Research Team
Itzhak Yanovitzky, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Itzhak Yanovitzky (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania) is Professor of Communication (primary appointment) and Public Health (secondary appointment) and Chair of the SC&I Health and Wellness Faculty Cluster at Rutgers University. He is an expert in the areas of behavior change communication, public policymaking, translational research, and program evaluation. Professor Yanovitzky’s program of research explores effective mechanisms for facilitating use of evidence in policy and practice and building the capacity of communities to apply communication strategies and tools to promote population health. He has an extensive experience partnering with collaborators across academic disciplines and sectors to address a range of public health problems, including most recently efforts to address the opioid epidemic and the rising toll of youth depression and suicide. Professor Yanovitzky is the immediate past chair of the Health Communication Division of the International Communication Association and a member of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Standing Committee on Advancing Science Communication.
Charles Senteio, Ph.D.
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Charles Senteio’s research focuses on improving health outcomes and patient wellness for vulnerable, minority patients through technology-enabled solutions that facilitate health information flow. A mixed methods researcher, his insights from health informatics develop and enhance innovative, scalable approaches to care delivery, with an emphasis on community-based research. Dr. Senteio has more than two decades of experience in healthcare, serving as a strategic adviser to hospital systems across the U.S. and internationally interested in improving health outcomes and reducing the cost of care. His ongoing work describes ways to enhance the health information exchange between patients and providers. He has published investigations to explain how physicians perceive that patients disclose sensitive health information and how physicians use that information to make care decisions. He has also published work describing approaches for using technology to provide health information to medically underserved populations. Dr. Senteio’s extensive healthcare education, strategic evaluation and program execution skills, community-based research experience, and research using mixed methods, position him well to serve as a PI for the PH3D project.
Gretchen Stahlman, Ph.D.
Co-Principal Investigator
Gretchen Stahlman is an Assistant Professor in the School of Information at Florida State University. She previously served as Assistant Professor of Library & Information Science at Rutgers University. Gretchen earned her Ph.D. degree from the University of Arizona School of Information in 2020. Her current research interests broadly include scholarly and science communication, scientific information lifecycles, and the sociotechnical systems supporting research infrastructures, resources, and data management. The overall purpose of Gretchen’s present and future work is to inform open science and scholarly communication initiatives, as well as development of methods, services, and infrastructures for long-term information management and responsible data science. With more than 10 years of prior professional experience related to librarianship and information management, she has also worked in an academic library, and as a documentation specialist for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope construction project.
Miriam Kim
Project Coordinator
Miriam Kim is a graduate of Rutgers University-New Brunswick with a BA in Information Technology & Informatics and English. She has previously assisted Drs. Stahlman and Yanovitzky on a RWJF-funded project that mapped and assessed the current landscape of research and practice on public health data dashboards. She is a co-author of several peer-reviewed publications outlining the methodology developed by the team and key research findings. Miriam currently serves as Project Coordinator on a new RWJF-funded project that continues to expand this work with additional research support and technical assistance responsibilities.
Justine Quow
Research Assistant
Justine Quow is in the fourth year of her Ph.D. program at Rutgers University School of Communication and Information. Justine is advised by Professor Itzhak Yanovitzky. Her research interests are health communication and community engagement. Specifically, her scholarship aims to bridge health systems and underserved communities through community engagement.
Jeongone (Joh) Seo
Research Assistant
Jeongone (Joh) Seo is a Ph.D. student in Library and Information Science at Rutgers University, working as a research assistant for Professors Itzhak Yanovitzky and Gretchen Stahlman. With a background in social work, Joh explores the intersection of communication, technology, and community health. Her research uses digital tools to facilitate evidence-based practices in community healthcare settings. Joh is particularly interested in building community capacity to use communication strategies to promote population health. By combining social work, communication, and information science principles, she aims to develop innovative approaches to address public health challenges. Joh aims to contribute to effective, evidence-based solutions for healthier communities, aligning with translational research and program evaluation methodologies.
Rachel Horvath
Research Assistant
Rachel Horvath is a third-year Ph.D. Candidate at Rutgers University Department of Political Science advised by Dr. Katherine McCabe. Rachel earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Psychology at Lycoming College in Williamsport, PA. Her research interests include social media and politics, with specific interests in social media as a non-traditional news source and a venue for social movement activism. Utilizing quantitative and computational research methods, Rachel seeks to understand the diverse partisan media landscape on social media.
Anna Kareeva
Research Assistant
Anna Kareeva graduated from Rutgers Business School with a master’s degree in Computer and Information Science and a concentration in User Experience Design. She has extensive experience as a Business Analyst and in other product-related roles. She will work with Gretchen Stahlman on this project and utilize her prior skills in user experience and design.
Adiva Khan
Research Assistant
Adiva Khan is in her third year at Rutgers University majoring in Political Science and double minoring in Economics and Critical Intelligence. She began conducting research through the Lloyd C Gardner Fellowship where she began working with Professor Charles Senteio on her project discussing how artificial intelligence is able to perpetuate racial bias in the healthcare sector. She is also working with Charles to investigate the feasibility of international research collaboration. Adiva’s interests in research stem from her active participation in IMUNA and IDIA- two Model United Nations nonprofit organizations- where she has been able to research pertinent global issues such as human and drug trafficking and collaborated with individuals to discuss and craft solutions. By combining her passions for diplomacy, public policy, and social equity, Adiva aims to advance approaches to addressing public health challenges with a nuanced approach.