Melody Goodman

Dean, School of Global Public Health

Professor of Biostatistics

Professional overview

Dr. Melody S. Goodman is a biostatistician and research methodologist. Her work is anchored upon moving beyond defining problems and focuses on developing solutions using partner-engaged research approaches. Dr. Goodman’s research efforts seek to develop a more rigorous understanding of the social risk factors contributing to urban health outcomes. Her work aims to develop solutions for improving health in high-risk populations. She conducts translational research that bridges the gap between research and practice. Through rigorous attention to study design, measurement, and the use of cutting-edge statistical analysis methods, her contributions have spanned the areas of prevention, treatment, intervention, and policy.

Dr. Goodman led the team that developed and comprehensively evaluated the Research Engagement Survey Tool, a quantitative survey measure to assess the level of partner engagement in research studies from the non-academic partner perspective. 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 150 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, which now has a second edition (2026 Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group). She is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, New York Academy of Medicine, and the inaugural recipient of the Societal Impact Award from the Caucus for Women in Statistics.

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, 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

Quantitative Research

Publications

Publications

Lower social vulnerability is associated with a higher prevalence of social media-involved violent crimes in Prince George’s County, Maryland, 2018–2023

Bather, J. R., Silver, D., Gill, B. P., Harris, A., Bae, J. Y., Parikh, N. S., & Goodman, M. S. (n.d.).

Publication year

2024

Journal title

Injury Epidemiology

Volume

11

Issue

1

10.1186/s40621-024-00538-w

Abstract

Abstract

Background: Social vulnerability may play a role in social media-involved crime, but few studies have investigated this issue. We investigated associations between social vulnerability and social media-involved violent crimes. Methods: We analyzed 22,801 violent crimes occurring between 2018 and 2023 in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Social media involvement was obtained from crime reports at the Prince George’s County Police Department. Social media application types included social networking, advertising/selling, ridesharing, dating, image/video hosting, mobile payment, instant messaging/Voice over Internet Protocol, and other. We used the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Vulnerability Index to assess socioeconomic status (SES), household characteristics, racial and ethnic minority status, housing type and transportation, and overall vulnerability. Modified Poisson models estimated adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) among the overall sample and stratified by crime type (assault and homicide, robbery, and sexual offense). Covariates included year and crime type. Results: Relative to high tertile areas, we observed a higher prevalence of social media-involved violent crimes in areas with low SES vulnerability (aPR: 1.82, 95% CI: 1.37-2.43), low housing type and transportation vulnerability (aPR: 1.53, 95% CI: 1.17-2.02), and low overall vulnerability (aPR: 1.63, 95% CI: 1.23-2.17). Low SES vulnerability areas were significantly associated with higher prevalences of social media-involved assaults and homicides (aPR: 1.64, 95% CI: 1.02-2.62), robberies (aPR: 2.00, 95% CI: 1.28-3.12), and sexual offenses (aPR: 2.07, 95% CI: 1.02-4.19) compared to high SES vulnerability areas. Low housing type and transportation vulnerability (vs. high) was significantly associated with a higher prevalence of social media-involved robberies (aPR: 1.54, 95% CI:1.01-2.37). Modified Poisson models also indicated that low overall vulnerability areas had higher prevalences of social media-involved robberies (aPR: 1.71, 95% CI: 1.10-2.67) and sexual offenses (aPR: 2.14, 95% CI: 1.05-4.39) than high overall vulnerability areas. Conclusions: We quantified the prevalence of social media-involved violent crimes across social vulnerability levels. These insights underscore the need for collecting incident-based social media involvement in crime reports among law enforcement agencies across the United States and internationally. Comprehensive data collection at the national and international levels provides the capacity to elucidate the relationships between neighborhoods, social media, and population health.

National and Regional Trends in Police Pursuit Fatalities in the US

Racial and Ethnic Composition of Departments of Health Policy & Management and Health Education & Behavioral Sciences

Racial Composition of Past and Current Social Environments and Health Literacy

Racial Composition of Social Environments Over the Life Course Using the Pictorial Racial Composition Measure: Development and Validation Study

Racial segregation and genomics-related knowledge, self-efficacy, perceived importance, and communication among medically underserved patients

Uptake of Cancer Genetic Services for Chatbot vs Standard-of-Care Delivery Models: The BRIDGE Randomized Clinical Trial

Achieving the Health Equity Agenda Through Transformative Community-Engaged Strategies

Attitudes and beliefs regarding race-targeted genetic testing of Black people: A systematic review

Barriers to Using Legally Authorized Representatives in Clinical Research with Older Adults

Community Walks: a cluster randomized controlled trial of a multilevel physical activity intervention for low income public housing residents

Editorial: Women in science: Public Health Education and Promotion 2022

Investigation of interest in and timing preference for cancer predisposition testing and expanded carrier screening among women of reproductive age

Predictors of Women’s Intentions to Communicate Updated Genetic Test Results to Immediate and Extended Family Members

Promoting Authentic Academic—Community Engagement to Advance Health Equity

Racial and Ethnic Composition of Students, Graduates, and Faculty in Environmental Health Sciences, 2011 to 2021

Racial and Ethnic Diversity Among Students, Graduates, and Faculty in Biostatistics and Epidemiology, 2010-2020

The measurement of racism in health inequities research

A pilot pragmatic trial of a “what matters most”-based intervention targeting intersectional stigma related to being pregnant and living with HIV in Botswana

A randomized implementation trial to increase adoption of evidence-informed consent practices

A Study Examining the Usefulness of a New Measure of Research Engagement

Acculturation and Depressive Symptoms Among Dominicans in New York City

Association of Disparities in Family History and Family Cancer History in the Electronic Health Record With Sex, Race, Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity, and Language Preference in 2 Large US Health Care Systems

Barriers to family history collection among Spanish-speaking primary care patients: a BRIDGE qualitative study

Construct validation of the Research Engagement Survey Tool (REST)