Research Day 2025 Just Research: Promises and Pitfalls

DeJuan Patterson Related Seminars and Products

DeJuan Patterson is a social impact strategist, community research advisor, and equity advocate committed to bridging the gap between academic research and real-world impact. As the founder of The Bridge Advisory Group, he designs community-driven engagement strategies that help institutions, policymakers, and organizations translate research into action for social good. His expertise spans public health equity, workforce development, youth leadership, and participatory research, ensuring research is ethical, culturally responsive, and beneficial to Communities. As a Community Advisor for the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy’s Community Think Tank on Research, DeJuan collaborates with researchers and stakeholders to develop trust-based, participatory research frameworks that prioritize lived experience, community ownership, and equity. He has advised universities, philanthropic organizations, and healthcare institutions on best practices for community-centered research and social impact strategy. His work centers on ensuring that research is not extractive but instead fosters reciprocity, power-sharing, and tangible benefits for the communities being studied. As a thought leader on ethical research and knowledge equity, DeJuan has presented at national conferences, led workshops on inclusive research practices, and developed tools to help institutions shift from transactional community engagement to transformational partnerships. 

Shawna Murray-Browne, LCSW-C Related Seminars and Products

Kindred Wellness

Joan Davitt, PhD, MSS, MLSP Related Seminars and Products

Joan Davitt, PhD, MSS, MLSP, is an Associate Professor & Hartford Geriatric SW Faculty Scholar at the University of Maryland, School of Social Work. Dr. Davitt has worked for over 35 years in the field of gerontological social work as a practitioner, teacher, and research scholar. Dr. Davitt has broad social work experience with a focus on advocacy and policy practice. Their research interests focus on the intersection between policy and practice and the impact on older adults’ ability to age in community with a particular focus on disparities in access to and outcomes of community-based care. Dr. Davitt’s research has been supported by the National Institute on Aging, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the John A. Hartford Foundation, the New York Community Trust, and the Andrus Foundation, among others. Dr. Davitt is currently PI on a Training and Evaluation contract with the Maryland Department of Human Services, Office of Adult Services. This project supports the Office of Adult Services in promoting continuous quality improvement through staff training and program evaluation. Dr. Davitt was a Health & Aging Policy/APSA Congressional fellow from 2012-2013, a 2005-2007 John A. Hartford Foundation Faculty Scholar, and is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America. Dr. Davitt’s scholarship has been published in a wide variety of peer-reviewed journals including those in social work, medicine, nursing and gerontology. 

Dr. Marik Moen Related Seminars and Products

Dr. Marik Moen is a Nursing School Associate Professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) with a broad background in research, program development, and teaching in the fields of nursing and public health locally and internationally. She is increasingly recognized as an expert in 1) community-patient-engaged research to address social needs including social isolation especially with people and older adults with substance use disorders (SUD) and 2) nurse- peer/community health worker initiatives for populations with related conditions.  

She has successfully co-developed and administered a research advisory committee (RAC) comprised of patients and staff with experience of SUD, primarily older Black/African American adults. She is currently convening a network of peers, low-income/senior housing partners to address addiction, overdose and social isolation and working with colleagues to establish a RAC in rural Maryland with people with polysubstance use. She has established strong ties with inter-disciplinary professionals and diverse communities to develop a social needs research agenda in collaboration with local community and public health institutions and individuals.

Tiffany Banks, Ph.D. Related Seminars and Products

Tiffany Banks (she/her), Ph.D., Assistant Professor, earned her BS in Social Work from Niagara University, her MSW with a concentration in maternal and child health from the University of Maryland at Baltimore, and her Ph.D. from Colorado State University, School of Social Work. Her practice focuses on providing mental health care and allyship for individuals impacted by disability and chronic health issues. Dr. Banks has provided this care in a variety of settings including schools, community-based mental health settings, and private practice. She utilizes her clinical experiences to inform her macro-level advocacy efforts to improve policy practices impacting the experience of disability. Her research interests include best practices in mental health care for children with Autism, sibling issues within the disability community, and animal-assisted interventions. 

Michelle Sermon Related Seminars and Products

Michelle Sermon (Panelist)
Current PhD Candidate

Michelle Sermon is a current PhD student at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, completed her Master of Social Work at George Mason University and Master of Science at Howard University. Prior to joining the PhD Program, Michelle leveraged her education in social work and human genetics to serve vulnerable and marginalized communities in various capacities for more than 18 years. Michelle’s experience working in government and non-profit agencies, primarily in service to African American communities, informs her research interests. Her dissertation research examines the relationship between racialization, as an adverse life event or trauma, and mental health outcomes of African Americans living in rural communities in the southern US. Michelle utilizes the history of racialization through oral history, to explore the experiences and language of trauma.

Michelle’s research interests are psychosocial and emotional impact of racialization as trauma on African Americans living in rural southern communities; centering the Black experience in research; oral history method in social work research.

Jimmy Jang, Ph.D. Related Seminars and Products

Dr. Jang is a seasoned non-profit executive with over 16 years of experience leading research, data analytics, and program evaluation initiatives across the U.S. and internationally. His expertise spans instructional design, performance management, strategic planning, and change management, with a strong emphasis on equity, sustainability, and data-driven decision-making. Currently serving as a Research Associate Professor & Director of Data and Evaluation at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, Dr. Jang leads federally funded research initiatives focused on justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI). He has successfully secured over $8.5 million in federal grants to drive impactful programming and policy innovation. Previously, as Chief Research & Analytics Officer at a $16 million nonprofit, he spearheaded large-scale evaluation systems that led to significant improvements in program outcomes (e.g., K-12, Workforce Development, Public Health) and reductions in operational inefficiencies. In his tenure as Supervisor of Applied Research & Evaluation at Montgomery County Public Schools, he led the 14th largest school district in the U.S. in leveraging data for continuous quality improvement and policymaking. Dr. Jang has presented his research at national conferences and has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications on teaching, learning, and educational technology. A recognized thought leader in data storytelling, evaluation, and performance management, he has designed KPI dashboards and measurement frameworks that drive meaningful impact in the government and nonprofit sectors. 

Angela K. Henneberger, Ph.D. Related Seminars and Products

Dr. Angela K. Henneberger is a Research Associate Professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. Dr. Henneberger's research is situated at the intersection of education, developmental science, and prevention science, leveraging administrative data to examine the academic, social, and behavioral development of students in school contexts, with implications for policy and school-based prevention programming. Her most recent research, funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (R305A230398), leverages statewide administrative data to conduct long-term follow up analyses of an initial randomized controlled trial of a multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) framework to improve students' academic and behavioral outcomes. The ultimate goal of her research is to strengthen the design and evaluation of policies and programs to prevent developmental problems and promote healthy development in school-based settings. Her research leveraging administrative data to support decisions in school-based settings has won awards from the Society for Prevention Research and the American Educational Research Association. Dr. Henneberger also serves as the Research Director and Principal Investigator of the Maryland Longitudinal Data System (MLDS) Center Research Branch, an interagency agreement with the state of Maryland to conduct advanced statistical analyses to inform state and local education policy decisions. Dr. Henneberger received her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, where she was awarded an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) predoctoral fellowship. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Pennsylvania State University in the Prevention and Methodology Training (PAMT) program. 

Melissa E. Smith, PhD, MSSW Related Seminars and Products

Melissa E. Smith, PhD, MSSW, is an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. Her research examines community integration for individuals with serious mental illnesses and the intersection of psychosis, race, and sociocultural factors. Her work advances socially just, culturally responsive mental health interventions including early psychosis treatment. She has published widely on stigma, structural oppression, and mental health recovery, particularly among Black adults and other marginalized populations. Through qualitative research, Dr. Smith seeks to dismantle systemic inequities in mental health services and improve outcomes for historically underserved communities.   

Esa M. Davis, M.D., M.P.H. FAAFP Related Seminars and Products

Esa M. Davis, M.D., M.P.H. FAAFP is a Professor of Family and Community Medicine, the Senior Associate Dean of Population Health and Community Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the Lead Strategist for Health Equity for the University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing and the Associate Vice President for Community Health at the University of Maryland Baltimore.   

Dr. Davis’s research areas of interest include understanding perinatal determinants of adverse maternal cardiovascular health outcomes and improving treatment strategies for tobacco use disorder in both hospitalized and presurgical patients. Her research has contributed new knowledge on the relationship of perinatal risk factors for maternal obesity and related adverse health outcomes, such as gestational diabetes, hypertension disorders pregnancy and peripartum cardiomyopathy. She contributed key epidemiologic studies that delineated the relationship of parity, pregnancy weight gain and intervals in the development of maternal obesity, as well as illustrated the disproportionate incidence of obesity related to parity by race. She has conducted comparative effectiveness trials on screening strategies for gestational diabetes, strategies to improve blood pressure in women with hypertensive disorder of pregnancy and strategies to treat tobacco use disorder in hospitalized tobacco users after discharge. Her research has been funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), National Institutes of Health, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She has served on national committees, including the National Academy of Medicine, the National Institute of Health Study Sections and the American Heart Association. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the US Preventive Services Task Force and serves on both the American Heart Association Funding subcommittee and Quality Certification committee.  

University of Maryland School of Social Work