Department of Behavioral and Community Health

Ph.D., Health Education, minor in Measurement and Evaluation, University of Toledo, Toledo OH
MS & Ed, Health Education, University of Toledo, Toledo OH
BS in Creative Movement Therapy, University of Toledo, Toledo OH

Courses Taught

HLTH 391: Principles of Community Health I
HLTH 460: Minority Health
HLTH 606: Foundations of Public Health Policy and Education
HLTH 665: Health Behavior I
HLTH 666: Health Behavior II
HLTH 780: Community Health

Research Focus

Campus-community partnerships for health
Minority health
Community based participatory research

Selected Publications (within last 10 years)

Howard, Donna E. , Rao, Chythra R. and Desmond, Sharon M. (2010). Borrowing From the East to Strengthen the West: Merging Public Health Case Studies of Community-Based Service-Learning Practices From India and the United States, Journal of Community Practice, 18: 2, 336 - 360

Atkinson NL, Desmond SM, Saperstein SL, Billing AS, Gold RS, Tournas-Hardt (2010). Assets, Challenges and the Potential of Technology for Nutrition Education in Rural Communities. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, Vol. 42 (6), 410-416.

Atkinson, N.L., Saperstein, S.L., Desmond, S.M., Gold, R.G. Billing, A.S., Tian, J. (2009). Rural eHealth Nutrition Education for Limited-Income Families: An Iterative and User-centered Design Approach. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 11(2):e21. URL: http://www.jmir.org/2009/2/e21/HTML

Galbraith JS, Stanton B, Boekeloo B, Winifred K, Desmond S, Howard D, Black MM and Carey JW (2008). Exploring implementation and fidelity of evidence based behavioral interventions for HIV prevention: Lessons learned from the focus on kids diffusion case study. Health Education and Behavior Vol. 36 (3): 532-549 (June 2009).

Recent Grants (within last 7 years)

Prince George's County Health Department, Needs and Strengths Assessment of Suitland, MD, Principal Investigator

Career Highlights

Founding member and co-chairperson of the Seat Pleasant-University of Maryland Health Partnership
More than 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals
Experienced teaching community service classes
Undergraduate and graduate student mentor