 training program, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, provides both pre- and post-doctortoral training. T32 is a joint initiative led by SIG at the Columbia School of Social Work and the Mailman School of Public Health.
The T32 welcomes two new Fellows.
Tara McCrimmon
Tara McCrimmon is a doctoral student (DrPH) in the Sociomedical Sciences Department at the Mailman School of Public Health. Previously, she worked as a project director for the Global Health Research Center of Central Asia, where she managed two HIV prevention and treatment intervention trials based in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Her research interests include healthcare access among key populations, structural interventions, health and social policy, and implementation science. Tara holds an MPH from Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, an MIA from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a BA from the University of Chicago.
Ruth Shefner
Ruth Shefner is a doctoral student in Sociomedical Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health, on the sociology track. She is focused broadly on criminal legal systems, with interests in policing, court based interventions, and collateral consequences of mass incarceration.
Doctoral Student
Bethany Medley
Bethany Medley is working on the HEALing Communities Study to reduce overdose deaths using community-based participatory research. She is in the PhD program for the Columbia University School of Social Work.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow/Scientist
Claudia Stoicescu
Dr. Claudia Stoicescu’s research explores the impact of police enforcement activities on HIV risk, prevention and treatment outcomes among marginalized populations, including women who inject drugs and persons involved with the criminal justice system. Her research is rooted in participatory, community-based approaches and employs integrated knowledge translation to inform appropriate interventions and relevant policy decisions.
At SIG, Dr. Stoicescu will examine the gendered impacts of policing on health HIV outcomes of people who use drugs with Drs. El-Bassel and Gilbert.
Welcome, everyone!