Melody Goodman

Education:

Ph.D.,  Biostatistics (major), Theoretical Statistics (minor), Social Determinants of Health Disparities (minor), Harvard University (2006)
S.M., Biostatistics Harvard School of Public Health  (2003)
B.S., Applied Mathematics-Statistics, Economics (double major), Stony Brook University (1999)

Academic Interests:

• Statistical methods to analyze data from community-based interventions and health disparities research.
• Community based participatory research; theory, practice and implementation.
• Forging community-campus research partnerships and community based public health practice.
• Examination of social, lifestyle and behavioral risk factors that contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in preventable and manageable chronic illness. 

Honors, Awards & Affiliations: 

New York State Minority Health Council, Appointed Member (2010-2015)

Academic Co-Chair, Presentation and Publications Work Group Community Based Public Health Caucus, American Public Health Association (2010)

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Connections Research & Coaching Clinic,American Public Health Association Annual Research Meeting Travel Stipend (2007,2008,2009)

The President’s Award for Excellence in Team Achievement,Stony Brook University, SARAS Team(for exemplary creativity and collaboration across departmental lines and for demonstrating that the achievement of the whole is greater than the sum of its parts) (2008)

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drum Major Leadership Award, Hollywood Baptist Cathedral, Proclamation from Suffolk County Executive (2007)   

Distinction in Teaching Award, Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health {(2002-2003), (2004-2005), (2005-2006)}

Provost Award for Academic Excellence, SUNY at Stony Brook (1999)

New York State Assembly Citation, Commitment to academic excellence (1995)

Research Activities & Projects:

Community Alliance for Research Empowering Social Change(CARES)

The Center for Public Health & Health Policy Research in collaboration with Literacy Suffolk Inc. received a grant from National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Trust Initiative to develop the Community Alliance for Research Empowering Social Change (CARES). CARES is an independent community based research partnership designed to work with communities utilizing the principles of Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) to examine and address the social and behavioral risk factors that impact population health outcomes for chronic illness on Long Island. The key elements of CARES are to train community representatives to serve as the bidirectional conduit between the Long Island community and Stony Brook University researchers. The specific aims of CARES are to:

1. Unite key community stakeholders to improve health outcomes by pooling member resources into one comprehensive community based research network
2. Enhance the community’s knowledge and understanding of research
3. Build the infrastructure for community-based participatory research that explores and addresses community health concerns
4. Develop culturally appropriate interventions
5. Create a pool of trained community members that can serve on the institutional review boards and community research advisory boards
   

NICHD         1R03HD061220            2008-2011

Role: Principal Investigator

Think Tank

In April 2010 the Long Island Think Tank for Black Progress (formerly the Think Tank for African American Progress-Long Island) held a solution-focused national convening of multi-disciplinary researchers, community activists, policymakers, and thought leaders to discuss solutions and strategies to implement solutions for challenges confronting black communities.  Information from the convening will be developed in a strategy brief; a policy and program-relevant document, which captures the collective genius of the program participants.

The Think Tank is a strategic initiative designed to invest in new leadership and empower black communities throughout Long Island.  The key activities of the Think Tank are: 

• Support and train new leaders through the Black Girls Youth Leadership and Empowerment Summit
•  Organize Long Island black communities to become social change agents at the Solution Focused Think Tank
  
• Develop a Strategy Brief that outlines the strategic plan to address identified needs and improve the health and economic conditions of Black communities on Long Island.

In 2010, the Think Tank is addressing the question “What is the Future for Black Girls?”, in the following thematic areas:

• Obesity
• Mental Health
• Sexual Health
• Gang violence and the criminal justice system

The Think Tank seeks solutions to challenges confronting Black girls on Long Island. This project is funded by grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Verizon Foundation, and Long Island Community Foundation.

Role: Project Director

National Human Genome Research Institute Sub-contracts

Intramural Researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health subcontracted the Center for Public Health & Health Policy Research to conduct a two phase research study.  

• Study design
• Survey instrument development
• Data collection
• Data management
• Data analysis

Phase 1: Beliefs about Herditability of Disease and Health Behaviors among Community Health Center Patients

HHSN268200700217P      2007-2008
HHSN268200800383P      2008-2009

Phase 2: Reactions to Messages about Heritability of Disease and Health Behaviors among Community Health Center Patients

HHSN268200900232P      2009-2010

• Study design
• Survey instrument development
• Data collection
• Data management
• Data analysis

Participants were recruited from waiting rooms in the Suffolk County Department of Health Services Family Health Centers.

Role: Project Director

Witness Project of Long Island

The Witness Project® of LI is culturally competent, community-based breast cancer awareness and education program designed to meet the specific cultural, educational, and learning style levels of African American women, and the medically underserved communities in which they reside. The Project is an outreach program of the Stony Brook University Cancer Center in cooperation with the Center for Public Health and Health Policy Research in the University’s School of Medicine.  

Through programs that are generally presented in churches and other community non-threatening environments, the Project’s trained volunteers, (African American women from communities of Long Island who are breast cancer survivors and others concerned about the health of their communities), encourage the increased participation in breast cancer screenings, demonstrate the practice of breast self-examination (BSE), and place emphasis on the importance of the obtainment of mammography when deemed appropriate because of age, family history, or an abnormal finding during BSE, and advise about the benefits of annual clinical breast examinations (CBE).  Through peer education and support, the women inform others about the disease and refer resources for accessing critical breast cancer screening services to underserved women.

Role: Faculty Director 

Select Publications: 

Melody Goodman. Comparison of Small-Area Analysis Techniques for Estimating Prevalence by Race. Preventing Chronic Disease 2010; 7(2)

Taira BR, Meng H, Goodman M, Singer AJ. Does time of admission influence outcomes in burn patients? Burns: Journal of the International Society of Burn Injury 2009; 35(8):1092-1096.

Fowler-Brown, A., Bennett, G., Goodman, M., Wee, C., Corbie-Smith, G., James, S. Psychosocial Stress and 13-year Body Mass Index Change in Blacks: The Pitt County Study. Obesity 2009; 17(11): 2106–2109.

Carolyn Gallagher and Melody Goodman. Hepatitis B triple series vaccine and developmental disability in US children aged 1-9 years. Toxicology & Environmental Chemistry 2008 Sep; 90(5):997-1008.

Melody Goodman, Yi Li, Gary Bennett, Anne Stoddard, and Karen Emmons, An Evaluation of Multiple Behavioral Risk Factors for Cancer in a Working Class, Multi-Ethnic Population. Journal of Data Science 2006 July 4:291-306.

Bennett, G.G., Wolin, K.Y., Goodman, M., Samplin-Salgado, Carter, P., M., Dutton, S., Hill, R., Emmons, K.M. Attitudes regarding overweight, exercise, and health among Blacks. Cancer Causes and Control. 2006 Feb; 17:95-101.