Dean
CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy

Dr. Ayman El-Mohandes, Dean of the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH), is a pediatrician and public health academic with a deep commitment to public service and community engagement. He is an established researcher in the field of infant mortality reduction in minority populations. Dr. El-Mohandes’ funded research focuses on population-based interventions in underserved communities both locally and globally. His publication record includes innovative approaches towards improving perinatal and neonatal outcomes in high-risk populations.

Dr. El-Mohandes has been actively engaged in the response to COVID-19 here in New York City and around the world. Since the pandemic first struck in March 2020, his CUNY SPH team has been monitoring the experiences and perspectives of NYC residents through an ongoing tracking survey. He is also collaborating with an international consortium to assess and respond to Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy worldwide. His work in this domain has appeared in Nature Medicine, The Lancet, and the American Journal of Public Health. 

Dr. El-Mohandes has served as a senior consultant on multiple global health services and public health interventions funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Asia Development Bank, and the Government of South Africa. These projects included the “Healthy Mother Healthy Child” program in Egypt to upgrade obstetric and neonatal services in the districts with the highest infant mortality, a “Health Services Program” in Indonesia, and establishing the first school of public health for black students in South Africa.

Dr. El-Mohandes stepped down as the Chair of the Association of Schools and Programs in Public Health Board of Directors (ASPPH) in March 2023, and continues as a board member of the ASPPH. He serves on the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Advisory Council and is an elected member of the American Pediatric Society and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

CUNY SPH has undergone dramatic transformation since Dr. El-Mohandes became Dean in 2013. Under his leadership it became an independent school within the CUNY system and received full re-accreditation in 2016. Six new institutes and centers have been launched—with an accompanying surge in research activity and funding—and an active working partnership with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has been formed. The CUNY SPH instructional portfolio has expanded similarly, with a range of new certificate programs and master’s and doctoral degrees, many of which are available fully online. CUNY SPH rose to number 15 out of 202 schools and programs of public health nationwide and number 17 in health policy on the 2023 U.S. News and World Report rankings, marking the school’s rise to the top 10% of all public health schools in less than 10 years.

PhD Student in Epidemiology
CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy

Research Scientist
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Philicia Castillo-Sanders is currently a Research Scientist at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Prior to joining the NYC DOHMH, she was the Associate Director of Data Management and Analysis at the Black Mamas Matter Alliance. In this role, she spearheaded the collection, management and analysis of data, and used quantitative and qualitative methods to build, support, and implement Black maternal health and sexual and reproductive health research ventures. Ms. Castillo-Sanders also worked as Research Associate at the Guttmacher Institute where she collaborated on quantitative and qualitative projects related to global maternal health outcomes and family planning and abortion provision, access and measurement. Previously, she also coordinated Gynuity Health Projects’ research on expanding access to medication abortion and worked at the Population Council, the International Consortium for Emergency Contraception and Family Care International. Her research portfolio includes work done in the United States and in Latin America, West and East Africa, and Southeast Asia. Ms. Castillo-Sanders earned her MPH in epidemiology, with a secondary concentration in maternal, child, reproductive and sexual health, from the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy; she earned a BS in health promotion and disease prevention studies from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Epidemiology at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy.

Director, Doctoral Program in Epidemiology
Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics
CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy

Over the last 25+ years Dr. Heidi Jones’ research has centered on ways to improve reproductive and sexual health outcomes, while maintaining individuals' autonomy over reproductive and sexual health decisions She has worked extensively on reproductive health research both globally and domestically and has lived in Burkina Faso and Senegal. She has worked on many different aspects of strengthening reproductive health services including abortion services, contraceptive counseling and provision, diagnosis and management of sexually transmitted infections, prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, cervical cancer screening and prenatal and maternal health care. She has (co)authored 100+ publications and currently sits on the Editorial Board of the journal, Contraception. Since joining the CUNY SPH faculty, her work has expanded to include conceptual strengthening of epidemiological methods and exploring the role of the microbiome in health.

Senior Associate Dean of Academic and Student Affairs
CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy

Terry McGovern is the Senior Associate Dean of Academic and Student Affairs at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy. Prior to joining CUNY SPH, Terry McGovern was the Harriet and Robert H. Heilbrunn Professor and chair of the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Prior to joining Columbia in 2002, McGovern served as senior program officer in the Gender, Rights, and Equality Unit of the Ford Foundation, where she oversaw global and domestic programming relating to HIV, gender, LGBT, and human rights. In 1989, McGovern founded the HIV Law Project, where she served as executive director until 1999. While there, she successfully litigated numerous cases against federal, state, and local governments including S.P. v. Sullivan, which forced the Social Security Administration to expand HIV-related disability criteria so that women and low-income individuals can qualify for Medicaid and Social Security benefits; and T.N. v. FDA, which eliminated a 1977 FDA guideline banning women of childbearing potential from early phases of clinical trials.

Associate Dean of Student Affairs & Alumni Relations
CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy

The City University of New York (CUNY) has been Dr. Roberts’ academic home since 1995. Prior to joining CUNY and the GSPHHP, she oversaw the development, implementation and evaluation of several prevention programs for women and youth in NYC. She has also served on the board of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective and co-edited the anthology Radical Reproductive Justice (CUNY Feminist Press, 2017). Dr. Roberts’ current activism and scholarship examine the intersections of race, class and gender in adolescent dating relationships, juvenile justice and reproductive health policies; as well as the impact of models of collaborative inquiry and teaching on civic and political engagement.

Lynn Roberts has a BS in human development from Howard University (1984) and a PhD in Human Services Studies from Cornell University (1991).