Our Team

Dr. Lisa Cooper is a Liberian-born general internist, social epidemiologist, and health services researcher. As the Director of the Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute, Dr. Cooper leads the Institute in its mission to advance health and health equity across Baltimore City. Dr. Cooper is also the James F. Fries Professor of Medicine and Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for Equity in Health and Health Care in the Johns Hopkins University Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health. She is the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity, where she and her transdisciplinary team work with stakeholders from healthcare and the community to implement rigorous clinical trials, identifying interventions that alleviate racial and income disparities in social determinants and health outcomes.

 A physician trained in internal medicine and public health researcher, Dr. Cooper’s work highlights the transformative role of doctor-patient relationships in reducing racial and ethnic health disparities. Regarded as one of the top clinicians and scientists in health equity, Dr. Cooper has designed innovative approaches to improve physicians’ communication skills, patients' self-management skills, and the ability of healthcare organizations to address the needs of populations experiencing health disparities. She has authored more than 300 highly cited and influential, peer-reviewed publications, including the book Why Are Health Disparities Everyone's Problem, and several book chapters—one of which was featured in the Institute of Medicine's 2003 Report, Unequal Treatment.

 In 2021, President Biden appointed Dr. Cooper to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, where she advises policymakers on crucial scientific and technological developments. She has been honored with numerous prestigious awards, including a MacArthur Genius Fellowship in 2007, the Helen Rodríguez-Trías Social Justice Award from the American Public Health Association in 2017, the 2023 Eisenberg Award for career achievement in research from the Society for General Internal Medicine, and the 2023 William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research. She served on the Board of The Carter Center from 2020 to 2023. As a respected member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, Dr. Cooper is recognized globally for her research on health disparities in racially and economically marginalized communities. 

Email: urbanhealth@jhu.edu

A native of Washington DC, Dr. Denis Antoine obtained his medical degree from Howard University School of Medicine and went on to Johns Hopkins for an internship in Internal Medicine and residency in Psychiatry. He completed an NIH-sponsored postdoctoral fellowship in addiction research at the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit at the Johns Hopkins and is dually board certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. He is the director of the Cornerstone Clinic at Helping up Mission, the Addiction Treatment Services which houses the Comprehensive Addiction and Pregnancy track at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. These community-oriented programs engage individuals with substance use disorders and co-occurring psychiatric conditions who often have often encounter stigma and other social disparities. He is a core faculty member of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity and is co-director of the Congregational Depression Awareness Program, which aims to equip faith communities to recognize and empower individuals within their networks.

Brandin Bowden, MSc, joins UHI as the newly appointed Operations Director. Brandin brings a wealth of experience and expertise in nonprofit leadership, program development, and community engageme­nt, making him an invaluable addition to our team. A 2019 Bunting Neighborhood Leadership Fellow and a returning member to the UHI family, Brandin has more than a decade of distinguished experience in program development and community and stakeholder engagement within the nonprofit sector. Notably, his recent role as a Senior Consultant at Health Management Associates, Inc., involved managing nationwide projects such as advocating for robust data collection practices with registered dieticians in the 'California Food is Medicine Coalition', conducting a food access needs assessment in Utah, and leading a health disparity study on Black maternal health outcomes in Frederick County, Maryland.

Brandin's professional journey has also included impactful roles at The Institute for Integrative Health, where he managed various community programs and interventions that have significantly contributed to health and wellness initiatives throughout Baltimore. His dedication to public health and nutrition education is evident through numerous publications and presentations, emphasizing a commitment to improving health outcomes for Baltimore residents. With a Master of Science in Nutrition and Integrative Health from the Maryland University of Integrative Health and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Michigan; Brandin's extensive experience, passion for community health, and commitment to excellence align seamlessly with the UHI mission. His leadership and expertise are poised to contribute significantly to the institute's continued success in addressing urban health challenges and improving the well-being of our communities.

Email: bbowden3@jh.edu 

Faculty Appointment: Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing

As an associate director, Dr. Bower, alongside Dr. Purnell, will lead efforts to facilitate and recognize collaborations between communities, universities, healthcare delivery systems, government, and the private sector to build collective capacity for achieving health equity in Baltimore. Dr. Bower’s research and her public health nursing practice focus on the elimination of racial disparities in maternal and child and women’shealth. Using a social justice lens, she aims to deepen understanding of the underlying causes of racial disparities and inform interventions to promote equity and mitigate racial disparities. Her research examines the role of social determinants of health including racism and respectful maternity care. She also explores how interventions such as maternal, infant, and early childhood home visiting programs can be leveraged to address racial disparities. Dr. Bower applies a community-engaged approach to her research that comes from her 18 years of experience practicing as a public health nurse in Baltimore, including 10 years with the Baltimore City Health Department and the B’More for Healthy Babies Initiative. She has received funding from the Johns Hopkins Clinical Research Scholars (NIH KL2) program, Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute, and Health Resources & Services Administration. She earned her PhD from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where her dissertation focused on the relationship between residential segregation, food store availability, and racial disparities in obesity among women.

Email: kbower1@jhu.edu

As a Communications Coordinator, Tomozia Graves is responsible for executing and monitoring the Urban Health Institute's (UHI) communications strategies. Further, she is responsible for managing UHI's marketing communications to help advance the mission and goals of the organization. 

Prior to joining the UHI team, Tomozia gained valuable experience in Student Affairs at Harford Community College. Her responsibilities primarily centered around the promotion of student services through various communication channels, with a particular focus on social media outreach. Additionally, she directly engaged with students and provided guidance in the areas of advising and within the My College Success Network (MCSN), where she dedicated herself to supporting, empowering, and motivating minority students. In a bid to further enhance the academic journey of students, Tomozia played a pivotal role in establishing the Mentoring Program at HCC. Her educational background includes an A.A. in Communications from HCC, a B.S. in Communication Studies with a minor in Business Communications, and an M.S. in Communication Management, all earned from Towson University.

Email: tgrave18@jh.edu

Faculty Appointment: Assistant Professor in Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Kendrick Gwynn, MD, MPH is a primary care physician at the Johns Hopkins Community Physicians Remington practice and is the assistant medical director for the Care, Coding and Revenue Enhancement (C-CARE) Team within the Office of Johns Hopkins Physicians. Dr. Gwynn is board certified in both internal medicine and public health and general preventive medicine. A Baltimore area native, Dr. Gwynn holds a faculty position within the Division of General Internal Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as a part time Assistant Professor in Medicine, where he teaches medical students and residents. As a physician, Dr. Gwynn’s career interests involve health policy and delivery system reform as they relate to eliminating health disparities and addressing the social determinants of health. He has worked in both the state and federal governments on projects pertaining to policy development and project implementation. Dr. Gwynn earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, completed residency at Emory University School of Medicine, followed by a combined general internal medicine fellowship and preventive medicine residency at Boston University/Boston Medical Center. He received his master degree in public health with a concentration in health policy and management from Boston University School of Public Health.

Email: kgwynn3@jhmi.edu

Faculty Appointment: Associate Professor, Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 

As an associate director, Dr. Jones will lead efforts to mobilize resources in support of promising strategies to achieve substantial gains in the health and well-being of Baltimore residents. In addition to her role with UHI Dr. Jones works at the nexus of research and practice to reduce injuries by applying social and behavioral science theories and research methods to create, implement, and evaluate behavior change programs. Her program of research and practice activities addresses both unintentional and intentional injuries among vulnerable populations of children, adolescents, and older adults. She has specific expertise in older driver research, youth development and violence prevention, and child injury prevention.

Email: vjones@jhu.edu

Shardé Knight is a data-driven storyteller and systems thinker from Baltimore who brings care, curiosity, and clarity to every role she undertakes. With a background spanning higher education, nonprofits, and technology, she thrives at the intersection of efficiency and empathy — analyzing complex systems, identifying patterns, and crafting meaningful experiences that uplift both people and processes. Shardé holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Mount St. Mary’s University and has a strong foundation in operations and data, with a talent for connecting the dots between people, purpose, and strategy.

At UHI, she supports the coordination of programs like the Bunting Neighborhood Leadership Program, applying her experience in data management, community engagement, and strategic operations to the work of health equity. She has previously served as a Data Analyst at Goucher College and as an Educational Training Initiative Coordinator at the International Dyslexia Association. Her passion for creative, wellness-centered learning is reflected in initiatives like Touch & Transcend, and We Learn Our Way—designed to inspire self-reflection, connection, and joyful learning.

Sadiya Muqueeth, DrPH, MPH, joined the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Health Policy and Management in April 2023 as an assistant scientist and the Chief Health Policy Officer for the Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD). Dr. Muqueeth plays an essential role in developing BCHD’s health policy agenda and advances BCHD’s Public Health 3.0 initiative. She also supports the missions of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Institute for Health and Social Policy. Dr. Muqueeth is a public health practitioner with background in health equity, community engagement, and policy advocacy. Dr. Muqueeth has prior work experience in federal government, local government, non-profit sector, healthcare, and philanthropy. She completed her BA in Public Health Studies from Johns Hopkins University, her MPH in Health Behavior from UNC-Chapel Hill, and her DrPH with a Concentration in Humanitarian Studies, Ethics, and Human Rights from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer from Paraguay.

Email: smuqueeth@jhu.edu

Lindsay Thompson is an ethicist and professor at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School with over twenty years of professional experience as a health systems planner, administrator, and policy analyst. With a special interest in contested values at the intersection of traditional and contemporary cultures, her research and teaching interests center on the dynamics of unconscious bias informing values, leadership, and social change. Her community-engaged practice focuses on intersectional equity as the ethical foundation of leadership, innovation, and productivity in business, professions, and society. Lindsay founded Johns Hopkins CityLabs in 2013, a collaborative business and professional social innovation platform designed to understand and eliminate economic geographies of racialized poverty by focusing on what makes cities livable: Healthy habitat, healthy people, resilient communities, empowered citizens, and inclusive prosperity. The CityLabs approach synthesizes various frameworks (sustainable development goals, social determinants of health, human capabilities, culture of health, planetary health, regenerative placemaking) to place people at the center of economic development, exploring every urban challenge as an opportunity to make our cities more livable for all.  Anchored in disinvested neighborhoods in Baltimore, Washington DC, and cities throughout the country and around the world, CityLabs engage university students, alumni, and faculty in community-led initiatives to rebuild communities from within.  Current projects focus on economic and racial equity: Supporting local BIPOC business and professional leaders through investment, technical assistance, and testing of innovative business and financing models to rebuild disinvested neighborhoods, restore small business ecosystems, incubate new businesses, and create sustainable community-based wealth. Lindsay lives in Baltimore where she collaborates in citywide efforts to involve businesses, civic organizations, public officials, and private citizens in building a city of livable neighborhoods.  

Email: lthompson@jhu.edu 

Through comprehensive program planning and implementation, Natalie Wiggins coordinates the day-to-day administration and procurement of the existing flagship programs, initiatives, and activities that further the mission and goals of the UHI; manages logistics of the Bunting Neighborhood Leadership Program and UHI grant programs; serves as the main point of contact and cultivates relations with professional and community partners. 

Prior to joining our team, Natalie was a program coordinator and a graphics designer at A.R.I.E.L., one of the largest Russian American centers in the DMV tristate area. She received her first B.S. in Government and Business Administration from Belgorod State University, Russia, and her second bachelor’s degree in Web Design from the University of Maryland Global Campus.

Email: nwiggins@jhu.edu