Melody Goodman

Interim Dean, School of Global Public Health

Professor of Biostatistics

Professional overview

Dr. Melody S. Goodman is a biostatistician and research methodologist. Her research interest is identifying the origins of health inequities and developing, as necessary, evidence-informed primary prevention strategies to reduce these health inequities. Dr. Goodman’s research efforts seek to develop a more rigorous understanding of the social risk factors contributing to urban health inequities to develop culturally competent, region-specific solutions through collaborative activities with community members, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, and other community health stakeholders. Her work aims to develop solutions for improving health in minoritized and medically underserved communities. 

Dr. Goodman led the team that developed and comprehensively evaluated the Research Engagement Survey Tool, a quantitative survey measure to assess the level of community engagement in research studies from the community partner perspective. She is the Founding Director of the Center for Antiracism, Social Justice, & Public Health. With numerous funders supporting her work (e.g., National Institutes of Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Verizon Foundation, Long Island Community Foundation, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and Susan G. Komen), she has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and two books (2018 Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group): 1) Public Health Research Methods for Partnerships and Practice and 2) Biostatistics for Clinical and Public Health Research. She is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and the inaugural recipient of the Societal Impact Award from the Caucus for Women in Statistics (2021).

Education

BS, Economics and Applied Mathematics & Statistics, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY

MS, Biostatistics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

PhD, Biostatistics (Minors: Social Determinants of Health Disparities and Theoretical Statistics), Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Honors and awards

Fellow, American Statistical Association (2021)

Societal Impact Award, Caucus for Women in Statistics (2021)

Network Builder Award, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Connections (2019)

Siteman Cancer Center “Rock Doc” (2013)

Satcher Health Leadership Institute - Morehouse School of Medicine, Community Health Leadership Institute Intensive Cohort II (2013)

Women of the Year - Health, National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc. - Suffolk Chapter (2010)

President’s Award for Teaching Excellence - Stony Brook University (2009)

President’s Award for Excellence in Team Achievement - Stony Brook University (2008)

Areas of research and study

Biostatistics

Community Health

Community-based Participatory Research

Dissemination and Implementation of Evidence-based Programs

Health Disparities

Health Equity

Minorities

Minority Health

Quantitative Research

Publications

Publications

Estimates of mental health problems in a vulnerable population within a primary care setting

How, who, and when: Preferences for delivery of genome sequencing results among women diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age

Importance of race and ethnicity in individuals' use of and responses to genomic information

Preferences for return of incidental findings from genome sequencing among women diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age

Racial and ethnic heterogeneity in self-reported diabetes prevalence trends across hispanic subgroups, National Health Interview Survey, 1997-2012

Relationship Between Health Literacy and Unintentional and Intentional Medication Nonadherence in Medically Underserved Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

Relationships between health literacy and genomics-related knowledge, self-efficacy, perceived importance, and communication in a medically underserved population

Still Separate, Still Unequal: Social Determinants of Playground Safety and Proximity Disparities in St. Louis

A Community Coalition to Address Cancer Disparities: Transitions, Successes and Challenges

A Community-Based Partnership to Successfully Implement and Maintain a Breast Health Navigation Program

A tale of two community networks program centers: Operationalizing and assessing CBPR principles and evaluating partnership outcomes

Breast Cancer Treatment among African American Women in North St. Louis, Missouri

Changes in symptoms during urologic chronic pelvic pain syndrome symptom flares: Findings from one site of the MAPP Research Network

Cross-sectional and longitudinal effects of racism on mental health among residents of Black neighborhoods in New York City

Diagnostic accuracy of self-reported racial composition of residential neighborhood

Do subjective measures improve the ability to identify limited health literacy in a clinical setting?

Effect of Health Literacy on Decision-Making Preferences among Medically Underserved Patients

Effects of racial and ethnic group and health literacy on responses to genomic risk information in a medically underserved population

Improving breast cancer services for African-American women living in St. Louis

Increasing research literacy: The community research fellows training program

Mammograms on-the-go - Predictors of repeat visits to mobile mammography vans in St Louis, Missouri, USA: A case-control study

Quantitative evaluation of the community research fellows training program

Race, law, and health: Examination of 'Stand Your Ground' and defendant convictions in Florida

Racial composition over the life course: Examining separate and unequal environments and the risk for heart disease for African American men

Racism at the Intersections: Gender and Socioeconomic Differences in the Experience of Racism Among African Americans