Our Team
Peter Ginter, PhD
Interim Director
Biography
Peter M. Ginter, Ph.D. is currently University Professor and Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Organization in the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Ginter is also serving as Interim Director of the Lister Hill Center for Health Policy. Dr. Ginter served as Interim Dean in 2017 and 2018, as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2015 through 2017, Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Organization from 1997 through 2012, and as Interim Chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences from 2018 through 2020 in the UAB School of Public Health. He is co-author of eighteen books including Strategic Management of Health Care Organizations, 9th ed. (forthcoming) with Duncan and Swayne, and Public Health Leadership and Management: Context and Cases (2002) with Capper and Swayne. Dr. Ginter has published more than 160 peer reviewed papers and case studies.
Theodoros Giannouchos, PhD
Deputy Director
Biography
Dr. Giannouchos is an Assistant Professor and the Program Director of the MSPH in Outcomes Research in the Department of Health Policy and Organization at UAB. He specializes in quantitative econometric methods and data analysis to conduct health services, health economics and outcomes research, and cost-effectiveness analyses. Dr. Giannouchos’s research interests include health services utilization and patient preferences, health outcomes, policy evaluation, and comparative effectiveness. His ongoing research focuses on frequent use of emergency services, sociodemographic and geographic differences in health outcomes, and the evaluation of policies that affect healthcare services utilization and outcomes. He has already published in leading journals in his field, such as Health Affairs, Health Services Research, JAMA Cardiology, JAMA Network Open, JAMIA, Medical Care, and AJPH, and some of his studies have been covered by regional and national media outlets.
Ariann Nassel, MA
Director of Geospatial Data Visualization
Biography
Ariann Nassel is an expert in developing GIS applications to take public health projects and research to the next level. As a GIS Analyst, she has established herself as a leader within the industry. Her specialties include training and teaching GIS, working with census data, program development, data collection, and using GIS to analyze and evaluate public health programs. Ariann holds a MA in Geography from the University of Georgia (Athens, Georgia) and a BA in Geography from Clark University (Worcester, MA).
Sean McMahon, MA, CPH
Program Director
Biography
Sean McMahon graduated from UAB in 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in Public Health. After serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Timor-Leste, he returned to Birmingham to work with UAB’s Office of Service Learning and Undergraduate Research before joining the LHC in 2019. Sean holds an interdisciplinary Master’s in Global Health and Public Management from UAB, and is Certified in Public Health. His passions lie in student empowerment, community engagement, and civic action to implement policies which protect and promote population health.
Kimberly Randall, MA
Program Manager
Biography
Kimberly Randall has a long history of community-based participatory research, policy work, and community education. Her research focuses on policy as a social determinant of health, with an emphasis on economic policy in rural healthcare. At the Lister Hill Center for Health Policy, she combines expertise in communication, advocacy, and community engagement to conduct policy surveillance research and legislative analysis that inform public health outcomes across Alabama. She also holds an appointment with the Center for the Study of Community Health as Director of Strategic Initiatives.
Her academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from The University of Alabama, where she specialized in healthcare communication, and is currently pursuing a PhD in the Department of Health Services Administration specializing in health policy research. Kimberly serves as the instructor for PUH 275: Health Equity, Disparities, and Social Justice in Alabama and PUH 399: Public Health Communication Strategies.
Dashauna Ballard, PhD, MPH
IRACDA-MERIT Postdoctoral Fellow
Biography
Hailing from Selma, Alabama, Dr. Dashauna Ballard has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biology from The University of Alabama, a Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in Health Behavior from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and a PhD in Health Education and Health Promotion from The University of Alabama. Her doctoral dissertation, which focused on identifying factors contributing to bullying victimization in minority youth, was influenced by her previous work as a Public Health Educator and Science Teacher in an alternative setting. For her secondary teaching efforts, she won the school-level Alabama Teacher of the Year and Innovative Technology awards in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Her current research interests include adolescent health, mental health, minority health, community-based participatory research, and health equity in underserved populations.
