Our Team
The Administrative Core is led by Drs. Symanski and Whitworth and the MIEHR Administrator is Guanpei Ming. Previously, Dr. Robert Bullard, Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy and Director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University served as Co-Director.
Elaine Symanski, PhD
MIEHR Center Director
Kristina Whitworth, PhD
MIEHR Center Co-director
The MIEHR Research team has diverse expertise in maternal-fetal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, environmental epidemiology, molecular epidemiology, toxicology, molecular biology, bioinformatics, and health disparities.
MIEHR Center Team
The Administrative Core supports efforts to 1) develop the careers of young doctors and scientists who are interested in environmental health disparities research, 2) interact with communities to identify their concerns, seek opinions about Center activities, and obtain feedback on how best to tell residents about what we are doing and why and what our results mean, and 3) conduct environmental health disparities research. The Administrative Core is also responsible for evaluating what we do so that we can make improvements along the way.
MIEHR External Advisory Committee
Center leadership are advised by an External Advisory Committee (EAC). In addition to the Internal Advisory Committee, advice and guidance to the Center are provided by the EAC made up of thought leaders in environmental health disparities with expertise in areas such as analyzing multi-pollutant mixtures and multiple exposures; examining the health impacts of neighborhood social environments; racial and ethnic disparities in maternal and child health; CBPR approaches; and use of “omics” data in environmental health research.
Environmental Health
Latrice Babin, PhD
Director, Harris County Pollution Control
Genomics/Molecular Biology
Eimear E. Kenny, PhD
Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Director, Institute for Genomic Health
Epidemiology
Michael Kramer, PhD
Associate Professor, Emory University; Program Director, Maternal & Child Health Center of Excellence
Obstetrics/Perinatal Health
Tracy Manuck, MD
Associate Professor, University of North Carolina; Medical Director, UNC Prematurity Prevention Program; Perinatal Section Head, Institute for Environmental Health Solutions
Health Policy and Environmental Justice
Peggy Shepard, BA (honorary doctorate)
Co-Founder and Executive Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Community and Environmental Health
Tracey Woodruff, PhD
Professor, University of California, San Francisco
Bioinformatics
Degui Zhi, PhD, MS
Professor, UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics and School of Public Health
MIEHR Community Advisory Board
Our Community Advisory Board (CAB) consists of dynamic, engaged community leaders and environmental health partners, each of whom interact with their communities and provide a different “lens” to view environmental concerns. The MIEHR Research Center CAB plays an important role in determining what, when, how and to whom information and research activities and findings are communicated.
Rev. James Caldwell
Founder/Director, Coalition of Community Organizations
Keith Downey
President, Kashmere Gardens Super Neighborhood Council, #52
Jo Ann Jones-Burbridge
Vice President, Sunnyside Community Redevelopment Organization
Felicia Latson, LCSW-S
Founding Principal & Social Services Consultant, Swallace Advisory Co.
Debra Walker
President, Sunnyside Community Redevelopment Organization