CHHS Faculty

Anna Pollack’s research focuses on the relationship between environmental chemical exposures and fertility, pregnancy, and gynecologic health. Critical to understanding these endpoints, she investigates biological mechanisms underlying these processes, such as biomarkers of oxidative stress, inflammation, and endocrine disruption

Virginia Sitar Blair, Assistant Professor, teaches in the undergraduate program. Dr. Blair is a seasoned health care professional with over 45 years of healthcare experience in hospital administration which include senior level executive management in clinical quality improvement at Novant Health Prince William Medical Center and Potomac Hospital.

Dr. Gimm, associate professor of health administration and policy, has research experience in disability and aging, program evaluations, and health care payment reforms. Currently, Dr. Gimm serves as a co-investigator on a 5-year Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) to examine rural-urban disparities in access to services among adults with disabilities. Dr. Gimm is the Director of the Health Services Research PhD program.

Dr. Carol Cleaveland is an Associate Professor of Social Work at George Mason University. She teaches SOCW 674 Psychopathology, SOCW 645 Community Clinical Practice and SOCW 653 Immigration Policy. Dr. Cleaveland also serves as a training coordinator for Mason’s VA SBIRT grant.

Dr. Emily S. Ihara is a professor and chair of the Department of Social Work. Ihara’s research interests focus on interventions, policies, and system changes necessary to eliminate health inequities for vulnerable populations across the life course.

Vicki Kirsch, MSW, MA, PhD is a Clinical Associate Professor of Social Work at George Mason University. Her interests and practice focus on trauma and recovery, gender and sexualities, and issues of spirituality and religion.

Jhumka Gupta, ScD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Global and Community Health within the College of Public Health. Her research program applies a social epidemiology framework toward advancing the science of gender-based violence against women and girls (e.g. intimate partner violence, sex trafficking).

Dr. Lilian de Jonge is a professor at the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies. She obtained her PhD degree in nutrition from the Université de Montréal, in Montréal, Canada.

Dr. Cuellar, professor of Health Administration and Policy, has extensive research experience in health care systems, Medicaid, mental health, and justice involved populations. A health policy researcher, her contributions include work on evaluating new organizational forms, such as hospital systems and physician alliances and their effects.

Farrokh Alemi was trained as an operations researcher and industrial engineer and has worked in both academia and health industry. He has more than 105 peer reviewed publications in journals such as Health Services Research, Medical Care, and Palliative Medicine.