Meet SPH’s New Faculty
We're excited to welcome these new leaders
As a reproductive epidemiologist, Ashley Hill’s research focuses on maternal and child health, sexual health, and health equity to reduce reproductive health disparities. She aims to determine risk factors for sexual and reproductive health disparities and suggests approaches to aid in the development of prevention strategies to reduce morbidity. She uses multiple mixture modeling approaches (e.g., latent class analysis, latent transition analysis, structural equation modeling) and applies social determinants of health frameworks.
Nathaniel Tran’s research examines how public policies impact the health of LGBTQ+ populations throughout the life course. Dr. Tran is a nationally recognized expert in LGBTQ+ population health with over 10 years of experience in public health research, implementation, and evaluation. They were a 2018 Fulbright research fellow to the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Aryn Phillips is a health care management researcher focused on how alcohol use and alcohol use disorder (AUD) are addressed in health care settings, particularly among adults with chronic medical conditions and with an eye towards equitable access and quality of care. Her research strives to better harness the health care delivery system’s resources to reduce alcohol-related harms, be it through changes to organizational structures, clinical workflows, or governmental policies.
Justin Markowski is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Health Policy and Administration. Dr. Markowski is trained in health policy, economics, and data science and – prior to obtaining his PhD – worked in a community health center. His research seeks to explore, evaluate, and improve the organization and delivery of healthcare in the safety net, aimed at strengthening the design of these systems and improving the wellbeing of the traditionally underserved communities they serve.
Zhuoer Lin’s research focuses on understanding the life course social determinants of (cognitive) aging and how public policy can address racial, ethnic, sociodemographic, and geographic disparities in cognitive health and healthcare. Dr. Lin also assesses the consequences of (cognitive) aging on health decision-making, behaviors, and well-being, as well as the health impacts of longterm care and social security programs for older adults, particularly those with cognitive impairment or dementia. Dr. Lin’s dissertation received Distinction from the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and was awarded the Yale School of Public Health PhD Research Prize for outstanding dissertation research in 2024.
Victor Florez-Garcia is a researcher and educator specializing in public health and epidemiology. His dissertation focused on the impacts of real-world exposure to mixtures of toxic and nutrient metals on child cognition in Mexico City. Victor has been an Assistant Professor at the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia, where he also served as a methodologist and advisor in the Department of Public Health. His research interests include children’s cognition, environmental health, and metal exposure in migrant Latinx communities.
Abhery Das’ research examines mental health and psychiatric service utilization among minoritized communities resulting from policy implementation, exogenous shocks, and inequitable social systems. Her work on institutional racism in the criminal justice system demonstrates how police stops, police killings of unarmed Black Americans, and incarceration result in greater psychiatric help-seeking in the broader Black population. Her future projects include evaluation of policies that reduce racial disparities in policing and incarceration, as well as the mental health consequences of police presence and zero tolerance policies in urban schools.
“What is public health without community?”: Meeting Dr. Meghan Mason
UIC SPH is proud to welcome Meghan Mason, PhD, MPH, as the director of Undergraduate Public Health Programs. Dr. Mason was excited to join UIC because not only were there experienced faculty, thoughtful students, and robust curriculum, but she could see the mission and values of the school come alive in her conversations and interactions with the SPH community. She views her new role as ensuring that the program is “a conduit through which students find their passions and ways to improve the communities around them.”
In the classroom, she helps students translate data into meaningful public health messages. “I enjoy supporting students in overcoming their anxiety around math and statistics,” said Mason. “As students feel more capable of analyzing and interpreting quantitative data, they start to see the ways it brings context to our public health challenges and suggests pathways toward solutions. When they’re able to move beyond reciting the statistics and use them to advocate 38 for policy change and programming that affects their livesthat keeps me excited and committed to my work.”
Dr. Mason is also dedicated to ensuring students have access to educational opportunities that enable them to advance the health and well-being of their communities. “Students struggle with [what is public health] when they come to the program. They ask what kind of job am I going to get? But with a public health worldview, it’s hard to imagine any particular job being fully outside the scope of our discipline. Community engagement is essential to showing students the breadth of public health roles and helping them identify issues and populations that align with their skills and interests. What is public health without community?” Mason shared. Looking to the future, Mason is committed to an inclusive and practical undergraduate curriculum with robust co-curricular programing such as mentorship opportunities and lived experience communities (like first generation college students) to further support the SPH undergraduate student experience.