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Center for Healthy Youth Development

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Our Team

Leadership

Rebecca Shlafer

Rebecca Shlafer, PhD, MPH
Director
Associate Professor, Medical School
[email protected]
Shlafer Experts@Minnesota

Focus areas:

Developmental outcomes of children and families with multiple risk factors
Programs and policies impacting children and families affected by incarceration

Lynn Bretl

Lynn Bretl, MPP
Youth Advisory Board Program Manager
[email protected]

Focus areas:

Positive Youth Development
Adolescent health promotion
Sexual health education
Youth engagement

Faculty & Staff (alphabetical order)

Jenna Baumgartner

Jenna Baumgartner, MS
Communications and Special Projects Manager
[email protected]

Focus areas:

Health communications
Global adolescent health

Kara Beckman

Kara Beckman, MA
Senior Evaluator
[email protected]

Focus areas:

Restorative justice
Restorative practices
Systems change
Implementation science

Jill Farris

Jill Farris, MPH
Director of Sexual Health Training and Education
[email protected]

Focus areas:

Training and technical assistance
Adolescent sexual health
Sexual health data and trends

Janna Gewirtz O'Brien

Janna Gewirtz O'Brien , MD, MPH, FAAP
Assistant Professor, Medical School
[email protected]
Gewirtz-O’Brien Experts@Minnesota

Focus areas:

Adolescent Medicine
Youth homelessness
Social drivers of health
Adolescent health services

Amy Gower

Amy Gower, PhD
Research Associate
[email protected]
Gower Experts@Minnesota

Focus areas:

Risk and protective factors for adolescent wellbeing
Promoting health equity
Data analysis and evaluation

Barbara McMorris

Barbara McMorris, PhD
Associate Professor, School of Nursing and Medical School
[email protected]
McMorris Experts@Minnesota

Focus areas:

Prevention of risky health behaviors in adolescence
Promotion of health among vulnerable populations
Program evaluation, research methods, and statistical modeling

Ingie Osman

Ingie Osman, MPH
Project Director
[email protected]
Osman Experts@Minnesota

Focus areas:

Intersection of public health and the criminal legal system
Community-based participatory research and community-engaged research
Applied research and evaluation

Katie Pierson

Katie Pierson, MA
Communications Manager
[email protected]

Focus areas:

Systems change
Community-engaged strategic communications
Health equity

Shari Plowman

Shari Plowman, MPH
Senior Evaluator and External Sales Manager
[email protected]

Focus areas:

Adolescent sexual and reproductive health
Youth-related program evaluation
Evaluation capacity building
Evaluation methods and data analysis

Renee Sieving

Renee Sieving, PhD, RN, FAAN, FSAHM
Professor, Schools of Nursing and Medicine
[email protected]
Sieving Experts@Minnesota

Focus areas:

Youth health promotion
Prevention of health risk behavior (sexual risk, violence involvement, school drop-out) among adolescents

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About Us
- About
- Our Team
- Newsletters
- Contact Us
Research
Training
Evaluation
Tools