People

Center Faculty

Dr. Cooke Bailey earned her PhD in Molecular Medicine & Translational Science at Wake Forest (2012); she completed postdoctoral fellowships at Vanderbilt (2013) and Case Western Reserve (CWRU, 2016). In July 2023, she left her position as tenure-track Associate Professor and Scientific Director of the CWRU Department of Bioethics Center for Community Health And Genomic Equity (CHANGE) to join the ECU BSOM CHD and Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology. Dr. Cooke Bailey has published over 75 peer-reviewed works; her prior funding includes a PhRMA Foundation postdoctoral fellowship (PI), a Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative (CTSC) KL2 Career Development Award, a CTSC Pilot Award (PI), a BrightFocus National Glaucoma Award (PI), a VA Merit Award (Co-I), and multiple NIH R01s as Co-I and subcontract PI. Her current funding includes a five year, $3.7million NIH R01 (PI).

View Dr. Cooke Bailey’s biography at ECU’s Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology.

Research Scientist

Dr. Antoni Aguilar Mogas obtained his BSc in Chemistry and his PhD in Computational Chemistry from the University of Barcelona (Spain). He then joined a research group at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Spain) where he conducted research on chemical networks, metabolomics, systems biology, and diabetes. In 2018 he was recruited by the Division of Research, Economic Development and Engagement of East Carolina University where he analyzed university performance metrics, studied the US bioeconomy, and designed strategies for sustainable development in the region. Nowadays he carries out his research on public health at the Center for Health Disparities of the Brody School of Medicine at ECU.

Social Research Specialist

Dr. Katherine Jones earned her PhD in Geography at the University of Kentucky, Lexington. She worked for several years as a Policy Analyst at the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency in Raleigh. She joined ECU’s Center for Health Systems Research and Development (now merged into the Department of Public Health) in 2010, where she developed the Health Data Explorer, an interactive web tool for mapping health data. Currently she works on health data projects including the Trends and Disparities in Mortality in Eastern North Carolina report and the North Carolina Statewide Telepsychiatry Program (NC-STeP).

Social Research Specialist

Dr. Satomi Imai obtained her PhD in Psychology from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, and completed her postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL. She first joined ECU’s Center for Health Systems Research and Development in 2005 and later the Department of Public Health in 2016. She now joins the Center for Health Disparities in 2024. Dr. Imai’s research focuses on behavioral risk factors and social determinants of health with the aim of understanding and addressing health disparities in the eastern region of North Carolina. Her current research investigates the topics of youth mental health, perceived racial discrimination, and firearm injury prevention.

Grants Manager

Cheryl S. Denney, CRA is the Grants Manager for the Center for Health Disparities. For questions regarding grant administration, please contact her at waltersc@ecu.edu, 252-737-7178. Cheryl is a member of the Public Health, Oral Health and Health Disparities (POD) Research Administration Hub which manages all pre and post-awards for faculty and staff of the Center for Health Disparities, Department of Public Health, and the ECU School of Dental Medicine.

Administrative Assistant

Tracy Kono is the Administrative Assistant for the Center for Health Disparities. For general questions regarding the Center for Health Disparities, please contact her at konot@ecu.edu, 252-744-5051.

Affiliated CHD Staff

Last Name, First Name	Home Department	School/College
Kinzy, Tyler	Pharmacology & Toxicology	Brody School of Medicine
McIntosh, Briana Lacey	Pharmacology & Toxicology	Brody School of Medicine

Affiliated CHD Faculty

Last Name, First Name	Home Department	School/College	Research Focus	Key Words
Babatunde, Toyin	Nutrition Science	College of Allied Health
Brewer, Michael	Biology	Arts & Sciences
Briley, Patrick	Communication Sciences & Disorders	College of Allied Health	Unraveling the Complexities of Stuttering	Stuttering, Service Provision, Individual Well-being
Burch, Ashley	Health Services & Information Management	College of Allied Health	Investigating Health-related Disparities and Promoting Equitable Access to Healthcare	Community Engagement, Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention, Big Data
Caiola, Courtney	Nursing	College of Nursing	Addressing Social and Structural Determinants of Health for Women at Risk for or Living With Chronic Illness	Maternal/Child Health, Health Equity, HIV, Opoid use disorder
Campbell, Lisa	Arts & Sciences	THCAS	Ethnic Disparities in Pain Conditions and Cancer Outcomes	Psychosocial Pain Management, End-of-life Care
Cofie, Leslie	Health Education & Promotion	Health & Human Performance
Collier, David	Pediatrics	Brody School of Medicine
Cummings, Doyle	Public Health	Brody School of Medicine	Treatment of Hypertension, Diabetes, and Stroke	Rural Health, Access to Care, Health Services Research
Eagan, Sheena	Bioethics and Interdisciplinary Studies	Brody School of Medicine
Ellis, Danny	Business	Business
Farr, Deeonna	Health Education & Promotion	Health & Human Performance
Forbes, Thompson	Advanced Nursing Practice & Education	College of Nursing
Greer, Annette	Interdisciplinary Studies & Bioethics	Brody School of Medicine
Hall, Marla	Public Health	Brody School of Medicine
Irish, William	Surgery	Brody School of Medicine
Kearney, Gregory	Public Health	Brody School of Medicine
Lea, Suzanne	Public Health	Brody School of Medicine
Lee, Joseph	Health Education & Promotion	Health & Human Performance
Maness, Sarah	Health Education and Promotion	Health and Human Performance	Social Determinants of Reproductive Health	Health Equity, HPV Vaccination, Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention
May, Linda	Kinesiology	Heath & Human Performance	Prevention and Treatment of Gestation Conditions for Healthy Pregnancies and Healthy Babies	Maternal Health, Child Health, Pregnancy
Reinsmith-Jones Kelley	Social Work	Health &Human Performance	Equitable Access to Behavioral Health Care	Behavioral Health, Social Work, Interprofessional Care
Richman, Alice	Health and Human Performance	Health & Human Performance	Cancer Health Disparities	Rural Health Equity, HPV Vaccination, Access to Care
Sastre, Lauren	Allied Health Sciences	College of Allied Health	Translation of nutrition science into behavior change	Diabetes Management
Speight, Chandra	Advanced Nursing Practice & Education	College of Nursing	Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Regulation and Access	Medications for Opioid Use Disorder, Rural Health, Advanced Practice Registered Nurses
Van Dross, Rukiyah	Medicine	Brody School of Medicine	Development of Cancer Therapeutics	Colon Cancer, Cancer Chemotherapy, Early Exposure to STEMM
Verbanac, Kathryn	Surgery	Brody School of Medicine	Cancer Health Disparities	Breast Cancer, Translational Research, Immune Responses
Winterbauer, Nancy	Public Health	Brody School of Medicine
Wright, Wanda	Dental Medicine	School of Dental Medicine	Oral Public Health Disparities	Access to Dental Care, Oral Health-related Quality of Life, Geofencing, Community-Academic Partnerships
Yaolin Zhou	Pathology and Laboratory Medicine	Brody School of Medicine	Ensuring equitable distribution of molecular testing resources to underserved populations; teaching and communication of pathology report findings to patients	Precision Oncology, Test Utilization, Molecular Pathology, Patient Communication