Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein
Lauren is an expert in examining how the criminal legal system impacts people, families, and communities. During the pandemic, she co-founded the COVID Prison Project, one of the only national data projects that tracks and analyzes COVID testing, cases, and deaths in prison systems across the country. She utilized the infrastructure of the COVID Prison Project to recently launch the Third City Project—a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded big data project that tracks and aggregates publicly available health and health policy data from carceral systems. Additionally, Lauren is the PI of several NIH and foundation grants focused on substance use, HIV prevention, and mortality. In 2019, she co-edited a special issue of AJPH that explored how mass incarceration is a socio-structural determinant of health and more recently was invited by the National Academy of Medicine to attend its Annual Emerging Leaders Forum. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, ProPublica, CNN, Science Magazine, and other media outlets. She blends research and policy, which has recently culminated in providing expert consultation to congress relevant to prison standards and data reporting.
Outside of work, Lauren enjoys hosting and winning spades parties. You can often see her at the Durham Hotel with a coffee soda in hand.
Suur Debrah Ayangeakaa
Suur is a behavioral scientist and HIV disparities investigator. Her research interests broadly include psychosocial, socioeconomic, and structural mediators of HIV risk among underserved and minority populations in the U.S. and in Sub-Saharan Africa. Her expertise includes utilizing mixed methods and community-engaged approaches for developing and implementing community- and clinic-based interventions for HIV prevention. Her current research focuses on understanding and addressing multi-level influences on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) awareness, service delivery, and uptake among African Americans, particularly cis-gender African American women.
Suur received her PhD from the University of Louisville and a postdoctoral fellowship from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Cecil Sheps Center for Health Services Research. Outside of work, Suur enjoys cooking, taking nature walks, and traveling.
Kelly Davis
Kelly is a Research Program Leader in the Department of Population Health Sciences. He has over 10 years of project management experience in qualitative and mixed methods data collection, management, and analysis. He has worked on a wide range of research projects focused on health services, implementation science, and medical decision-making. Prior to joining the department, Kelly worked with teams in Duke’s Department of Pediatrics, the Fuqua School of Business, and the Duke Cancer Center’s Behavioral Health and Survey Research Core.
Kelly received his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Guilford College. Outside of work, he enjoys undertaking cooking projects with his wife and is a long-time volunteer at WXDU, Duke’s campus radio station.
Dani Coan
Dani has 4 years of research experience in different topics including working in industrial and systems engineering, specifically in disaster relief and resilience in food banks around North Carolina. She also worked on complex trauma in adolescents, resilience in refugees, and eating disorders in black women. Dani is a co-author of Covid-19 and Binge Eating in Black Women: A Qualitative Study and has published an article on Anorexia in Black Women. She has interests in qualitative analysis, literature reviews, and motivational interviews. Dani is particularly passionate about serving underrepresented populations and creating useful, accessible, and impactful research to help these communities.
Dani graduated from North Carolina State University with a Bachelor's in Social Work and a minor in Theatre. Outside of work she performs in community theatre and works as a Disney princess for children's parties.
Laura Rolke
Laura is a postdoctoral research associate with Duke Center for Childhood Obesity Research. Her expertise is in evaluating, implementing, and disseminating community-based interventions for obesity and chronic disease prevention and management. She has a demonstrated history of working with mixed methodology and patient-engaged research to measure health behaviors and outcomes. Laura completed her undergraduate degree in Biology and Anthropology degree at UNC-Chapel Hill and her Masters in Public Health in Community Health Education at UNC-Greensboro. She completed her PhD in Applied Health Research and Evaluation at Clemson University with a dissertation exploring the child, family, healthcare, and community factors influencing pediatric asthma management.
Outside of work, Laura likes to hike and explore nature. She has visited 30+ state parks in South Carolina while she lived and plans to visit/revisit all of the North Carolina state parks.
Clare Meernik
Claire is a cancer epidemiologist focused on reducing the burden of cancer and improving cancer care delivery and outcomes, particularly among populations who have been socially and economically disadvantaged. Her research interests address cancer outcomes disparities with the goal of improving the patient’s quality of life after cancer.
Claire received her MPH from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and her PhD in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. In her spare time, she likes bike riding.