Current Yerby Fellows and Research Associates

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Henri M. Garrison-Desany, PhD, MSPH
Yerby Fellow, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences 
hgarrisondesany@hsph.harvard.edu
Mentor(s): Christy Denckla and Karestan Koenen

Yerby Fellow: 2022 – 

Research Interests: Dr. Henri Garrison-Desany received a PhD in Genetic Epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and holds an MSPH in International Health. Garrison-Desany’s dissertation examined the epigenomic effects of substance use during pregnancy, and the impacts during gestation on child neurodevelopment. Garrison-Desany is passionate about combining social and genetic epidemiological methods to further mental and behavioral health among historically marginalized groups in the United States and globally. As a Yerby Fellow, Garrison-Desany’s research focuses on understanding the relationship between genetic liability and socioenvironmental factors on neuropsychiatric disorders, primarily among African-ancestry and multiethnic communities, through collaborations with the Broad Institute and Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, and the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) consortium.

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Landon D. Hughes, PhD
Yerby Fellow, Department of Epidemiology

lhughes@hsph.harvard.edu
Mentor(s): Brittany Charlton and Sereno Reisner

Yerby Fellow: 2023 –

Research Interests: Dr. Landon Hughes received a PhD in Health Behavior and Health Education from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Hughes’ dissertation examined the effects of stigma on the health and access to health services of transgender people in the United States. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, Hughes combines demographic, epidemiological, and health services methods to examine the health and healthcare utilization of LGBT+ individuals across the U.S. As a Yerby Fellow, Hughes’ research focuses on the aging and healthcare utilization of same-sex couples and their children through collaborations with the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Harvard Medical School.

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Khristopher M. Nicholas, PhD
Yerby Fellow, Department of Nutrition

knicholas@hsph.harvard.edu
Mentor(s): Christopher Golden

Yerby Fellow: 2022 – 

Research Interests:  Dr. Khristopher Nicholas holds a PhD in Nutrition from UNC Chapel Hill, where he employed mixed methodology to examine diet outcomes of food environments in the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador. With a background in food systems research and doctoral training in nutrition science, Nicholas’ research goals are to (a) characterize how ‘where’ shapes ‘what’ we eat and (b) understand the role of human behavior throughout this process. Born in Trinidad and Tobago and raised in South Florida, Nicholas is passionate about food system advocacy both locally and globally, ranging from small island settings in the Galápagos islands and Jamaica to historically excluded settings within the United States such as Black communities in rural North Carolina. As a Yerby Fellow, Nicholas works with Dr. Christopher Golden to explore food system implications in the context of rapidly changing socioecological ecosystems.

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Jake Ryann C. Sumibcay, DrPH, MPH
Yerby Fellow, Department of Health Policy and Management

jrcsumibcay@hsph.harvard.edu
Mentor(s): Howard Koh and Mary Bassett

Yerby Fellow: 2022 – 

Research Interests:  Dr. Jake Ryann Sumibcay received his DrPH in Leadership and Management with a minor in Health Policy from Claremont Graduate University. Sumibcay’s dissertation examined the historical and socio-political context of how structural racism affects the health of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the United States and the Indigenous Māori and Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand. Sumibcay’s research focuses broadly on the health disparities and inequities among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) populations. Sumibcay is interested in understanding the nuances in racial representations of these groups and how these are reflected in public health policy, practice, and research. As a Yerby Fellow, Sumibcay will broadly focus on exploring the ways of advancing health equity, with particular interests in the advocacy of data disaggregation practices and examining the intersections of structural racism and health.

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Sarah S. Zahakos, PhD, MPH
Yerby Fellow, Department of Health Policy and Management

szahakos@hsph.harvard.edu
Mentor(s): Alecia McGregor and Benjamin Sommers

Yerby Fellow: 2022 – 

Research Interests: Dr. Sarah Zahakos earned her doctoral degree in Health Services Research from Boston University School of Public Health. Previously, Zahakos was an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality T32 pre-doctoral fellow and a research fellow at the Institute for Health System Innovation and Policy at Boston University. Zahakos’ research interests focus on the political and legal determinants of health, specifically, those that surround equitable access to quality care. Zahakos’s work draws on a variety of approaches, including legal, qualitative, quantitative, and geo-spatial analyses. Zahakos has published on various health care topics in Boston University’s Online Law Journal. Zahakos’ dissertation examined the forces influencing the financial sustainability and survival of needed urban hospitals. Before pursuing a PhD, Zahakos worked as a health budget analyst at the New York State Assembly Ways and Means Committee. As a Yerby fellow, Zahakos seeks to investigate the disparities that exist in accessing care.

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