Christina McKittrick, Associate Professor of Biology and Director of the Public Health Program
Email: [email protected]
Office: Hall of Sciences 140
Phone: 973-408-3742
Research interest: Neurophysiology
I am interested in exploring how various central neurotransmitter systems are affected by pharmacological and environmental manipulations, and how these changes, in turn, are related to behavior. My research has focused on the biological consequences of stress and the neurochemical effects of drugs of abuse. Recent theories have emerged which suggest that both stress and drugs of abuse activate certain common pathways within the brain, while chronic exposure to either stimulus can lead to long-lasting changes in the responsiveness of these pathways.
Our laboratory examines the effects of stress and drugs of abuse on neurotransmitter release in these pathways and attempts to correlate the neurochemical changes with observable behaviors. Investigation of neurochemical changes in response to these stimuli may provide clues about the neural circuitry underlying the behaviors and physiological states associated with drug addiction and stress-related mental illnesses.
Brianne Barker, Associate Professor of Biology
Email: [email protected]
Office: Hall of Sciences 141
Phone: 973-408-3919
Brianne Barker received her B.S. in Biology from Duke University and her Ph.D. in Immunology from Harvard University. At Drew, she teaches courses in Immunology, Microbiology, Virology, and Emerging Infectious Disease. She also leads the “Health Care and Human Development in South Africa” ShortTREC. Her research involves the immune response mediated by receptors called pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). These receptors bind to unique structures of microorganisms or viruses to induce the activation of immune responses that clear the invader. Specifically, she focuses on understanding how PRR recognition of HIV and related viruses leads to the T cell death and immune dysfunction seen in AIDS and how PRR-induced immune signaling can influence responses to viral infection and nucleic acid vaccination.
Frances Bernstein, Associate Professor of History
Email: [email protected]
Office: 8 Gilbert House
Phone: (973) 408-3542
BIO
Frances Bernstein is associate professor of history at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. She received her doctorate in Russian history from Columbia University in 1998. She teaches courses in Russian and European history, with a special focus on the history of sexuality, history of disease, history of medicine and the body. In 2007 she published The Dictatorship of Sex: Lifestyle Advice for the Soviet Masses (DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2007). She is currently editing a collected volume on the history of Soviet medicine, which will include her article “‘Behind the Closed Door’: The Politics of Doctor-Patient Confidentiality in Early Soviet Medicine.” Her current research focuses on the culture and politics of disability in the Soviet context. Projects include: Empire of Broken Men: Disability and Medicine at the End of World War Two; “The 1937 Trial of the Deaf-Mutes: Purging Disability During the Great Terror”; and “All the Ward’s a Stage: Disabled Veterans and their Doctors in World War Two Health Plays.”
Graham Cousens, Associate Professor of Psychology
Email: [email protected]
Lisa Jordan, Associate Teaching Professor of Environmental Studies and Sustainability and Public Health and Director, Spatial Data Center
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 973-408-3740
BIO
Lisa Jordan is Director of the Spatial Data Center at Drew University. She is also Associate Teaching Professor of ESS & Public Health. Her teaching and research interests focus on the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in environmental justice, public health, and population geography. In particular, her current research explores demographic changes in countries experiencing acute food insecurity. She also led the EPA-Drew University partnership (2013-2015) to promote spatial analytical research of the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), and currently teaches a coursesto support the Civic Engagement curriculum on campus.
Elisaveta Petkova, Assistant Professor of Public Health
Email: [email protected]
Jonathan Reader, Baker Professor of Sociology
E-mail: [email protected]
Office: Gilbert House Rm. 23
Phone: 973-408-3408
BIO
Jonathan W. Reader, Baker Professor of Sociology, has been teaching at Drew since 1980. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology from Comell University, his M.P.A. in Public Administration from New York University, and his B.A. in Government from Cornell University.
He served for two years as an officer in the United States Public Health Service. He has authored or co-authored twenty articles, papers, research reports, reviews and speeches on such topics as community disasters, corporate mergers, the impact of elections on local government fiscal policies, innovations in medical technology, local governments’ strategies for revenue generation, politics of local school districts and substance abuse treatment policy. In 2009, his classic co-authored article “From Art to Corporation: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. and The Cultural Effects of Merger” was included in an edited volume of critical essays,The History of the Book in West:1914-2000, marking the second time it has been included in an anthology on mass communications.
Since 1968, he has done extensive consulting with organizations in both the public and non-profit sectors for more than five decades. His clients have included the City of Indianapolis. Control Data Corporation, Donovan, Newton, Irvine and Leisure, Local 32B & J of the Service Employees International Union, New Jersey Chapter of of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, New Orleans Department of Public Health, Novartis, Palmer Video and Stockton State College. He consulted on and acted in the movie, Meeting the Beautiful People, which debuted to favorable reviews in New York in 1994 and Berlin in 1995. He consulted on Erving Goffman’s influence on the husband in the novel, A Dangerous Husband by Jane Shapiro.
His teaching specialties include classical sociological theory, mass communications, political sociology, sociology of health and illness, sociology of management and the introduction to public health.
His current research interest focuses on the health and illness of U.S Presidents. In 2004, he received the Drew University President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching. He chairs the Sociology Department and directs the Public Health Major.
Phoebe Tang, Assistant Teaching Professor of Political Science
Email: [email protected]
Office: Smith House 301
Phone: 973-408-3437
Phoebe Tang received her Ph.D. in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Southern California in 2018. Before coming to the U.S., she earned her B.A. and M.Phil. in Beijing and Hong Kong, respectively. Phoebe joined Drew as an Assistant Teaching Professor in August 2019 and teaches courses in Comparative Politics, Global Health, and Health Policy.