Contact Us
Minority Health and Health Equity Research Center
PSB 307
2601 Gentilly Boulevard
New Orleans, Louisiana 70122
Ph. (504) 816-4001
Office Hours:
M-F 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
PIs: Dr. Barbara Allen, Dr. Alison Cohen, Dr. Eric Buckles
CoPI: Dr. Kenya Goodson
Project team: Austin Banks Jr, MBA (project manager), Juliet Nussbaum, MPH (epidemiologist), Dr. Sherman Horn III (data analyst)
The CoDA (Collaborative Data Analysis) study seeks to support Louisiana residents to use government data to answer questions about their health and environment. Through collaborative workshops, community members work alongside academic researchers to discuss findings from government-sourced data, such as Medicaid records, to better understand patterns of health. This open and engaging process ensures that scientific insights are directly applicable to community questions. The project aims to build lasting capacity for environmental and health research, with public events and documentation for communities. This project is funded by the National Science Foundation.
Mission: The CoDA study focuses on bridging the gap between community observations regarding health and the environment in Louisiana. We will conduct participatory epidemiology to empower residents to participate in research regarding environment and health.
Vision: We aim to foster a healthier Louisiana by conducting rigorous science on health and the environment.
Dr. Barbara Allen (Virginia Tech)
A sociologist of scientific knowledge, Dr. Barbara Allen’s research engages the public in shaping public health and environmental science to promote policy participation. In 2022, with CoDA project team member Dr. Alison Cohen and others, she completed a 10-year transformative participatory health project in one of France’s most polluted industrial zones near Marseille. Her first book, Uneasy Alchemy: Citizens and Experts in Louisiana’s Petrochemical Disputes (2003, MIT Press), documented the dynamics between local residents and allied experts in the area.
Dr. Alison Cohen (University of California San Francisco)
Specializing in applied epidemiology, Dr. Alison Cohen works to uncover the social and environmental factors related to health. She often works together with local organizations and communities on research. She is an assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics and is an affiliated faculty member at the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at UCSF.
Juliet Nussbaum (Dillard University)
Juliet Nussbaum is the project epidemiologist. She holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) with a focus on epidemiology and biostatistics. Juliet brings nearly five years of experience as an infection prevention and control specialist in healthcare settings, where she applied epidemiological methods and translated scientific research into actionable practices, designing and implementing evidence-based guidelines, educational resources, and hospital policies.
Dr. Kenya Goodson
Dr. Kenya L. Goodson is an environmental engineer and educator whose career bridges public health, environmental science, and community engagement. Her experience with communities in rural Alabama includes working as a Public Health Environmentalist for the Alabama Department of Public Health. She is currently a Co-Investigator for the CoDA project.
Austin Banks Jr (Dillard University)
Austin Banks Jr. is a graduate of Southeastern Louisiana University with a Bachelor of Science as well as a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Southern University. He is currently pursuing a degree in Nursing at Chamberlain University of New Orleans. He serves as Project Manager for CoDA.
Dr.Sherman Horn III (Center for Human Environmental Research)
Dr. Sherman Horn III is a geographic information systems (GIS) specialist. He received a PhD in anthropology from Tulane University and serves as Environmental GIS Analyst for the CoDA project.
Ashley Gaignard
Ashley Gaignard is the President of Rural Roots Louisiana and a passionate community advocate with over 15 years of public service in Ascension Parish. A native of Donaldsonville, she began her journey in 2012 through her work with the HELP Organization alongside her father. Her experience spans grassroots organizing, public engagement, and sustainable development focused on uplifting Louisiana communities. Ashley’s leadership reflects a deep commitment to local empowerment, and long-term community resilience.
Breon Robinson
As Healthy Gulf’s Coastal Organizer for the Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas regions, Breon is looking to lead with purpose, while highlighting the communities she represents. As a young organizer born and raised in Lake Charles, bettering the quality of life for herself and community members has always been the overall goal. Her work includes organizing with frontline community members around (liquified natural gas and petrochemical buildout in Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas, while helping to create a positive vision for the region’s future. Breon is also the co-founder of The 337 Vote Project, a community organization aiming towards empowering disenfranchised communities.
Kadesha “KD” Minor
Believing in responding to social shifts by acting in creative ways that generate new solutions, Lake Charles native KD Minor practices innovation to her core. After a move to New Orleans, she worked her way from the front desk of a small boutique hotel to becoming an area 5-diamond hotel’s first Content Marketing Manager, all while grassroots organizing and attending classes at Tulane after hours. A former Americorps Public Ally, KD has a wide range of experiences that have shaped her fluid worldview. From reconnecting to project management for websites and databases, she is guided by the hopes and courage of those who have fought before and beside us.
A mutual aid organizer, KD recently crowdfunded and disbursed over $100,000 cash and resources to people impacted by Hurricanes Laura, Delta, and Ida.
Kanitra Caston
Kanitra Caston is an accomplished environmental advocate with expertise in program management, event coordination, grant writing, and organizing. She is the owner of Loving Blackness, LLC, where she empowers nonprofits to maximize their impact, and serves as the Project Manager for the Louisiana Gulf Coast Grantmaking Project at the Deep South Center.
Selena Bolton
Selena is a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, and has worked in the environmental space for nearly ten years. Her work includes serving on the Board of Directors for Common Ground Relief, a grassroots wetlands restoration organization in the Crescent City. Selena also acted as the Administrative Coordinator for the Louisiana hub of Gulf South for a Green New Deal, before its transition to Colors of Change.
Vickie Boothe, MPH
Vickie Boothe is an environmental engineer and epidemiologist with more than 33 years of public service at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Her research focuses on the intersection of exposures to toxic air emissions and economic and social factors that create health. Since relocating to New Orleans in 2019, she has provided scientific support to multiple Cancer Alley frontline communities disparately impacted by decades-long exposure to toxic petrochemical emissions. Vickie holds a BS in electrical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, BA in management and marketing from Sonoma State University, and an MPH in epidemiology from Georgia State University.