Community & Global Public Health Stream

The Community & Global Public Health research stream explores a variety of factors that affect human physical and mental health. Our research stream collects and analyzes human subjects research data, especially questionnaires, to gain insight into behavior and health. We aim to connect the dots between environmental determinants, individual actions and health outcomes. Students may be involved in ongoing long-term projects on diet, exercise and stress as factors in development of fat, muscle and bone from childhood into adulthood. This stream also provides plenty of opportunities to pose and answer new research questions related to aspects of physical and mental health, coming at important problems from a variety of different angles.

Community & Global Public Health is cross-disciplinary in nature

Public Health

Socioeconomic Status
Political Environment
Psychology
Behavior
Biology
Physical Environment

A key component of the FRI program in Public Health is that students learn to work in teams. Team research empowers a group of individuals to tackle complex problems from different angles. Individuals grow to become their team's experts on specific facets of the interdisciplinary research problem, potentially addressing environmental, political, economic, social, psychological, behavioral and biological aspects of the team research problem. Thus, the Public Health stream provides a great opportunity for students interested in health sciences, psychology, sociology, economics, environmental studies, political science, math and many other fields.

Community & Global Public Health Research Educator

Image: Dr. Jodi Dowthwaite giving a presentation
Dr. Jodi Dowthwaite giving a presentation

Jodi Dowthwaite is the Research Educator for the Community & Global Public Health research stream. She has been performing award-winning research looking at exercise and diet as factors in human growth & development for over 15 years. She has mentored many students along their path to earning advanced degrees (MD, PhD, EdD), with some winning coveted internships and fellowships from groups like the NIH and CDC. FRI Public Health student research includes topics in mental, physical and reproductive health, as well as health disparities. Students have presented at regional and national conferences, including the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Public Health Association. Dowthwaite also teaches in Binghamton’s Master of Public Health program, preparing students for careers in health promotion and disease prevention.