Joyce Moon Howard

Clinical Associate Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Community Health Science and Practice

Interim Director of Community Health Science and Practice

Professional overview

Dr. Joyce Moon Howard’s work and career is rooted in the community healthcare movement, where she witnessed the transformative power and positive impact of neighborhood and community action on healthcare.

Through community-based participatory research (CBPR), she facilitates cooperation between researchers and community members to understand community needs and concerns, create lasting bonds that build trust, and empower communities to take action. While working in rural Tanzania on needs assessment, she engaged community members and employed qualitative strategies, such as photovoice (a research technique where community members photograph scenes to describe a particular problem and/or research theme) and focus groups, to create a space for open dialogue among community members and researchers to effectively address health needs. Further, she has served as Principal Investigator in several research studies: a Health Resources and Services Administration study on eliminating disparities among pregnant women in low-income areas in New York City; a National Institute of Child Health and Infant Development study focusing on HIV/AIDS prevention strategies in African American communities; and an National Institute on Aging study examining facilitators and barriers to CBPR at the Columbia University Medical Center.  

As a professor, Dr. Moon Howard shares her research experiences with students in Community Assessment and Evaluation courses and in an undergraduate course, Health, Society, and the Global Context.

Education

BA, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

MPH, Columbia University, New York, NY

DrPH, Columbia University, New York, NY

Areas of research and study

Community Engagement

Community Health

Community-based Participatory Research

Qualitative Research

Publications

Publications

A Pipeline to Increase Public Health Diversity: Describing the Academic Enrichment Components of the Summer Public Health Scholars Program

Assessing the Public's Health

Cultural competency training for public health students: Integrating self, social, and global awareness into a master of public health curriculum

Electronic cigarette advertising at the point-of-sale: A gap in tobacco control research

Ganz, O., Cantrell, J., Moon-Howard, J., Aidala, A., Kirchner, T. R., & Vallone, D. (n.d.).

Publication year

2015

Journal title

Tobacco control

Volume

24

Page(s)

e110-e112

10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2013-051337

Implementation of a multimodal mobile system for point-of-sale surveillance: Lessons learned from case studies in washington, dc, and new york city

Approaches to Increase Arsenic Awareness in Bangladesh: An Evaluation of an Arsenic Education Program

A cluster-based randomized controlled trial promoting community participation in arsenic mitigation efforts in Bangladesh

Types of dental fear as barriers to dental care among African American adults with oral health symptoms in Harlem

Computer use, internet access, and online health searching among Harlem adults

Religious responses to HIV and AIDS: Understanding the role of religious cultures and institutions in confronting the epidemic

Smoking cessation advantage among adult initiators: Does it apply to black women?

A stroke preparedness RCT in a multi-ethnic cohort: Design and methods

Emergency response and public health in Hurricane Katrina: What does it mean to be a public health emergency responder?

Experiences of Public health workers in responding to Hurricane Katrina: Voices from the storm

Identifying women at-risk for smoking resumption after pregnancy

Translating public health knowledge into practice: Development of a lay health advisor perinatal tobacco cessation program

Lack of oral health care for adults in Harlem: a hidden crisis

Making the connections: Community capacity for tobacco control in an Urban African American Community

Shelley et al. respond

The $5 man: The underground economic response to a large cigarette tax increase in New York City

HIV-positive men sexually active with women: Sexual behaviors and sexual risks

Building the Capacity of Faith Organizations to Address HIV/AIDS in Five African Nations

Access to health services in an urban community: Does source of care make a difference?

Developing a collaborative community, academic, health department partnership for std prevention: The gonorrhea community action project in harlem

Lack of oral health care for adults in Harlem: A hidden crisis