The 2022 Health And… Safe and Stable Housing conference features distinguished speakers who work to expand knowledge and understanding of the field.

Amanda Misiko Andere, MPA
CEO
Funders Together to End Homelessness

Ms. Andere has worked for more than 20 years in the nonprofit and public sector as a leader committed to racial and housing justice through advocacy for transformational change. Prior to joining Funders Together to End Homelessness, she was CEO of Wider Opportunities for Women. Currently, she serves as board chair of the United Philanthropy Forum and board member of Equity in the Center and the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers. Ms. Andere is a founding member and on the leadership team for the National Racial Equity Working Group on Homelessness and Housing and the National Coalition for Housing Justice. She also serves on the Leadership Council for the DC Partnership to End Homelessness.

Sheryll Cashin, JD, MA
Author, White Space, Black Hood
Law Professor, Georgetown Law

Professor Cashin is an author and the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law, Civil Rights, and Social Justice at Georgetown University. She currently serves as board member of the Poverty and Race Research Action Council and is a former vice chair of the board of Building One America. Professor Cashin was a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and Judge Abner Mikva of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and worked in the White House during the Clinton administration as an advisor on urban and economic policy. In 2017, the Fair Housing Justice Center honored her with the Acting for Justice Award for Outstanding Contributions to Civil Rights. Professor Cashin is the author of many books, including White Space, Black Hood: Opportunity Hoarding and Segregation in the Age of Inequality; Loving: Interracial Intimacy in America and the Threat to White Supremacy; and Place Not Race, which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Nonfiction in 2015. She is a three-time nominee for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for nonfiction and has written commentaries for Politico, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Salon, The Root, and other media.

Matthew Desmond, PhD
Maurice P. During Professor of Sociology
Princeton University

Dr. Desmond serves as director of the Eviction Lab at Princeton University. He is the author of four books, including Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (2016), which won the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award, Carnegie Medal, and PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction. Dr. Desmond’s research focuses on poverty in America, city life, housing insecurity, public policy, racial inequality, and ethnography. He is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award, and the William Julius Wilson Early Career Award. He is a also a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and was listed in 2016 among the Politico 50, as one of “fifty people across the country who are most influencing the national political debate.”

Kelly M. Doran, MD, MHS
Assistant Professor, Ronald O. Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine and
Department of Population Health
NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Dr. Doran is the director of the Health x Housing Lab in NYU Langone’s Department of Population Health. She also works as an emergency physician at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue. Dr. Doran’s research focuses on homelessness, substance use, and how healthcare systems can better address these and other social determinants of health. She previously served as a senior advisor to the New York State Department of Health on novel efforts to use Medicaid to fund supportive housing and has been an invited panelist at the National Academies of Science on the topic of social determinants of health. Her research has been published in journals including Health Affairs and the American Journal of Public Health, and she co-edited a recently published textbook, Social Emergency Medicine: Principles and Practice. She has been active in homelessness-related work since serving as a director at a student-run homeless shelter as an undergraduate. Learn more about Dr. Doran.

Vonetta Dudley, MA
Director
NYC Smoke-Free at Public Health Solutions

In her role at NYC Smoke-Free at Public Health Solutions, Ms. Dudley works to end the devastating tobacco epidemic and protect the health of New Yorkers through tobacco control policy, advocacy, and education. She joined the team in 2014 as a youth engagement manager working with local youth, helping to empower them, developing their advocacy skills, and nurturing them into strong student leaders for their community. She previously worked at Urban Health Plan, Inc. as a health educator for the Adolescent Health Center and was also the program coordinator for the pediatric department program Fit for Life, where she spearheaded an infant-toddler obesity prevention program. She is a certified health education specialist and has been trained in grassroots organizing through Midwest Academy. Her goal is to teach community members and residents how they can live longer and healthier lives by becoming advocates of their own health.

Jacob Faber, PhD
Associate Professor, Sociology and Public Service
NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service

Dr. Faber holds a joint appointment in NYU's Department of Sociology. His research and teaching focuses on spatial inequality. He leverages observational and experimental methods to study the mechanisms responsible for sorting individuals across space and how the distribution of people by race and class interacts with political, social, and ecological systems to create and sustain economic disparities. While there is a rich literature exploring the geography of opportunity, there remain many unsettled questions about the causes of segregation and its effects on the residents of urban communities, wealthy suburbs, and the diverse set of places in between. Dr. Faber has also worked as a senior researcher for the Center for Social Inclusion. Learn more about Dr. Faber.

Akhgar Ghassabian, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Departments of Pediatrics and Population Health

Dr. Ghassabian’s research agenda includes identifying environmental exposures that contribute to the etiology of developmental disabilities and psychopathology. Her work in observational epidemiological studies has shown adverse effects of maternal thyroid mild hormone insufficiency on various aspects of children's cognitive and behavioral development and examined the role of autoimmunity, iodine deficiency, and environmental toxicants as underlying factors. Prior to joining NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Dr. Ghassabian was the Intramural Research Training Award Fellow at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. She is the recipient of the Rubicon Award from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research in 2014, the Robin/Guze Young Investigator Award from the American Psychopathological Association in 2019, and the NARSAD Young Investigator Grant from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation. Learn more about Dr. Ghassabian.

Alisahah Jackson, MD
System Vice President, Population Health Innovation and Policy
CommonSpirit Health

Dr. Jackson is a strong advocate for health equity, believing everyone should be able to achieve great health, no matter what they look like, how much money they make, or where they come from. Her work runs the gamut from developing health equity plans for underserved communities to building solutions to address substance abuse and support behavioral health and maternity care. Dr. Jackson completed her residency in family medicine at Carolinas Medical Center, where she received the Bryant L. Galusha Intern of the Year Award and served as co-chief resident. Since completing medical school, she has held leadership roles including medical director of a rural health clinic and chair of the Department of Family Medicine. She was named the first chief community impact officer at Atrium Health where she established its Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health strategy. Dr. Jackson joined CommonSpirit Health in 2020 as its first system vice president of population health innovation and policy, with responsibilities for strategy development for underserved populations, health equity, and innovative care delivery models.

Pascale Leone, MA
Vice President of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
CSH

Ms. Leone has 20 years of experience in developing, implementing, and evaluating public health initiatives aimed at reducing and preventing racial, ethnic, and gender-based health disparities at the local, state, and national level. At CSH, Ms. Leone works to foster and promote a diverse and inclusive work environment and ensure the organization’s accountability and commitment to equitable outcomes. She joined CSH as a senior program manager in 2013 on the Metro Team (New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania) working on state and local initiatives to expand access to supportive housing for underserved populations with complex physical and behavioral health needs. In 2017, Ms. Leone was promoted to associate director where she oversaw the region’s health policy. Prior to joining CSH, Ms. Leone was senior manager of Smokefree Communities at the American Lung Association. Prior to that, Ms. Leone managed the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health program and capacity-building grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce breast and cervical cancer health at the Black Women’s Health Imperative.

Antoine Lovell, PhD, MSW, MPA
Member of the Advisory Committee, Health x Housing Lab
Postdoctoral Scholar/Congressional Policy Associate, Research2Policy
Doctoral Candidate, Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service

As a doctoral candidate at Fordham University, Mr. Lovell’s dissertation explores the perception of the future for emerging adults in the New York City Housing Authority. Specifically, his study sought to understand the connection, if any, between multiple generations of family members in public housing and future orientation. Mr. Lovell is an intervention researcher and has a keen interest in understanding how social policy impact underserved populations. His professional experience includes work with legislatures and advocacy on behalf of homeless populations, workforce development, and preservation of affordable housing. Mr. Lovell graduated from NYU Silver School of Social Work and is an entering Provost Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice.

Cari Olson, MPH
Assistant Commissioner, Bureau of Environmental Surveillance and Policy
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Under Ms. Olson’s leadership, the Bureau of Environmental Surveillance and Policy's multidisciplinary team works to influence environmental health policies and programs through innovative health surveillance, legislative and regulatory action, and informatics across topics ranging from air quality to child care regulation. Ms. Olson and her team have been leading multifaceted efforts to combat the health impacts of climate change via healthcare system investment, community resiliency, and healthy housing initiatives, including efforts to address energy insecurity. Building on more than 15 years with the department, she has developed expertise in the effective use of health data to inform public health practice through collaboration with academic, community, and government partners.

Lorna E. Thorpe, PhD, MPH
Professor, Department of Population Health
NYU Grossman School of Medicine

In addition to her role as a professor, Dr. Thorpe is director of the Division of Epidemiology and vice chair for strategy and planning in the Department of Population Health. She directs NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s Epidemiology PhD Training Program and leads the Investigator Development Core of a National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities U54 Center of Excellence. She has mentored many pre- and post-doctoral fellows, and junior faculty. Dr. Thorpe’s research focuses on chronic disease prevention and management, centering on designing and implementing population health studies to assess leading causes of disease among disadvantaged populations and to investigate approaches to alleviate disparities. She leads several National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)–funded research initiatives and a CDC-funded Prevention Research Center. As a prior deputy commissioner of epidemiology at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, she has direct experience in public health practice, including during emergencies. Learn more about Dr. Thorpe.

Adrianne Todman
Deputy Secretary
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Deputy Secretary Todman currently serves as the 12th deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). She is the first Black woman to hold this position. As deputy secretary, she joins Secretary Marcia Fudge in leading more than 7,000 HUD employees in expanding housing opportunity for Americans in every state and territory. Throughout her career, Deputy Secretary Todman has prioritized improving people’s lives and strengthening our communities.

Prior to her most recent tenure at HUD, she served as CEO of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO), where she helped advance the interests of 20,000 housing and community development agencies that serve 8 million people across America. Before joining NAHRO, Deputy Secretary Todman was the executive director of the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA). At DCHA, she increased homeownership opportunities for families of modest means; expanded DC’s supply of affordable housing; and implemented a national, award-winning model to house veterans experiencing homelessness. Deputy Secretary Todman previously served in various career positions at HUD. She was manager of a $500 million grant competition focused on the redevelopment of distressed public housing sites, and subsequently served as a policy aide in both the Office of Public and Indian Housing and the Office of the Secretary.

Rajesh Vedanthan, MD, MPH
Associate Professor, Departments of Population Health and Medicine
NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Dr. Vedanthan is the director of the Section for Global Health at NYU Langone Health. He is a physician-scientist who is internationally recognized for his contributions to improving global cardiovascular health and health equity. Dr. Vedanthan’s areas of interest include implementation science, global health delivery, global cardiology, capacity building, and the intersection of health and development. He serves as the principal investigator or co-investigator of multiple global health–related National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants and has been continuously supported by NIH grants. He has mentored and supervised more than 60 trainees, leading to several abstracts, publications, and research awards including several AHA Student Scholarships in Cardiovascular Disease recipients, as well as multiple Fogarty Global Health and T32 Fellows. Learn more about Dr. Vedanthan.

David Zuckerman, MPP
President
Healthcare Anchor Network

Mr. Zuckerman has been leading the Healthcare Anchor Network since its launch in 2017 and serves as the executive director of the network. He is a national thought leader on the role of health systems as anchor institutions in building community wealth and inclusive economic development. He serves on the Board of Trustees for the Consumer Health Foundation, including previously as treasurer. Mr. Zuckerman co-authored several reports that have helped propel forward the anchor mission movement, including the “Hospitals Aligned for Healthy Communities” toolkit series. He is also the author of “Hospitals Building Healthier Communities: Embracing the Anchor Mission” and a contributor to “Can Hospitals Heal America’s Communities?” He is the lead author of a discussion paper, “Building a Culture of Health at the Federal Level” and a contributor to the 2020 Surgeon General’s Report on “Community Health and Economic Prosperity.” Mr. Zuckerman has been an invited speaker at key sector events to promote the anchor mission movement including World Health Organization, American Hospital Association, and Association of Academic Health Centers.