Elizabeth Dungee-Anderson is a tenured Professor in the Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work at Norfolk State University. She has 30 years of experience in the academy, in clinical practice, and a portfolio of several funded grants from state agencies and civic organizations for which she served as Principal Investigator. She has held previous positions as a tenured Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work, as Associate Dean, and as a tenured Associate Professor at the Wayne State University School of Social Work in Detroit Michigan, and she served as Interim Dean and tenured professor for 3 years at the Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work., Norfolk State University. Dr. Dungee-Anderson has a Ph.D. from Howard University in clinical social work. She is a Certified Trauma Specialist Consultant, and Trainer and owns a private clinical practice with a specialty in developmental trauma and dissociative disorders.

Heather Richter serves as the HRBRC’s Executive Director. Prior to her current role, Heather directed the HRBRC's multi-institutional Digital Neighborhoods research platform. She is an expert in applying computational and geospatial technologies to study the spatial and temporal relationships between determinants of health and patterns of chronic and infectious disease outcomes. Heather has held associate faculty appointments at Tulane, West Virginia University, and the University of Oklahoma. She currently volunteers as one of the founding board members for the Cancer Pain Research Consortium, as a panel reviewer for NIH, and works as a scientific consultant. She has been successfully funded by NIH through R21 and Clinical and Translational Science awards, and, as a veteran of large-scale scientific initiatives, has extensive experience in research design, scientific planning, and administration. Dr. Richter received her Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. from the University of Oklahoma.

Dr. Mary Margaret Gleason is a part of the growing interdisciplinary child mental health team at CHKD. She is trained as a triple-board physician in pediatrics, general psychiatry, and child and adolescent psychiatry, and has specialty training in infant and early childhood mental health. Her main clinical interests are bringing quality mental health care to children wherever they are including pediatric and early intervention settings. Dr. Gleason loves working with any families in pediatric primary care as well as specialty child psychiatry settings. She has specialized training in working with families with children under 6, especially those under stress or who have experienced traumatic or stressful life events. In this age group especially, she primarily uses therapy approaches, although she will work with all ages, especially in the pediatric primary care setting.

Emily Martin is the Program Manager for the Hampton Roads Biomedical Research Consortium, a key affiliate of the Hampton Roads Community Empowerment Alliance, where she manages multi-institutional projects and works with diverse research teams to build partnerships that support the organization's mission to drive health equity and economic strength in eastern Virginia. Emily acts as one of the liaisons between the HRCEA and HRBRC to coordinate initiatives, activities, and operations, and helps manage and support the funding mechanisms of the HRCEA and its associated entities. Prior to joining HRBRC, Emily interned for Sentara Medical Group and worked with administrative and clinical leaders to develop new projects and advance strategic initiatives. Emily conducted her MPH practicum at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, received her Master’s in Public Health, Health Management and Policy from Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS), and received her Bachelor's from the College of William and Mary. A proud native of Norfolk, Emily is passionate about supporting local schools and can often be found out and about playing pickleball, tennis, volleyball, cycling, walking her two English labs, or coaching and supporting middle school sports

Zahyria Temple is the Project Manager for the Hampton Roads Community Empowerment Alliance. She has a master’s degree in social work from Norfolk State University with a concentration in Macro Social Work and School Social Work. She has experience with planning and conducting groups with children in alternative schools, performing socio-cultural assessments, and evaluating non-profit programs.

Emily Hales is the Administrative Specialist for the Hampton Roads Community Empowerment Alliance. She has over 7 years’ experience working with children in a school environment and over 10 years’ experience in an administrative background. She is passionate about helping and working towards providing all children with a strong foundation to lead to a successful happy life.

Yuying Shen is an associate professor of sociology with a concentration on studying health and health care disparities from a sociological perspective. Dr. Shen also serves as the Co-Chair for Division of Health, Health Policy, & Health Services at Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP). Dr. Shen has received funding by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Sentara Health Care Grant, United Negro College Fund (UNCF), International Sociological Association, and GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences. Dr. Shen has rich experiences in investigating the dynamics of health and health care with both quantitative and qualitative data. Dr. Shen’s research in health and health care has been published in leading journals such as Social Science & Medicine, Global Public Health, and so on.

Sharon D. Houston, LCSW is the Director of Ministry with Gethsemane Community Fellowship Baptist Church. She and her husband are founders of this ministry and have served the community for over 30 years. She has served on city and community appointed advisory boards. She is known in the community for her advocacy towards equity, diversity and inclusion for African American and people of color. She has 10 years of experience as an Adjunct Professor with Tidewater Community College in the Human Service Department and is currently serving at Norfolk State University in the Social Work Department where she supervises BSW graduating seniors.

Kevin Jackson is an Assistant Professor of Health Services Management at Norfolk State University. He has a Ph.D. in Health Services, Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration, B.A. in Political Science, and an A.A.S degree in Respiratory Therapy. He has over 20 years of professional experience in the health care industry, serving in leadership and clinical roles. He is a licensed respiratory therapist with experience in both adult and pediatric intensive care.

Dr. Willie Terry Marsh is an assistant professor in the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at Norfolk State University. Originally from Norfolk, Virginia, he earned a BS in Mass Communication and an MA in Media and Communication, both from Norfolk State University. He also obtained a doctorate in Communication, Culture and Media Studies from the Cathy Hughes School of Communication at Howard University. His professional background includes working with CBS/Viacom, where his experience included media sales, audio/video production, voice-over, and public/community relations. He has also worked as a public affairs liaison with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and as a tour publicist with Rowe Entertainment Group (Atlanta, GA), a national concert production company.

Tancy Vandecar-Burdin is the Director of the Social Science Research Center and has more than 20 years of experience with social science research methods including surveys and focus groups. She has a PhD in Public Administration and Urban Policy. She has conducted numerous focus groups/interviews with community members, school personnel, businesses, and parents. She trains the other investigators in methods of qualitative interviewing/focus group facilitation as necessary.

Laura Lang is the Mental Health Research Coordinator at the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters in Norfolk, Va. She is also an instructor at the Eastern Virginia Medical School. She holds a Master of Public Health with concentrations in infectious disease and public health education as well as a certificate in geospatial information systems. She holds a certification as a Certified Health Education Specialist.