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PhD Faculty

Students in the PhD in Public Health Sciences program have the opportunity to work with faculty participating in locally, nationally, and globally recognized research and studies on both the Danforth and Medical School campuses. Their areas of interest range from data analysis to community outreach to AI modeling for positive health outcomes. Learn more about our faculty community and how you can be a part of building a better present and future.

Browse Our PhD Faculty

Virginia Mckay

Virginia Mckay (Ginger)

Assistant Professor

  • 314-935-5740
  • virginia.mckay@wustl.edu

Virginia Mckay’s research focuses on the dissemination and implementation (D&I) of evidence-based practices addressing HIV prevention, especially the sustainability and de-implementation of interventions. Mckay addresses research questions in this area using mixed-methods approaches including qualitative, quantitative, and agent-based modeling. Working within the Center for Public Health Systems Science at the Brown School, she supports the center’s projects related to evidence-based public health and systems science.
Mary McKay

Mary McKay

Executive Vice Provost

  • 314-935-6693
  • mary.mckay@wustl.edu

Executive Vice Provost McKay has received substantial federal funding for research focused on meeting the mental health and health prevention needs of youth and families impacted by poverty. Working with colleagues in the field, she has developed a substantial body of research findings around engagement practices to improve involvement in family-based HIV prevention programs and mental health services for children, youth, and families in high-poverty urban areas. She has significant expertise in services and implementation research methods, as well as over 15 years of experience conducting HIV prevention and care-oriented studies, supported by continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health. In addition, Dean McKay has collaborated with the National Institute of Mental Health, the New York State Office of Mental Health, and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to create evidence-based engagement interventions and to test models of dissemination and training for mental health professionals in engagement best practices
Caitlin McMurty

Caitlin McMurtry

Assistant Professor

  • 314-935-3159
  • mcmurtry@wustl.edu

Caitlin McMurtry (she/they) combines theories and methods from public health, economics, and political science to examine the politics of health in the United States. Their current research focuses on the magnitude and origins of political polarization during disease outbreaks, the causes and consequences of firearm deregulation, experiences of discrimination among Asian Americans, and the role of state ballot initiatives in health policy. Broadly, they aim to understand how public opinion and political processes affect health and inequity (and vice versa) in the U.S.
Sarah Moreland-Russell

Sarah Moreland-Russell

Associate Professor of Practice

  • 314-935-8382
  • smoreland-russell@wustl.edu

Sarah Moreland-Russell’s research focuses on health policy analysis and evaluation, specifically regarding tobacco control and obesity prevention, organizational and systems science and evaluation, and dissemination and implementation of public health policies. Her work has made contributions to the need for local-level policy adoption, strategies for disseminating results for more effective implementation of evidence-based policy, and the evaluation of public health programs.
Proscovia Nabunya

Proscovia Nabunya

Associate Professor

  • 314-935-9087
  • nabunyap@wustl.edu

Proscovia Nabunya's global research focuses on HIV-stigma reduction interventions, mental health, and family and community-based support systems as protective factors for the development and well-being of children and families impacted by HIV/AIDS. She has research expertise in poverty-reduction strategies that utilize asset-based interventions and their impact on children and families' social, economic and health well-being in HIV-impacted communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Nabunya's current NIMH-funded study known as Suubi4Stigma examines two evidence-based interventions, i.e. multiple family group and group cognitive behavioral therapy, to address individual and family-level HIV-associated stigma among adolescents living with HIV and their families in Uganda.
Diana Parra Perez

Diana Parra Perez

Assistant Professor

  • parrad@wustl.edu

Dr. Diana Parra Perez is an Assistant Professor at Prevention Research Center, from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Parra Perez is Associate Director for Faculty and Scholarship, at the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Equity (CRE2), and Co-Principal Investigator of the NSF ADVANCE AIM for Equity Insitutional Grant. Dr. Parra Perez is also a founding member and Co-Lead of the Mindfulness Science and Practice Cluster at WashU. Dr. Parra Perez is steering Committee Member as Events Chair of the SOMOS WashU Affinity Group, and a Scholar at the Institute of Public Health.