Dr. Amelia Greiner Safi joined the MPH Program in 2017, adding to her 13 years of teaching and research experience. Dr. Safi received her MS in Communication at Cornell (with a focus on risk and science communication) and her PhD in social and behavioral sciences from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Safi currently holds a joint appointment between the Department of Public and Ecosystem Health in the College of Veterinary Medicine where the MPH Program is housed and the Department of Communication.

When asked about her research interests, Dr. Safi says that her research and practice overlap considerably, “An interest in health equity shapes a lot of what I work on. I get to apply my perspective to a range of topics: from cancer disparities, to racism in healthcare, to animal agriculture and perceptions of the use of antibiotics, to community innovation and adaptation to flooding, to warning labels on tobacco products. There’s more, but I think this gives a good sense of the breadth.” says Safi.

Dr. Safi is also interested in structural and ecological interventions within public health, focusing on what policies, practices, physical environments, or cultural views influence health, and how changes to these factors improve health. Her qualitative methods and communication background come into play for much of her work. “I am interested in understanding how people perceive the world as it relates to their health or public health in general. These perceptions are fundamental to understanding what interventions might work.”

Dr. Safi’s interest in public health solidified during her doctoral program at Johns Hopkins in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society. “I wanted to find a path that felt meaningful and helped people. It took me a while to figure out what that would be. I became really interested because I was able to see how this array of factors and forces—policy, power, money, race, land use, representation, neighborhood—came together to shape health in ways I had never thought about.”

Being able to study a wide variety of subjects was the big draw for Dr. Safi in pursuing a career in public health.

Someone once described public health to me as ‘a big tent’ meaning that there is room for a range of skill sets and topics. As a “big tent” public health lets me combine my interests (research, practice, teaching, human health, environmental health, qualitative methods, systems thinking, social science, health equity, strategic communication) and talents, so it is really intellectually satisfying.”

Dr. Safi enjoys working on projects that have an impact and help bring attention to problems that might not otherwise get it. She enjoys collaborating with students, community partners, and researchers from all over the world.

When asked about the most rewarding part of teaching, Dr. Safi says “I like being able to explain things that help students understand an issue in a whole new light or helping them be more effective in a way they might not have otherwise considered. Linking them with “real life” engaged projects is also great.  But my favorite part is getting to know students, helping them problem solve, and being a source of support.”

Written by Katie Lesser and Avni Patel