Darigg Brown, Ph.D. (2009-2011)
Taleria R. Fuller, Ph.D. (2004-2006)
Tanisha S. Grimes, Ph.D. (2009-2011)
Kirk D. Henny, Ph.D. (2004-2006)
Darrel Higa, Ph.D. (2009-2011)
Gladys Ibanez, Ph.D. (2002-2004)
Yzette Lanier, Ph.D. (2009-2011)
Khiya J. Marshall, Dr.PH, MPH (2007-2009)
Carolyn P. Parks-Bani, Ph.D. (2007-2009)
Carla E. Stokes, Ph.D, MPH (2004-2006)
Carols Toledo, Ph.D. (2002-2004)
Scyatta A. Wallace, Ph.D. (2002-2004)
Lari Warren-Jeanpiere, Ph.D. (2007-2009)
Kim Williams Ph.D. (2002-2004)
Leigh A. Willis, Ph.D, MPH (2007-2009)

Darigg Brown, Ph.D. (2009-2011)

Dr. Darigg C. Brown received a PhD in Biobehavioral Health from the Pennsylvania State University, an MPH from the Saint Louis University and a BA in Environmental Health from the University of Georgia. He is currently involved in a number of activities in the Prevention Research Branch, where he divides his time between the Intervention Research Team and the Research Synthesis and Translation Team. Dr. Brown lends his expertise to the Preventing African-American Transmission of HIV/AIDS among Heterosexual Men (PATHH4Men) Project by providing feedback on intervention component testing and curriculum development to funded grantees. He also shadows project officers and receives training on duties related to a recent Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for 12 cities to develop Enhanced Comprehensive HIV Prevention Plans (ECHPP). These duties include advising grantees on plan development, collaborating with staff from other branches in DHAP, and synthesizing literature on required and recommended HIV prevention strategies. Dr. Brown provides support for a recently launched Jail-based Integration Project that seeks to reduce HIV/STI transmission and increase hepatitis screening and vaccination. Another major component of Dr. Brown activities is a systematic review he is conducting with a team of other branch staff. It involves synthesizing and coding relevant intervention literature related to HIV medication adherence and will result in a published meta-analysis. In addition to these activities, Dr. Brown is also co-authoring a manuscript on HIV transmission among commercial sex workers based on their interactions with commercial truck drivers in the U.S.

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Taleria R. Fuller, Ph.D. (2004-2006)

Dr. Taleria R. Fuller earned a Ph.D. in Medical Sociology from Wayne State University, a M.A. in Sociology from Wayne State University, and a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Her experience has focused mainly on the mental, reproductive, and sexual health of women and adolescents. Previous experience focused on HIV prevention among communities of color, including a study examining HIV knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among African and African American adolescents and young adults. As an ORISE fellow, Dr. Fuller provided scientific expertise, leadership, and technical assistance for the CDC-funded Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Intervention (DEBI) project. She worked on female-focused DEBI HIV prevention interventions including: Sisters Informing Sisters about Topics on AIDS (SISTA), Sisters Informing, Healing, Learning, and Empowering (SIHLE), Women Involved in Life Learning from Other Women (WILLOW), and the Real AIDS Prevention Project (RAPP). Presently, Dr. Fuller is a Health Scientist with the CDC Division of Reproductive Health, Adolescent Reproductive Health Team (ARH). She serves as a Project Officer for the Teenage Pregnancy Prevention: Integrating Services, Programs and Strategies through Community-Wide Initiatives cooperative agreement. The purpose of this initiative is to demonstrate the effectiveness of innovative, multi-component, community-wide initiatives in reducing rates of teen pregnancy and births in communities with the highest rates, with a focus on reaching African American and Latino/Hispanic youth ages 15 – 19. Dr. Fuller also serves as lead for the Adaptation Guidance for Reproductive Health Programs project and the ARH Equity Workgroup. In addition, she continues to mentor and provide support to CDC interns and fellows.

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Tanisha S. Grimes, Ph.D. (2009-2011)

Dr. Grimes earned a PhD in Health Promotion and Behavior from the University of Georgia College of Public Health, an MPH from Emory University Rollins School of Public Health and a BA in English and Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a fellow in the Program Evaluation Branch where she assists CDC scientists with the development and implementation of a protocol for conducting an outcome monitoring study with 3 Community Based Organizations (CBOs) funded by CDC to deliver the community level HIV prevention intervention Mpowerment. In that capacity, she guides the development of the data collection tools and protocol using the Questionnaire Development System (QDS) and provides technical assistance to sites on QDS and in conducting outcome monitoring and evaluation activities. Dr. Grimes also participates with CDC scientists in the data collection and dissemination of the Adaptation and Implementation of Mpowerment (AAIM) focusing on the adaptations of the Mpowerment intervention. Finally, she also collaborates with senior Branch leadership on the submission, review and tracking of manuscripts submitted for the special supplement on Monitoring and Evaluation of HIV Counseling, Testing, and Referral and HIV Testing Services in AIDS Education and Prevention.

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Kirk D. Henny, Ph.D. (2004-2006)

Dr. Kirk D. Henny earned a Ph.D. and MA in Sociology from Howard University, and BS in Sociology from James Madison University. Dr. Henny’s research experience is primarily in mental health, particularly among HIV-seropositive populations. Dr. Henny held positions at several institutions including Mathematica Policy, Inc., University of Texas-San Antonio Medical Center, and National Center for Children in Poverty of Columbia University. As an ORISE fellow, he researched topics on community-based HIV prevention and intervention initiatives including the Health and Housing project and Epidemiological Aid Investigations on HIV Incidence in Prisons. Currently, Dr. Henny is a scientist in the Prevention Research Branch where he serves as Co-Project Officer for the “HIV/AIDS Risk Reduction Interventions for Heterosexually-Active African-American Men” study – a multi-site cooperative agreement funded to support the development and pilot testing of novel interventions targeting at-risk heterosexual African-American men. Additionally, he was invited and served as facilitator of the Heterosexual Transmission Breakout Group for the CDC, NIH, HRSA co-sponsored Research Consultation to Address Intervention Strategies for HIV/AIDS Prevention with African Americans and for the NHBS-HET Cycle Principal Investigators’ Meeting, Behavioral and Clinical Surveillance Branch, DHAP. Further, he has presented at numerous scientific meetings and his publication record includes a first author book chapter on Interventions for African American Heterosexual Males (in press), and a lead scientist role on a systematic review of HIV behavioral interventions for African American heterosexuals. The review is the first to be conducted in African American heterosexually-active males and publication of the results will make significant contributions to the literature. Finally, Dr. Henny was recognized with four awards in 2009 for his exceptional contributions to Public Health through special duties activities. These awards are as follows: two NCHHSTP Director’s Awards for his collaborative work on an HIV EpiAid Investigation in Jackson, Mississippi and for his contributions to a workgroup that developed HIV Testing Guidelines in Correctional Settings; and CDC/ATSDR Award and NCHHSTP Center Award for his work on systematic reviews conducted by the Prevention Research Synthesis Project Team.

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Darrel Higa, Ph.D. (2009-2011)

Dr. Darrell Higa earned a PhD in Social Welfare from the University of Washington, and a MSW and BA in Psychology from the University of Hawai’i. Dr. Higa is a current fellow and his work in the Prevention Research Branch focuses on men who have sex with men (MSM), African American MSM, and Asian and Pacific Islander (API) populations. He is leading a systematic review of U.S. HIV prevention intervention studies for men who have sex have sex with men (MSM) that did not meet PRS efficacy criteria. He will be presenting the findings from the review in a poster presentation at the American Public Health Association conference in November 2010. With the African American MSMW (men who have sex with men and women) project, Dr. Higa is assisting three project sites with refining a cross-site baseline survey instrument and developing site-specific HIV prevention interventions. He is also co-authoring of a paper on the sexual behaviors of African-American MSM with transgendered partners using data from the African American MSM testing project. Additonally, Dr. Higa is collaborating with PRB and other CDC staff to increase and share information on HIV-related issues confronting API communities. In this effort, he is co-authoring several papers including a systematic review of HIV prevention with APIs, HIV prevention in Pacific Islands jurisdictions, and research issues and API communities.

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Gladys Ibanez Ph.D. (2002-2004)

Dr. Gladys Ibañez received her PhD in Community Psychology from Georgia State University in 2002. Shortly after receiving her doctorate, she was awarded the ORISE HIV and Communities of Color Post-doctoral Research Fellowship at CDC DHAP. During her 2-year fellowship at CDC, her research primarily focused on drug-using and men who have sex with men (MSM) populations. For example, she was part of the INSPIRE study, a multi-site intervention for HIV-positive injection drug users to reduce sexual and injection risk behaviors. She also published findings from the SUMIT project regarding sexual risk among MSM. Her research interests include HIV prevention in communities of color, particularly Latino populations, drug use research, and youth. She is currently an associate scientist at the University of Delaware’s Center for Drug and Alcohol Studies (CDAS) conducting research studies on prescription drug use among various drug-using populations in the Miami area, including gay men and elderly and treatment populations. She serves as a co-investigator on two NIDA-funded studies at CDAS involving African-American heterosexual women at risk (“Women Protecting Women”), and another project examining the diversion of HIV medications in South Florida.

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Yzette Lanier, Ph.D. (2009-2011)

Dr. Yzette Lanier earned a Ph.D. and M.S. in Developmental Psychology from Howard University, and a B.S. in Psychology also from Howard University. Her previous research experience, which has been published in several peer-reviewed journals and presented at various professional conferences including the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Association of Black Psychology (ABPsi), focused on risk and resilience in people of African descent, primarily Black youth. Her dissertation examined the protective role of racial identity in the relationship between contextual stress and psychosocial adjustment among African American middle school students. As an ORISE Fellow, Dr. Lanier works on several projects aimed at reducing HIV-related health disparities. She is currently conducting qualitative and quantitative analyses to assess the effectiveness and utility of a sexual history taking instrument in increasing the number of HIV/STD screenings administered to African American male patients during routine medical visits. She is also working on a manuscript highlighting the importance of developing and training Black and Hispanic investigators to conduct HIV/AIDS prevention research in communities of color. Additionally, she is working on a project with the DC Department of Health (DC DOH) exploring correlates of HIV infection among Black women living in the District of Columbia. Preliminary findings from this work were recently presented at the 2010 American Psychological Association Convention in San Diego, CA.

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Khiya J. Marshall, Dr.PH (2007-2009)

Dr. Khiya Marshall earned a Dr.PH and an MPH from the University of North Texas Health Science Center- School of Public Health in Social and Behavioral Sciences and Community Health, and a B.A. in Sociology from Spelman College. Her interests include racial/ethnic health disparities and HIV/AIDS among minority populations with emphasis on women and adolescents. As an ORISE Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Marshall provided expertise for the Micro-enterprise Project, which examined micro-enterprise as an HIV prevention intervention for impoverished African American women living in the southeastern United States. Additionally, she led and completed a qualitative review that examined the risk and protective factors associated with sexual-risk behaviors among African American youth and identified evidence-based HIV interventions for dissemination in a book chapter. Dr. Marshall also worked on the Transit TV Project for African American adolescents, and she co-authored several scientific papers, including meta-analytic reviews focusing on African American women, African American heterosexual men, and HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States. Dr. Marshall is presently a behavioral scientist in the Prevention Research Branch in the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention and her current work includes co-leading the development of evaluation criteria to evaluate all the U.S.-based HIV medication adherence interventions. She is also leading a systematic review and meta-analysis examining HIV medication adherence interventions.

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Carolyn P. Parks-Bani, Ph.D. (2007-2008)

Dr. Carolyn P. Parks-Bani came to the ORISE Fellowship with almost 20 years of teaching, research and practice experience at the university level as a community health education specialist. Dr. Parks-Bani earned a Ph.D. in health education from The University of Tennessee at Knoxville, an M.S. in health education from Western Illinois University, and a B.S. in biology from Wheaton College (IL). Her community research and practice has focused on the development, implementation and evaluation of grassroots health promotion and disease prevention strategies for African-Americans, disadvantaged and poor populations, and other groups of color. Her areas of expertise include: health promotion through African-American churches; community assets mapping; community-based public health research and practice; empowerment education; exploring the health impacts of the "strong Black woman" phenomenon; the development of culturally relevant health education materials, programs, and research instruments; and barriers to health communication and health care services provision for groups of color and low socioeconomic populations. As an ORISE Fellow, Dr. Parks-Bani served as an active member of the SISTA (Sisters Informing Sisters about Topics on AIDS), SIHLE (Sisters Informing, Healing, Learning, and Empowering), and WILLOW (Women Involved in Life Learning from Other Women) Diffusion Team and the Science Application Team of the CDC DHAP Capacity Building Branch. SISTA, SIHLE and WILLOW represent the three major CDC-funded HIV/AIDS DEBI interventions for African-American women. Specifically, Dr. Parks-Bani developed the instrument and procedures for the administration of a training evaluation for the over 350 national community based organizations that have sent staff to be trained in the SISTA Intervention. The evaluation also assessed implementation readiness and the technical assistance needs for SIHLE and WILLOW as the two newest interventions for African-American women. In addition, Dr. Parks-Bani: conducted extensive reviews of all diffusion materials associated with the SISTA, SIHLE and WILLOW interventions; participated in the SISTA Training of Trainers (TOTs) and Training of Facilitators (TOFs), and the pilots of the SIHLE and WILLOW Interventions; and conducted and/or moderated various workshops and presentations on HIV/AIDS in the African-American community and the role of faith communities in HIV prevention. Dr. Parks-Bani continues her work in the Capacity Building Branch as a Senior Service Fellow serving as the lead Behavioral Scientist on interventions that target African-American women (Sister to Sister) and women living with HIV (WILLOW), as well as exploring HIV prevention strategies for African-American churches.

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Carla E. Stokes, Ph.D, MPH (2004-2006)

Dr. Carla Stokes earned a Ph.D. and an M.P.H. from the University of Michigan in Health Behavior and Health Education and a B.A. in Psychology from Spelman College. She is particularly interested in racial/ethnic health disparities, Web-based research and interventions, and how the media and hip hop-influenced popular culture affect the health and well-being of young women and girls. Carla’s dissertation research examined the intersection of hip hop, youth culture, sexuality, and identity in social networking profiles constructed by black adolescent girls residing in southern states with the highest rates of HIV/AIDS among black Americans. Her dissertation won honorable mention in the 2004 University of Michigan Distinguished Dissertation Awards competition, where it was recognized for exceptional and unusually interesting scholarly work produced by a doctoral student. Prior to receiving her doctorate, Dr. Stokes developed and taught undergraduate courses on black women’s health and representations of black women in hip hop culture for the University of Michigan Department of Women's Studies. She has also designed, implemented, and evaluated sexual and reproductive health programming in school and community settings and provided program evaluation services to ethnic minority community-based organizations addressing the HIV/AIDS and substance abuse treatment and prevention needs of people of color, women, and youth. As an ORISE fellow, she analyzed longitudinal data to investigate further the ways in which black girls use media and hip hop culture to negotiate their sexuality and construct identity online. Dr. Stokes is the president and founder of Helping Our Teen Girls In Real Life Situations, Inc. (HOTGIRLS), an Atlanta-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health and lives of young women and girls in underserved communities. She is also the Chief Empowerment Officer of Dr. Carla LLC, a health education, life coaching, and self-empowerment company that serves youth, girls, parents, and girl advocates.

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Carols Toledo, Ph.D. (2002-2004)

Carlos Toledo received his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia in Child and Family Development in 2001. As an ORISE fellow, Carlos was assigned to the Program Evaluation Branch (PEB) in DHAP, where he currently works as a health scientist. In PEB, Dr. Toledo worked on a number of projects including the evaluation of Program Announcement 01163, "HIV Prevention Projects for Community-Based Organizations Targeting Young Men of Color Who Have Sex With Men,” the evaluation of the Minority AIDS Initiative, and several other Branch evaluation activities. In 2006, he was accepted into the International Experience and Technical Assistance (IETA) program where he completed field assignments in Zambia and Thailand. Through the IETA program, Dr. Toledo worked on projects examining HIV infection and risk behaviors among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Zambia, Thailand, and Laos. He also completed a detail in the DHAP Office of the Director serving as an Associate Director for MSM Disparities in HIV/AIDS. Currently, he is a scientist in the Center for Global Health, Division of Global HIV/AIDS, Country Operations Branch.

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Scyatta A. Wallace, Ph.D.  (2002-2004)

Scyatta A. Wallace, Ph.D., received her doctorate in Developmental Psychology from Fordham University and her BA in Psychology from Yale University. Dr. Wallace completed an ORISE Communities of Color fellowship in 2004,. For her fellowship, she worked in the Epidemiology Branch under the mentorship of Kim Miller, Ph.D. As part of the fellowship, Dr. Wallace assisted with the Parents Matter! Project, a longitudinal multi-site HIV preventive intervention for over 1000 Black American parents of pre-adolescents. Dr. Wallace is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at St. John’s University in Jamaica, New York. She has received funding from NIH, CDC and several foundations. She is currently a principal investigator on a 4-year study funded by CDC. The objective of the study is to develop culturally tailored and gender specific health education materials that promote HIV testing among low income heterosexual young adult black men recently released for jail/prison. Dr. Wallace is Chair of the American Psychological Association,Committee on Psychology and AIDS.

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Lari Warren-Jeanpiere, Ph.D. (2007-2009)

Dr. Lari Warren-Jeanpiere earned a Ph.D. and an M.A. in sociology from Wayne State University, and a B.A. in sociology from Hampton University. Her research expertise includes racial/ethnic health disparities, women’s health, the social construction of African American sexuality, and intergenerational sexual health communication within African American families, particularly related to mothers and daughters. She has published and presented scientific findings at several professional and lay conferences, including a Minority Health Disparities Panel at the 2006 National Newspapers Publishers Annual Convention regarding these research areas. Prior to becoming an ORISE Fellow, Dr. Warren-Jeanpiere was a research associate/project coordinator in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at Wayne State University, where she worked with an interdisciplinary group of practitioners and researchers to assess the health literacy and health information needs of a medically disadvantaged, inner-city population. As an ORISE Fellow, Dr. Warren-Jeanpiere is analyzing qualitative and quantitative data regarding the HIV/AIDS Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors (KAB) among students attending Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU). Her analyses focus on the socio-structural factors which influence the sexual decision making of African American HBCU students. In 2008 Dr. Warren-Jeanpiere was designated as a Health Disparities Scholar by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) based on her commitment to becoming an independent HIV/AIDS investigator in order to combat the HIV/AIDS crisis in the African American community. Dr. Warren-Jeanpiere is currently an independent consultant providing health education services to families and adolescents regarding HIV prevention and adolescent preventive sexual health care. She is co-developing a program to increase intergenerational family sexual health communication among African American families in Baltimore, Maryland.

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Kim Williams Ph.D. (2002-2004)

Dr. Kim M. Williams earned a Ph.D in Medical Sociology from Howard University, an MSW in planning and administration from The Ohio State University and a BS in Social Work from Morgan State University. Her clinical experiences have been in the areas of mental health counseling and case management. As an ORISE Postdoctoral Fellow she designed and implemented a study that examined the use and provision of HIV/AIDS and STD services to young women at risk for infection. She also served as a consultant on a wide range of behavioral intervention research projects and workgroups, providing both scientific and technical expertise. Dr. Williams is a Behavioral Scientist in the Prevention Research Branch in the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. Her current work includes leading projects focused on prevention for HIV positive and at risk women in the Southern U.S., and developing prevention interventions for African American heterosexual men. Additionally, Dr. Williams was selected for a detail in the NCHHSTP Office of Health Equity.

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Leigh A. Willis, Ph.D, MPH (2007-2009)

Dr. Leigh A. Willis earned a Ph.D. in Medical Sociology and an M.P.H. in Health Behavior from the University of Alabama, Birmingham and a B.A. with Department Honors in Sociology and Human Services from Albion College. Specifically, his research focuses on the sexual risk of heterosexual African-American men and adolescents. He has presented and published in all of these areas. As an ORISE Community of Color Fellow in the Prevention Research Branch he engaged in preventing the epidemic by : 1) leading a meta-analytical review of parent-child communication interventions; 2) by providing technical assistance on the Intervention Research Team (IRT) as a project consultant on the Preventing African American Transmission of Heterosexual HIV Project (for Men) (PATHH 4MEN), Groundbreaking Interventions Project (Transgender and Heterosexually Active African-American Men, Transit TV (African-American Youth); 3) as a team member on the Replicating Effective Programs (REP) Team for Project AIM, an intervention for which he was an original interventionist;. Dr. Willis currently is a behavioral scientist with the MARI (Minority HIV/AIDS Research Initiative) Team. His current research projects focus on social determinants of HIV among communities of color, HIV prevention among youth and African-American heterosexual Men and the use of media (traditional, social and new media) to prevent HIV/AIDS.

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