 Marilyn Aguirre-Molina, EdD, MS
Executive Director
Office: 718-960-6928maguirremolina@cunyhealthequity.org |
Marilyn Aguirre-Molina is currently a Professor of Public Health within the City University of New York (Lehman College and the Graduate Center - MPH and PhD Programs). In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she is the Founding Director of the CUNY Institute for Health Equity, and the Deputy Executive Office of Health Sciences Doctoral Programs. She joined CUNY after several years as Professor of Population and Family Health at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University in New York City. Prior to joining the Columbia faculty she served as the Executive Vice President of the California Endowment, and as a Senior Program Officer at The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Preceding her work within philanthropy she was an Associate Professor in the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Department of Environmental and Community Medicine. In this capacity she taught within the MD/MPH program and engaged in applied community-based public health research that focused on ethnic/racial communities.
Marilyn is a native New Yorker where she received a Bachelor of Science degree (cum laude) in Health Sciences from Hunter College - City University of New York. In addition, she received an academic tuition scholarship to attend Columbia University where she received a Master of Science degree in Community Public Health and a Doctorate in Health Education and Administration. |
| Research Core | |
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Andrew Maroko, PhD |
Andrew Maroko's research interest in health geographics centers on the spatial analysis of environmental health and equity issues. He received his PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences, with a specialty in geography/GISc, from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His undergraduate degree in Biology was from Rutgers College in New Brunswick,NJ. He now teaches in the Lehman College Department of Health Sciences /MPH Program which is a consortial member of the CUNY School of Public Health. Dr. Maroko is the associate director of the Urban GISc Lab at Lehman College and is also active with the Research Core of the CUNY Institute for Health Equity. His publications include work on environmental justice, exposure assessment, pollution modeling, geo-statistical analyses, computational geography, urban health geographics, accessibility, and geovisualization.
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Mary Huynh, PhD |
Dr. Mary Huynh teaches in the Lehman College Department of Health Sciences /MPH Program which is a consortial member of the CUNY School of Public Health. Before joining the Lehman college, she was the lead epidemiologist and manager of field operations for the World Trade Center Health Registry at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (D.O.H.M.H.) . Previously she was the director of theData Unit in the Bureau of Epidemiology Services at D.O.H.M.H. Dr. Huynh holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Epidemiology in the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh and was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the National Center for Health Statistics. Her research includes the role of the environment on respiratory health and perinatal outcomes. She has worked closely with community groups and labor unions. Her research activities have focused on maternal and child health, residential segregation, income inequality, and racial disparities in adverse birth outcomes. |
 Nika Lunn, MA Program Director nlunn@cunyhealthequity.org
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Nika graduated from Columbia University with a BA in Russian in 2004. After working in the health-care field for several years, she went back to school to get her MA in Communication Studies from New Mexico State University. While in New Mexico, she continued working in the health field as Coordinator/Health Educator with the Wellness, Alcohol, and Violence Education (WAVE) program. Now back in New York, Nika is excited to take on her new role as Program Director of the CUNY Institute for Health Equity. Here, managing the programmatic and research activities of the Institute's grants will be her main goal, as well as staff assistance and supervision |
| Lakisha Brooks, MBA Program Associate lbrooks@cunyhealthequity.org |
Lakisha has joined us as our new Program Associate for Administration. As the newest member of the Cuny Institute for Health Equity, she is very excited about joining our team. Lakisha graduated from Colgate University with a B.A in Political Science and Philosophy. She also received her M.B.A from Fordham University in 2009. While obtaining her M.B.A, Lakisha served as Associate Director of Program Management (Academic Advising) of the Business school for three years. Prior to joining the institute, Lakisha most recently served as the Program Associate for Fordham's M.S in Quantitative Finance program. She looks forward to assisting the institute with various projects. |
| Institute Research Scholars |
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Tiffany Mae Brown, BA, MS |
Tiffany Mae Brown is a graduate student in the Geographic Information Science Certificate Program at Lehman College. Tiffany received her BA in Broadcasting from Temple University and her MS in Elementary Education from Mercy College. Tiffany taught in New York City public elementary schools for five years before deciding to return to school to study GISc. Tiffany was hired as a tutor at the Lehman College GISc Lab after only one semester in the GISc program. Because she excelled in GISc, she was given the opportunity to be a CIHE Research Scholar during the Spring 2011 semester. Tiffany was born and raised in the Bronx, and is interested in researching health disparities and the health effects of urban stressors in the Bronx. Tiffany's current research interest is the geospatial analysis of urban and environmental stressors. |
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Mallesha A. Malcolm, BS |
Mallesha A. Malcolm is passionate about health promotion and disease prevention. She is a graduate student at the CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College. She is pursuing a Master of Public Health degree, with a concentration in Health Policy and Management. Mallesha also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing. She has worked on various projects with organizations such as the American Cancer Society and the Brooklyn Perinatal Network, Inc. Mallesha is presently working to make CUNY a healthier place through a Healthy CUNY project, which encourages the use of the free mental health screenings and counseling services that are available on CUNY campuses, starting with Hunter. Mallesha's current research interests are in the areas of health policy, maternal-child health, mental health, health equity and social justice. Her passion is working with underserved and minority populations in and out of the clinical field, caring for them and advocating for their health needs. She is an avid supporter of holistic health, emphatically promoting the balance of physical, mental, spiritual and social well-being. |
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Megan Reed, BA |
Megan Reed is a master's student in Urban Public Health with an emphasis on Community Health Education at Hunter College, CUNY. She received her bachelor's degree with honors in Community Studies from the University of California at Santa Cruz. Following her undergraduate degree, she trained out each workers and substance abuse counselors in Texas on HIV, Hepatitis C, and harm reduction, and worked as an affordable housing organizer in New York City. Her |
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Kimyetta Robinson is currently a student in the CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College's Master of Public Health program with a focus in Health Policy and Management. Prior to entering the MPH program, Kimyetta was a Program Officer at an anti-poverty organization. She also served as the program director for a volunteer-based court monitoring program at a court reform organization. Kimyetta received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University. |
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Rachael Weiss, MPH |
Rachael Weiss received her Masters of Public Health at Hunter College in 2009 and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Public Health in the field of Epidemiology at the Graduate Center/CUNY. She is a research fellow at the Urban GISc. Lab at Lehman College working on environmental justice and geospatial disparities in health. Her research interests include neighborhood determinants of healthy active aging. |
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Master of Public Health Candidate Lehman College/CUNY
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Asif Patel studied medicine at Grant Medical College in Mumbai and is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health at Lehman College. His current research interests are in the areas of mental health, HIV, diabetes and genetics, Latino health issues (especially Dominican Republic), health equity, and social justice. He is passionate about global health, medical journalism and working with underserved and minority populations in and out of the clinical field. He is involved in the Photovoice Project, the South Bronx Birth Study, and maintenance of the Institute website. |
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Rachel Wilson |
Rachel Wilson is a high school intern who is working with the CUNY Institute for Health Equity this summer because she is interested in getting work experience. She attends Women's Academy of Excellence High School in the Bronx, where she is entering her sophomore year. The school focuses on preparing young women to reach their greatest potential and to serve the community. It is a school founded by Dr. Arnette Crocker.
Rachel had decided that when she graduates high school, she wants to study nursing at a SUNY University. After college, she would like to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse practitioner. In Rachel's spare time, she likes to keep up with current events, read her favorite books, and write fiction on her computer.
Here at the Institute, Rachel has been helping out with various projects such as the Photovoice Project and the South Bronx Birth Study. She has also been learning basic administrative and communication skills.
She has been a great team member this summer! |
