People
Co-Director – George Rust, MD, MPH, FAAFP, FACPM
Dr. Rust trained at an urban public hospital in Chicago, led clinical services at a migrant & community health center in Central Florida, and founded the National Center for Primary Care at the historically-black Morehouse School of Medicine. He has won many awards for teaching, research, & service, and has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. Throughout his career he has sought to build bridges between primary care and community health and population health equity.
Co-Director – Jeff Harman, Ph.D.
Dr. Harman, a health economist and health services researcher, joined the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine at the Florida State University College of Medicine in 2015. After working for several years as a mental health counselor, he received his Ph.D. in Health Services Research. His research explores utilization and expenditures of health services, with an emphasis on the impact of health policies on outcomes, costs, and services for vulnerable populations, such as individuals with limited incomes and individuals suffering from mental illness and addiction.
Founding Director – Dr. Les Beitsch, M.D., FACPM
Prior to joining the College of Medicine, Dr. Beitsch held numerous leadership positions in public health, including Dr. Beitsch was Commissioner of Health for the State of Oklahoma, serving in that capacity from June 2001 till November 2003. Before that time he held several positions within the Florida Department of Health for 12 years, most recently Deputy Secretary. He is the recipient of numerous awards in public health, including the Florida Public Health Association Presidential Award and the CDC Exemplary Service Award.
Affiliated Faculty
Claudia Blackburn, RN, M.P.H., Community Engagement and Research Consultant
Administrator, Leon County Health Dept, Tallahassee, FL.
Claudia Blackburn recently retired from a 40+ year career in Public Health. Her roles included Women’s Healthcare Nurse Practitioner, followed by 35 years in local public health leadership in three states, most recently the Florida Department of Health in Leon County. Over the course of her career, she modeled adaptive leadership to guide the local public health response to HIV/AIDS, 9/11 bioterrorism and two pandemics (H1N1 and COVID). She currently provides community engagement consultation to BSSM researchers.
Joedrecka Brown-Speights, M.D.
Associate Professor, Dept. of Family Medicine
FSU College of Medicine
Joedrecka S. Brown Speights, M.D., is Professor and Chair, Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health at the Florida State University College of Medicine. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and fellowship-trained in maternal child health (MCH). She is the 2018 recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Distinguished Service Award by the Florida State University. Her experience includes serving as the medical director of the National Community Center of Excellence in Women’s Health, Office of Women’s Health, Department of Health and Human Services at Turley Family Health Center (USF Morton Plant Mease Family Medicine Residency), where she practiced full-scope family medicine including operative obstetrics, and global health.
Samantha Goldfarb, Dr.PH., M.P.H.
Assistant Professor FSU-COM BSSM
Dr. Goldfarb joined the FSU College of Medicine in 2015 as Research Faculty in the Department after graduating from University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health with a Doctorate of Public Health (DrPH) in the Department of Health Care Organization and Policy. Dr. Goldfarb’s degree holds a concentration in Maternal and Child Health Policy, and her research is focused on these issues, particularly as they relate to the life course perspective which holds that there are a complex set of risk (e.g., stress, perceived discrimination) and protective (e.g., education, mental health counseling) factors that impact individuals’ health throughout their life span which must be addressed for optimal prevention of poor health outcomes.
Katelyn Y Graves, Ph.D.
Research Faculty FSU-COM BSSM
Dr. Graves has a background in demography and sociology, with an emphasis on biosocial health. She has experience with a broad range of demographic and statistical analyses, utilizing software programs such as Stata and SAS. She is well-trained in analyzing secondary data sets such as Medicare and Medicaid claims data. She is involved in several program evaluations aimed at assessing public health programs and improving population health for the state of Florida.
Heidi Kinsell, Ph.D.
Research Faculty FSU-COM BSSM
Dr. Heidi Kinsell has a Ph.D. in health services research, with specialized training in state health policy evaluations, and a background in public health. Her research focuses on analysis of health outcomes for vulnerable populations as well as examining cost and utilization data and health policies to improve access to care, quality of care and population health. She is experienced in evaluating programs and policies for state agencies, with a focus on behavioral health. Additionally, Dr. Kinsell has experience in research in substance use policies and substance use outcomes as well as using quantitative methods and assessing secondary data, including Medicaid claims, large national datasets, and longitudinal data.
Megan Deichen Hansen, Ph.D.Assistant Professor FSU-COM BSSM
Dr. Megan Deichen Hansen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine at Florida State University’s College of Medicine. As a social worker and health services researcher, Dr. Deichen Hansen uses innovative methods for dismantling perinatal inequities within US healthcare settings. Through this work, she aims to 1) understand mechanisms that promote perinatal inequities; and 2) develop and implement interventions to achieve health equity in perinatal outcomes. Her work is aimed at advancing research that achieves health equity for perinatal women by identifying structural inequities and addressing systemic barriers to quality care via health service intervention development and implementation. Her research to date has included numerous first-authored, peer-reviewed publications and presentations, including work that has contributed to ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) best-practice guidance and individual practice-based training and education. In her role as a perinatal health equity researcher, she has collaborated on and lead numerous community-engaged research projects, designed to advance our understanding of end users’ healthcare needs and to subsequently advance related patient outcomes.
Karen Geletko, MPH
Research Faculty
FSU-COM BSSM
Mrs. Geletko joined the FSU College of Medicine in September 2005 after several years of experience in both the public and private sectors. Mrs. Geletko specializes in planning and conducting research projects in the intersecting areas of medicine and public health, tobacco prevention and cessation, preparedness and public health, and performance management and workforce development in public health. Mrs. Geletko’s research is focused on addiction, particularly as it relates to tobacco dependency in persons with behavioral health conditions, adolescents and novel tobacco products. Mrs. Geletko is also the lead facilitator for a statewide learning collaborative focused on tobacco policy and service integration in behavioral health organizations.
Affan Ghaffari, Ph.D.Research Faculty II FSU-COM BSSM
Dr. Ghaffari is a specialized research faculty currently working on projects associated with substance abuse policy (CDC-funded Overdose Data to Action) and provision of family planning services (Florida Family Planning Services) at FSUCOM. For all these projects, he has been involved in survey instrument development, quantitative data analysis, conducting qualitative interviews, and performing qualitative data analysis. He was previously at Columbia University School of Nursing involved in research relating to nurse practitioner (NP) organizational climate and workforce outcomes along with the validation of existing survey instruments relating to NP organizational climate and errors of care omission within primary care. His doctoral training took place at Texas A&M School of Public Health and his dissertation involved application of the Relational Coordination instrument in different healthcare contexts. He has a broad background in health services research, with specific training and expertise in instrument development, survey data analysis, qualitative methodology, and qualitative data analysis.
John Moore, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor FSU-CSW
Dr. John Moore is an Assistant Professor in the Florida State University College of Social Work. His research focuses on identifying key determinants of substance use behavior change to enhance interventions promoting recovery and well-being, particularly among individuals with comorbid serious mental illness and those involved in the criminal justice system. His work also involves exploring risk factors for substance use and engagement in other health risk behaviors among understudied populations. He also investigates factors that encourage healthy behaviors and healthcare utilization among those affected by substance misuse.
Jessica Day, MPH
Research Scientist
FSU-COM BSSM
Jessica Day joined the Florida State University College of Medicine in November 2023. Prior to joining the College of Medicine, she held various positions with state public health agencies in Florida and worked with programs including the Title XXI Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Title X Family Planning Program, and the Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant. She has experience in research, data management, project coordination, and contract management. She received her Master of Public Health with a concentration in Health Policy from Florida State University in May 2023.
Lisandra Torres Aponte, Ph.D.
Immokalee Health Education
Lisandra Torres Aponte, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist in Florida. Dr. Torres Aponte graduated in 2019 and completed her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the Ponce Health Science University in Puerto Rico. In 2019, Dr. Torres Aponte moved from Puerto Rico to Florida to complete a postdoctoral fellowship in health psychology with an emphasis on Primary Care with the Florida State University College of Medicine, Immokalee Site. She completed clinical rotations in the pediatrics, women's health, and family clinics. Dr. Torres Aponte was a pediatric behavioral health provider at Healthcare Network for 2 years. During this time, she provided behavioral health services to the underserved population of Collier County and its neighbors. In 2023, Dr. Torres joined Florida State University College of Medicine as an assistant professor. Dr. Torres is part of the Center for Child Stress and Health (Immokalee, FL), primarily conducting research and overseeing projects. She also teaches medical students and postdoctoral fellows in health psychology. Dr. Torres continues to provide behavioral health services to underserved populations at Lee Community Health Center. Her clinical and research interests include children and maternal mental health, health equity, underserved populations, and chronic health conditions.