Meet Our Team
Cheryl Dennison Himmelfarb
Dr. Himmelfarb is committed to reducing health disparities and improving the quality of care and outcomes for cardiovascular patients. She is the Sarah E. Allison Endowed Professor and vice dean for research at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. As deputy director for the Institute for Clinical & Translational Science Research (ICTR), she leads the Community & Collaboration Core and Recruitment Innovation Unit.
Wanda Belle
Wanda is a Baltimore City resident and a Health Insurance Specialist at the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality. She has more than 20 years of experience as a Health Policy Analyst with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. In 2015, she was an NIH Scholar in the Translational Health Disparities Course and a member of the Baltimore Rising Fellows’ inaugural class.
Lee Bone
Lee is an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg with joint appointments in Medicine, Nursing and Arts and Sciences. For many decades, she has worked Johns Hopkins building academic-community-practice partnerships in research, training and service with focus on adults with chronic diseases.
Patricia Carroll
Patricia is a community relations manager at Johns Hopkins Bayview with over 44 years of experience serving the Southeast Baltimore and Baltimore County Region. As a C-RAC member since 2009, she works to educate and increase community participation in research.
Roger Clark
Roger is a healthcare professional with over 20 years’ experience, serving the Greater Baltimore Washington community. As a member of C-RAC since 2009, he uses his leadership skills to integrate community perspectives in research conducted at Johns Hopkins and other academic institutions.
Kim Coleman
Kim is a community health nurse at Suburban Hospital, serving Montgomery County communities with over 20 years of experience in critical/cardiac care. A doctorate in traditional Chinese medicine informs her private practice, which is focused on prevention, mental health, and auto-immune conditions. She is a member of her local Village, volunteering to help seniors age in place.
Crystal Evans
Crystal is a community relations coordinator for the ICTR and has over 20 years of program management and community engagement experience. As a member of the C-RAC since 2009, she works to increase community involvement in education, advocacy, and research activities throughout the greater Baltimore region.
Panagis Galiatsatos
Panagis is an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and director of the Tobacco Treatment Clinic at Johns Hopkins. Panagis leads Medicine for the Greater Good, a curriculum at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center that introduces residents to socioeconomic barriers faced by our patients in hopes to reduce health disparities faced by our community. He is the author of a book series, “Building Healthy Communities,” and has published over 30 research articles.
Larry Gourdine
Larry is a healthcare professional with over 30 years of experience reaching and educating healthcare providers, policymakers, community health advocates, and healthcare consumers. He engages community-based healthcare practices with health information technology integration and patient-centered medical home recognition. As a C-RAC member, Larry uses his professional experience and Larry 10 years of military intelligence training to mentor early career researchers.
Teresa Hall-Cooper, Ed.D.
Teresa is a retired Principal from the Baltimore City Public School System, where she held multiple leadership roles throughout her distinguished 43-year career in City service. In addition to her work in education, she also served as a counselor with the Baltimore City Health Department, and spent 26 years as a part-time Adjunct Professor. Deeply committed to community empowerment, Teresa regularly hosted parent and community forums in Historic East Baltimore, focusing on addressing local concerns and offering professional development tailored to community-identified needs. With a strong interest in research, she frequently shares relevant findings with her family and broader network. Teresa is a passionate advocate for community engagement, emphasizing the importance of providing access to information, resources, and meaningful opportunities for community voices to be heard.
Jennifer Ayana Harrison
Jennifer, known by many as Ayana, is the founder and owner of Ayana Wellness Spa and Educational Resources. She is a Certified Health and Holistic Wellness Coach and Practitioner with over 40 years of experience providing health education and motivational training. Jennifer is devoted to helping people become proactive in the overall care of their health and well-being. Her primary goal is to provide healthcare education and solutions that consider treating the whole person mentally, physically, and emotionally, as well as spiritually. She is a member of the C-RAC Training and Research Collaborations Committee.
Bettye Haskins
Bettye is a motivational speaker for many organizations including AmeriCorps; Literacy Works, Inc.; The Baltimore County Department of Aging; and AARP. She has over 30 years of experience delivering adult education. She recognizes the importance of literacy and the tagline from her email signature speaks to her belief in the importance of literacy: “Democracy cannot exist without a literate population.”
Carolyn V. Henderson
Carolyn is a semi-retired attorney living in Baltimore City. Through her participation in the C-RAC, she gives her voice and efforts to medical research. She considers this work an extension of her family’s legacy.
Janet Johnson
Janet is a Maryland Department of Juvenile Services retiree. She is dedicated promoting the health and education of future generations. As a C-RAC member she works to create forums for community members to be informed, ask questions, and express concerns regarding research.
Cassie Lewis-Land
Cassie is an assistant director at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research with over 20 years of clinical research experience. She is passionate about the need for diverse patient representation in clinical trials to help improve health outcomes for all no matter their gender, background, ethnicity, or lifestyle.
Frederick W. Luthardt
Frederick is a bioethicist and director of the John Hopkins Medicine Institutional Review Board’s (IRB) Compliance Monitoring Program. As a C-RAC member, he works to educate the community about the IRB review process, research participant safety, and respect.
L.A. McCrae
L.A. “Doc” McCrae is a carceral epidemiologist, intersectional qualitative researcher, and addictions clinician. While at Morgan State University, Doc researches the interconnected web of carceral abolition, school pushouts, and trauma. Their doctoral research focuses on the adverse psychosocial determinants of health as drivers for incarceration among Black women in Sandtown-Winchester. Doc works to alleviate adverse health outcomes among historically and demographically marginalized and disenfranchised communities in Greater Baltimore. They also serve as the Chief Clinical Officer of Orange Oasis Healing.
Darcenia McDowell
Darcenia is a 32-year Johns Hopkins School of Medicine employee and she enjoys planning and assisting in many Johns Hopkins initiatives. Some include an annual Community Science Day, science fairs, and a weeklong Fun with Science Camp for elementary school students in East Baltimore. As a C-RAC member, she continues to prioritize health education and inclusivity of underrepresented communities in science. She is influenced by a family who has modeled the idea that we are here not for ourselves but the service of others. A favorite quote is: “A life of service is a life well and greatly lived.” – Omakhuana Anthonia
Brenda Miller
Brenda is a retired educator from the Baltimore City Public Schools with 40 years of service in roles such as professional development instructor, consultant, and parent engagement facilitator. Currently, she serves as the school-based coordinator for Roberta’s House, a family grief support center. She is a family caregiver with over 30 years of caregiving for her father, mother, husband, and son.
Joy P. Nanda
Joy is a community and behavioral epidemiologist with over 40 years of experience in community-engaged research, mentoring and evaluation. He chairs several committees responsible for reviewing grant proposals submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services and evaluates the African-American health program in Baltimore City and Montgomery County.
Pamela Ouyang
Pamela is a cardiologist and Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She developed and directed the Women’s Cardiovascular Health Program at Johns Hopkins until 2019. Her research has focused on evaluating the effects of risk factors and sex hormones on blood vessels and the association between sex hormones and cardiometabolic disease. Dr. Ouyang started the Bayview Community Research Advisory Council in 2011 to enhance communication between researchers and the community. She is currently the faculty Co-Chair of the Community Research Advisory Council of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research.
Janhvi Parsai
As a first-year MSPH candidate at Johns Hopkins University focused on health policy, Janhvi has a passion for injury and violence prevention and adolescent health. She works as a legislative aide, a newborn hearing screening technician, and a teaching assistant. With over five years of clinical and lab experience, she has worked in various medical centers, gaining skills in patient care, service delivery, and time management. Janhvi also has significant leadership experience, having served as president of multiple organizations, which honed her skills in financial planning, communication, and decision-making for large-scale events and volunteer programs.
Tyrone Qualls
Tyrone is a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, lifestyle coach, chronic disease prevention specialist, diabetes educator, heart attack and stroke prevention specialist, CDC Certified Master Trainer Select, and a two-time stroke survivor. As a C-RAC member since 2016, he uses his personal experiences and knowledge to educate the public about preventing chronic diseases and weight loss management, healthy eating, and regular exercise.
Melanie Reese
Melanie is executive director of OWEL (Older Women Embracing Life) and a health advocate. As a member of the C-RAC since 2015, she uses her voice to encourage researchers to include community members throughout the entire research process.
Inez Robb
Inez is a community leader who worked for the Federal Government for 42 years as an IT Specialist with the Social Security Administration. She has been a homeowner in the Sandtown Winchester Community for over 30 years and serves as an active community leader with several organizations, such as the Baltimore Good Neighbors Coalition and the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative.
Marlon Robinson
Marlon is a dedicated sales professional with over 15 years’ experience in the medical sales industry. Marlon keeps his pulse on civic duties by serving his community through his fraternity Omega Psi Phi, Fraternity, Inc. He also serves on the board of the American Heart Association “Young Hearts Board” and an Ohio-based non-profit organization, One Step at A Time.
Ana Rule
Ana is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her main research goal is the development and evaluation of novel sampling and analysis strategies for the assessment of exposure to biological aerosols, e-cigarette aerosols, and particulate matter, which she pursues both through field research and laboratory-based controlled studies.
Tiffany Sanford
Tiffany is a seasoned professional with expertise in talent acquisition, recruitment, program management, and event coordination. With a knack for building and managing marketing campaigns, she excels in budget management, social media campaigns, and grant writing. Passionate about community engagement, Tiffany volunteers with organizations like Make a Wish Mid Atlantic and Goodwill Industries. She’s committed to excellence and connecting people to meaningful opportunities.
Yolanda Savoy
Yolanda is the Interim Chair of and Assistant Professor within the College of Health Professions at Coppin State University. Her research portfolio covers a range of vital topics, including risk factors associated with unintentional injuries among children and the elderly in urban areas, health-seeking behaviors related to COVID-19, the complexities of sexual identity and stigma within African American communities, and psychosocial factors affecting the retention of female students in health sciences programs. Through her multifaceted roles, Dr. Savoy continues to make significant strides in advancing scholarly discourse in public health.
Kelly Sparks
Kelly is the founder and CEO of S.O.N.S. of Phoenix (Saving Others Never Stops). He is a West Baltimore native and works with the Mayor’s Office of African-American Male Engagement. He brings lived experience to the C-RAC. He uses his commitment to transparency and authenticity to help to further C-RAC initiatives.
Michael Thompson
Michael is a community activist. As a member of the C-RAC since 2016, he serves as a conduit promoting Johns Hopkins engagement with the Turner Station community. He provides community input on research projects and shares the findings within the local community.
In Memoriam
Mary Thomas
Mary served as a program coordinator for the C-RAC and the ICTR. She enjoyed working with the C-RAC because it used an all-inclusive outreach to get the greater Johns Hopkins community involved in research and healthy living.
Christine Caufield-Noll
Christine was a medical librarian in the Community Health Library on the Hopkins Bayview campus. As a member of C-RAC since 2011 and a medical librarian, she helped patients find reliable health and clinical trial information.
Marvin Murphy
Marvin was a lifelong resident of historic East Baltimore. As an employee of Baltimore City Public Schools, he worked with children, whom he personally believed to be some of the most honest people he has ever met. As a research participant and C-RAC member, he worked to promote transparency and honesty within clinical research.
