Bronx Community
Research Review
Board

Monique A. Guishard, PhD (she/her/hers) is a Black Dominican cisgendered woman, born on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands and raised in the South Bronx. Dr. Moe has lived in the Historic District, Fordham, and Morris Heights neighborhoods of the Bx for over 38 years. Guishard is connected to several health/disease communities: systemic food allergies accompanied by eczema and delayed fertility; additionally she cares for family members with diabetes, hypertension, and mild dementia.  Monique is a community social psychologist, an Associate Professor of Psychology and Deputy Chairperson, of the Social Sciences Department, at her alma mater, Bronx Community College (BCC). She is the chair of the Board of Directors of The Bronx Community Research Review Board. Dr. Moe’s relationship to the BxCRRB started in 2012, when she conducted a longitudinal ethnography of their research review process and community engagement activities as part of her doctoral dissertation. As part of a Memorandum of Agreement with The BxCRRB, Monique agreed to assist the board with sustaining its work after the NIH study that funded it concluded. Throughout their collaboration, Guishard has been committed to transferring as much knowledge, about research ethics and public health methodologies, to enable the board (and other community-based entities) to design/conduct research without having to rely on academicians. She was the co-principal investigator of the $250,000 Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Eugene Washington Engagement Award funded Community Engaged Research Academy (#3422). CERA was a community academic partnership between The BxCRRB (Dr. Daniel Korin), The Bronx Health Link (Barbara Hart & Dr. Hal Strelnick) and Bronx Community College. From 2016-2018 CERA created a restorative interstitial Brown educative space designed to nurture research ethics and research methods literacy among Bronx patients and caregivers. In many respects CERA is the afterlife of the board; it helped broaden the scope of The BxCRRB’s work and assisted the board with establishing itself as an independent organization from its fiscal and founding sponsors. Outside of the CRRB, Dr. Guishard has 16-years of experience working in partnership with: young people, parent organizers, aspiring participatory action researchers, and environmental justice advocates—on mutually beneficial research partnerships. Guishard is a board member of: CUNY’s Center for LGBTQ Studies, The Public Science Project’s Critical Participatory Action Research Institutes, The Bronx Community Health Network’s All of Us Project, Weill Cornell’s Clinical Translational Science Award Community Advisory Board, and Bronx Community College’s Social Justice Network. Her work pairs critical theory, lived experience, and robust Black feminist epistemologies to endarken mainstream research ethics paradigms. Centering community-based research ethics, outside of white stream ethics and federal regulations, are critical to Dr. Moe— to redress the trauma and humiliation research has imposed on racialized and marginalized peoples.  Lastly, Dr. Guishard is a co-Northeast Coordinator of the American Psychological Association Division 27, The Society for Community Research and Action. Email is the best way to reach Dr. Guishard: [email protected].

Justin T. Brown, PhD, MPH, (he/him/his), is a Black gay cisgendered man,  originally from southern Ohio. Arriving in NYC in 2004 for graduate school, he’s spent nearly 12 years connected to the Bronx through his work and community engagement. Justin’s taught across the borough at Bronx Community College, Hostos Community College, and Lehman College. He’s been involved in community-based work as an evaluator of community afterschool programs in both the Bronx and upper Manhattan. While working as the Deputy Director of the CUNY Institute for Health Equity, based at Lehman College, he worked on a number of collaborative community projects, including working with various organizations on developing a social service network for the LGBTQIA+ community. Currently, he is Associate Professor and Program Director of the Public & Community Health Program at LaGuardia Community College and Executive Director for CLAGS – the Center for LGBTQ Studies, based at the CUNY Graduate Center. Justin connects to disease communities suffering from eczema, psoriasis, high blood pressure, and all the issues related to year-round environmental allergies. Beyond this, Justin is connected via his loved ones’ battles with various cancer types, heart disease, and diabetes. Justin got involved with the CRRB through Dr. Moe and the CERA project. He served on the CERA team and became connected to the CRRB because of their commitment to Black and Brown communities creating their own health research system within the Bronx and beyond. Research ethics to him means respecting…  Through membership with the BxCRRB, he feels that he’s found community, his people, and gets rejuvenated every time he gets to see the organization in action. Whether it be reviewing a proposed research project or outreaching to the community the BxCRRB is truly “by/for/with people”and unconditionally loves and love is what we need more of in this world.

[email protected] ; website forthcoming

Lucretia E. Jones, Dr, PH, MPH (she/her/hers) is a Black woman and resident of the Longwood section of the South Bronx in the same home she was born and raised in decades ago. It is her love of this community that inspired her passion and activism work on education, equity, addressing health disparities, ethics and community engaged research.

Dr. Jones is an Epidemiologist at the NYC Health Department where she has worked for 28 years and the CEO of Generational Health & Wellness. She was the founding Board Chair in 1994 of a grassroots CBO Mothers on the Move (MOM), a founding Board member of the new CUNY School of Public Health’s Alumni Board in 2014, is currently a board member of the BxCRRB and the Community Engaged Research Academy (CERA), a CERA graduate, on St Margaret’s Church Vestry, and a  Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Ambassador.  Lucretia was so excited when she heard about the BxCRRB and joined because it finally was an opportunity to merge her epidemiology research work with her community engagement work.

Lucretia received her Doctorate from CUNY’s School of Public Health, her MPH from Columbia’s Mailman School, and her BA from Brandeis U. Lucretia is the mother of two adult children, a son teaching in Japan for the past 15years and a daughter living in her 3 family home. Dealing with her family’s health issues has lead Dr. Jones’ interest and experience in health communities such as congenital disorders, childhood asthma, environmental health, Hep C, obesity, elder care, and wellness. Email is the best way to reach Dr. Jones, [email protected]

Michael G Williams LMSW (him/he/his)is a Black man. Mr. Williams for the last 22 years working in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx as a licensed Social worker for the Bronx V.A. Hospital. Michael serves on other organization boards such as  Kidney Foundation, National Association of Social Workers(n.a.s.w.), Board of directors for the Bronx C.R.R.B and Bronx Community College, Auxiliary Corporation Bronx Community College (BCC), Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PICORI) ambassador program, Election Board Worker. Last but not least Mr. Williams a United States Marine Corps Veteran. He served as a Sergeant for the USMC. His interest in combating environmental racism and decolonizing anthropology led them to join the BxCRRB’s mission to shift the culture of health research.

Mr. Williams was born in New York City and graduated from Julia Richman High School.  He attended Lincoln University for one year prior to joining the United States Marine Corp. Mr. Williams was passionate about being the best Marine and soon rose to the status of Marine Corps Drill Instructor. He was honorably discharged in 1995 after 13 years of military service.  Mr. Williams enrolled at Bronx Community College in 1996, where he majored in Human Services as a way to continue his enthusiasm for serving humanity. He entered Lehman College in 1998 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Social Work in 2000.  In his need to increase his knowledge base, he was accepted into the Social Work Masters program at Yeshiva University, earned a Master’s of Social Work degree that specialized in clinical social work practice.

Committed to giving back to his fellow veterans, Mr. Williams began working at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the Bronx as a work-study student.  He later became a paid intern and was eventually hired as a social worker for the Renal/Hemodialysis unit at the Bronx VA Medical Center. In his current position as the Renal Social Worker, he supports the psychosocial functioning and adjustment of patients who have been diagnosed with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and their families.  These services are provided to decrease the social and emotional stressors that are a direct result of the physical and emotional aspects of the disease process, such as altered lifestyle with changes in social, financial, vocational, and sexual functioning; and the demands of a rigorous, time-consuming and complex treatment regimen.  Mr. Williams functions as part of the multidisciplinary team and is responsible for fostering a positive treatment environment with routines that recognize the cultural, religious, and ethnic differences among patients and families

Michael is not only on the board of the CRRB but he is also a graduate of the  2017 CERA cohort and he hopes to enhance his knowledge of ethics and research to share this information and empower others.

Michaellmsw@gmail.com

Jayleecia (she/her/hers) is a Black cis-gendered woman, who has lived in the Williamsbridge section of the Bronx for the past 25 years (and counting!). While she was temporarily out of state for high school and college, she returned to work in the Bronx in 2016, and joined the BxCRRB shortly after. Though she was involved in basic science research at the time, Jayleecia began to grow more curious about research at the human level, and wanted to learn more about the intricacies, history, and ethics of community-based research. She was particularly interested in the BxCRRB’s role in research review, in challenging the power dynamic in the research relationship, and in the sharing back of research results with research participants and their communities. By joining the BxCRRB, and graduating as a student of CERA 2017, she began to gain more information about how she could contribute to these processes. Through the BxCRRB, Jayleecia has developed a greater understanding of the power that lies in providing folks the space to tell their stories, particularly in regards to their health. She hopes that her membership in the BxCRRB will continue to challenge her understanding of what it means to be accountable to the communities we love, serve and are situated in, and what it looks like to fully engage with marginalized populations in all parts of the research process. Jayleecia is currently pursuing her M.D. at Weill Cornell Medical College, and as she navigates her career in medicine, she hopes to draw upon her experiences with the BxCRRB to address health disparities and to meld community engagement with clinical practice. She is affiliated with Prep for Prep, Bronx Community Health Leaders (BxCHL), and the Student National Medical Association (SNMA). She can be contacted via email at: [email protected]

Albert Greene (He/Him/His) is a  Black and African American male. Al represents the South Bronx ‘Historical district” for over 30 years. He joined the BxCRRB at the beginning of 2017 as the project coordinator and webmaster for the BxCRRB and the CERA project. Albert’s educational background is in Sports Management and Health Information Technology. His interest in combatting environmental racism and decolonizing anthropology led them to join the BxCRRB’s mission to shift the culture of health research. Albert’s hope for the Bronx is for residents to fight against prejudices in health through storytelling and community engagement. [email protected]

Jewel Webber-Brown (she/her) is an Afro- Caribbean Bronx resident, a photographer, a website builder, author, and small business owner. She is aware of the many changes in her community and wants to have a say, by taking part in developing solutions. She graduated from Bronx Community College. Jewel is associated with the Bronx Health Outreach, the Bronx NAACP chapter, the Barbuda Relief Network, and Be Soaked In Prayer Ministries. Jewel is passionate about her rights, her loved ones, and nature. She applied to be a part of CERA because she is committed to lifelong learning. She graduated from CERA in 2018. Jewel uses what she learned in the academy to become a better advocate. Jewel also works with the Bronx Times Reporter to photograph and document social issues in the Bronx.

You can reach her at [email protected]

Jewel’s websites are  www.jewjewbeed.com and www.besoakedinprayer.net

Allison L. Cabana (she/her) is a queer mixed descent Latina critical social psychologist. She spent much of her life growing up in California and comes from a family with a mother of Mexican descent and a white father. Allison has lived in New York since 2014, and has worked in the Bronx since 2017 when she began teaching at Bronx Community College. She also currently works at Hostos Community College. Allison is a CUNY Graduate Student, Adjunct CUNY Instructor, and Writing Across the Curriculum Fellow working in different colleges across the CUNY system. Allison was a facilitator at CERA in 2017 and 2018, and learned a great deal about research history, Bronx history, and ethics through attending CERA sessions. She joined BxCRRB because of her commitment to justice and her commitment to de-centering institutionally produced (and hoarded) knowledge as the “only” recognized knowledge. Allison hopes to continue to learn about public health, the history of research and ethics, and how she can be a part of transforming the spaces she is in – at school, at work, and in her communities. Allison is also hopeful to continue to be a part of communities that increase access to everything for everyone and democratize the processes of research and health education – especially for folks and communities who have been historically marginalized. You can reach her via email at [email protected] or [email protected].

Alexandria Sumner (she/her/elle) comes from a multiracial background of Black, Native American, and Afro Caribbean/Latina descent. She was a long-time resident of the Mid-Hudson Valley, NY, and made The Bronx her home in 2007. Alexandria reps the Parkchester and North East region of The Bronx.

She is a Certified Pharmacy Technician with a specialty in clinical pharmacy and managed care. She is also a CASAC-T(credentialed alcohol substance abuse counselor – trainee). She has over a decade of experience as a union delegate with 1199 SEIU HealthCare Workers East, where she started her activism for health care issues. She is also an advocate for Black Maternal Care, which progressed into her becoming a Postpartum Birthworker. She has a passion for Holistic health and believes that with the proper access to nourishment, people can be healed.

She is a Bronx Community College Alumni and is currently completing her Bachelor’s in Community Health with a concentration in Public Health. She plans on pursuing her Master’s in Social Work and Public Health in the near future. Alexandria joined the CRRB after witnessing too many folx, BIPOC, being mistreated by the many who take an oath, to do no harm to them. She hopes to provide impactful insight from a community perspective. She hopes that her membership from the CRRB will gain her resources to better the community. Alexandria is a member of the New York State Council of Health-systems Pharmacist and a PCORI Ambassador. She is a mother of three amazing children, a plant mom, and has a full-service travel agency.

You can reach Alexandria through her email accounts: [email protected] and for travel only: [email protected]

Devin A. Heyward, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) is a Black cis-gender woman who has lived in the Soundview section of the Bronx on and off for the last 16 years. She spent most of her formative years in New Rochelle, NY. Devin has worked at Lehman College as an adjunct instructor in Psychology, as well as the program coordinator for the CUNY Institute for Health Equity (CIHE). Currently, Devin is an Assistant Professor of Sociology, Urban Studies, and Anthropology, the Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and the Director of the Gender and Sexuality Studies program at Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City.

As a patient, Devin is a carrier for Sickle Cell Anemia. Devin first became involved with the CRRB as a CERA facilitator. At the conclusion of CERA 2018, she joined as a member and was eventually elected to the Board of Directors. She hopes that through the work and guidance of the CRRB, researchers will create projects that centers and respects the agency and needs of Bronx residents. Additionally, Devin hopes that ethics are expanded to include cultural and historical understandings of our communities. Her research analyzes how racial identity changes over the lifespan and how it is influenced by self-initiated encounter events, in particular genetic ancestry testing. Prior to joining Saint Peter’s University, Devin taught several courses at The City College of New York, Lehman College, The Fashion Institute of Technology (SUNY), and SUNY Empire State College. She can be contacted at the following email address: [email protected] (website forthcoming)

Marcia Stoddard-Pennant is a Bronx patient, resident, caregiver and advocate who migrated from Jamaica, West Indies and lived in the Northeast section of the Bronx since 2006. She refers herself as someone who goes places where no one wants to go in conversations. Marcia identifies herself as black and gender pronouns are: She/Her/Hers. She is a mother, wife, daughter, sister and aunt who have dedicate herself to the work of Health Education and Promotion giving special focus to pregnant mothers and residents in low income communities. Marcia attends Bronx Community College where she majored in Community School Health and in 2012 entered Lehman College where she pursues both her Bachelors and Masters in Health Education and Promotion. It raises my eye brows to see how little or no information is given in colleges or universities about research. Prior to CERA I worked as a Community Health Worker in low income neighborhoods by educating them on the issues of health that affects them which includes health insurance, the importance of having a primary care physician, how to prepare for their primary care visits and health homes. Current project working on is COVID-19 through Health and Hospital Corporation by supporting staff in reaching their goals in such difficult times, assisting in two local church food pantries in packing and distributing food to community residents.

I applied to be a part CERA because there are other individuals who share the same passion and goals to be better community residents by wanting to do more in making a change in improving health which will happen through research. Marcia will use what she learns in CERA to see the health and well being of members of our communities reaches the point where they are educated about various if not all diseases that affects them and to prevent them before it happens. Having every member being involved in decision making that affects them is another dream I would love to see happen.

Prakriti Hassan (she/her) was a long-time Bronx resident who currently resides in Queens. Prakriti moved to NYC from Bangladesh, and moved to the South Bronx in high school where she lived for more than two decades. Prakriti has been a part of the BxCRRB since 2017 and has worked in various positions across CUNY, the Public Science Project, and in collaboration with community orgs in the Bronx and Manhattan. She has extensive experience and expertise in quantitative and qualitative methods, with a particular emphasis on participatory surveys and participatory analysis of research. Prakriti and her family are Bronx patients who have accessed care across the neighborhood health systems – and she has a dedicated interest in advocating for patients in the Bronx. Ethics in research and healthcare for Prakriti means anti-racist, anti-ableist, and responsive care that addresses the wants and needs of the ACTUAL community members – centering the needs of Black, Brown, and marginalized communities. Her membership in the BxCRRB is an important part of how she offers her knowledge and engagement with research and providers doing work in The Bronx and she is especially committed to reviewing studies. Prakriti is the current Treasurer of the BxCRRRB, Inc and can be reached at [email protected].

Kevin Date (He/Him/His) is Black man of Caribbean descent. He was born and raised in Brooklyn but has much love for the Bronx. He did a semester at the Lehman campus as a Bronx Community College student before enrolling at Brooklyn College, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Business, Finance Management. Kevin, a US Army veteran, has been a patient/employee of the Bronx VA hospital since 2011 and now serves as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer. He is also founder of KYNN Enterprise, a virtual bookkeeping company.

During his college years, Kevin participated in numerous medical research studies with various hospitals and universities in NYC. He believes the CRRB’s mission is righteous and a necessity. Kevin has served as the webmaster for BxCRRB since 2020 and is very humbled to be part of the team. He is motivated to continue to learn and contribute. Kevin can be reached via email at [email protected].

Paulette Spencer (she/her) is a Black American of Jamaican parents. She was born and raised in the South Bronx. Having lived in the Bronx for 39 years, she spent her first 26 years living in NYCHA housing, and then lived in other parts of NYC until returning to the Bronx in 2009. She worked in international public health and social determinants of health for 17 years at an international development agency, while completing graduate degrees in Global Public Health Policy and Management, and International Political Economy and Development from New York University and Fordham University. Her Bachelor’s degree is in English Literature and Music from Queens College. Her work has focused on health policy and qualitative research in perinatal health and maternal mortality domestically and abroad. Her Bronx communities of interest are Fordham, Northeast Bronx and Morrisania, where there are high rates of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, cancer, asthma, obesity and diabetes.

She is currently the Community Engagement Specialist – Policy Analyst at the Bronx Community Health Network, where she — along with community advisory boards — has led programs to improve community health by increasing community-led physical activities in Bronx parks, and fostered community-led candid dialogue between community residents, CBOs and medical researchers, on benefits and trust factors of clinical trial participation for the Precision Medicine-All of Us Research Program. She has co-hosted a radio program on current affairs for a local community radio station. She is affiliated with the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Social Medicine Rounds Committee at Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Friends of Devoe Park and Bronx Parks Speak Up Forum.

She joined the Bronx Community Research Review Board because she wanted to support direct community dialogue and understanding between community residents and researchers throughout the research process, including post-research results, and support other organizations that seek to create their own research review board. She wants to focus on the ethics of informed consent for Bronx communities and the sharing of research results to improve the health of those participating communities.

Paulette can be reached at [email protected].

Jaleesa Baulkman (she/her) is a black cisgender woman born and raised in the Mount Hope section of the Bronx. She’s spent all her life in the Bronx, aside from the four years she lived in New Paltz while earning her bachelor’s in journalism and Black Studies.

She’s currently a content designer/UX writer, but before pivoting to tech she was a journalist. She became a journalist because she enjoys telling stories and analyzing complicated data and disseminating useful information to the public. She’s written and produced content for various print and digital publications, including Norwood News (a local newspaper in the Bronx), PIX11 News, Daily Mail Online, Google, and WebMD/Medscape. 

She joined the Bronx Community Research Review Board because she wanted to be more involved in her community. As a reporter, she spent a lot of time reporting on health studies and surveys. This time around she wanted to take a more active role in her community by helping to assure that research meets the needs of Bronxites.

Jaleesa can be reached at [email protected]

We appreciate and love all of our members. Please check back soon for the bios and photos of our members: Marzetta Harris.