our senior staff ...
Denise Stevens
Denise Stevens, Ph.D. is the President of MATRIX Public Health Consultants, Inc.
Prior to forming MATRIX, Dr. Stevens was on the Research Faculty at the Yale University School of Medicine. In her work as a scientist during the 1990's she became interested in bridging research and public health practice. Over the past decade, Dr. Stevens work has led to numerous policy reform initiatives at the local and statewide levels including the adaptation of on-site human service provision within public housing, standardized referral and assessment procedures within homeless shelters, community models of care for children and youth with special health care needs, and the incorporation of best practices for the treatment and prevention of numerous chronic diseases including diabetes, adolescent substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, and youth violence prevention, among others. Dr. Stevens is an expert in designing, implementing and evaluating systems change initiatives in the area of health and human services delivery, having worked on projects at the local, state and national levels.
Dr. Stevens was the recipient of a McArthur Foundation pre-doctoral fellowship as well as the National Institute of Mental Health fellowship while completing her PhD studies in the Epidemiology and Public Health Department of the Yale University School of Medicine. She completed her master's degree in neuropsychology from the University of Otago (New Zealand), and her undergraduate double honors degree in Biology and Psychology from McMaster University (Canada).
In terms of civic responsibility, Dr. Stevens has served on numeous committees and boards of directors of community-based organizations, as well as served as founding member of several local and state non-profit organizations. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Youth and Family Services of Haddam-Killingworth, Steering Committee for Connecticut Public Allies, an organization dedicated towards youth leadership development, and the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven Advisory Board for Parents and Communities for Kids.
Brenda Fenton, Ph.D. is the Director of Behavioral Health and Research and Evaluation at MATRIX Public Health Consultants, Inc.
Brenda Fenton
Prior to starting graduate school, she worked for the State of Massachusetts in the Department of Public Health's Healthy Start Program which guaranteed uninsured women access to prenatal care. She is dedicated to community applications of empirically-based research and increasing the capability of community-based organizations.
Sakinah Carter, MPH, MBA is the Director of Health Equity at MATRIX Public Health Consultants
Sakinah Carter
Sakinah joined MATRIX in 2006 and now leads our Health Equity practice area. Ms. Carter has over a 15 years of experience both domestically and internationally, where she has focused on a broad range of health topics, including but not limited to HIV/AIDS, adolescent sexually transmitted diseases, obesity, women's issues, general wellness, diabetes, occupational health and safety and cultural competence in health. Most recently, Ms Carter was the co-founder of the Women's Leadership Circles, an organization providing leadership and management support, coaching and financial education to nonprofit/philanthropy executives and community leaders. She has previously worked for the California Endowment in strategic planning, for the Center for Disease Control as a Health Communications Specialist, and for the World Health Organization Washington DC Liason Office as an assistant to the External Relations Officer. Ms. Carter brings both breadth and depth to our work at MATRIX with her diverse skills and interest in non-profit management and strategic planning. Ms. Carter graduated from Yale College in 1994 with a degree in Latin American Studies, Emory University in 1998 with an MPH focusing on international health, and Yale School of Management in 2004 with an MBA in non-profit management.
Julie A. E. Ray, MPH, MEM is the Director of Health and the Environment at MATRIX Public Health Consultants, Inc.
Julie Ray
Julie joined MATRIX in 2005 as a public health practitioner interested in revealing the interrelation of ecological systems and human health. Her primary interest is to make knowledge of the environment and health generated through scientific research relevant and useful to communities at a local level. Examples of recent projects include evaluating a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) lead abatement project with an interest in the impact of lead exposure on children's health, and a community health assessment examining the role of industry in impacting community residents health. Ms. Ray has experience working in academic, local government and non-profit settings. She has expertise in environmental exposure assessment, risk assessment, risk communication, program evaluation and community-based participatory research methods. At MATRIX she is the expert on GIS mapping projects. She received her master of public health from the Epidemiology and Public Health Department of the Yale University School of Medicine and her master of environmental management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Ms. Ray received her undergraduate degree from Saint Olaf College (Northfield, MN) in Biology and Psychology.
Fiona Wong , MPH is a Senior Research Associate, International Health, at MATRIX Public Health Consultants, Inc.
Fiona Wong
Fiona joined Matrix in 2006 after completing a Master's degree in Inernational Health at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. Ms Wong has extensive experience working in the international health field and in public health research and practice. She has specific fieldwork experience in Vellore India, examining local health systems and risk factors associated with low birth weight, as well in Kep Cambodia, assessing risk factors for HIV/AIDS in rural populations. She has worked extensively with international government organizations in the areas of STI epidemiology, as well as conducted surveillance studies at the WHO Regional European office. While at Oxfam Canada, Ms Wong faciliated workshops on HIV prevention, developed strategies for public education, and addressed issues surrounding the delivery of anti-retroviral therapies (ART's). In addition, Ms. Wong has served as a volunteer for Amnesty International (Canada). Ms. Wong graduated from the University of Toronto Canada, with an Honours degree in Human Biology and Fine Arts.
Josefa Martinez, MHS is a Senior Research Associate
Sefa Martinez
Josefa joined MATRIX in 2006. Ms. Martinez has devoted more that five years to international efforts in community-rooted HIV prevention interventions for under-served populations in the United States and Peru. As a Trinity College Human Rights Progam Fellow she traveled to Ghana, West Africa to work with youth and young adults in various cities on health related topics. As a researcher she has coordinated the design and evaluation of a number of federally-funded (Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment) programs. She was project manager for the State of Connecticut HIV Evaluation Bank and fo a number of federally-funded HIV prevention intervention projects through Urban policy Straregies, LLC.
Ms. Martinez works extensively with academic institutions, state and federal governments, and nonprofit orginazations to provide consultation, supervision, training and technical assistance, evaluation support, and policy analysis. She has also worked extensively with community groups providing technical assistance and capacity building in the design and evaluation of evidence-based prevention interventions in HIV/AIDS.
Ms. Martinez has a graduate degree in International Health from John Hopkins University.
Karen Siegel, MPH is a Research Associate
Karen joined MATRIX in 2007 after completing a Master's degree in Public Health at the Yale School of Public Health. Her area of concentration was Global Health, with a particular focus on globalization and chronic disease. Her Masters thesis was entitled "Finding a Policy Solution to the Diabetes Epidemic in India", which highlighted past global sucesses and called for better prevention and management of diabetes via multisectoral collaboration with food and other companies, policymakers, governments and individuals. Prior to Yale, Karen studied Biology and Hispanic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and worked for one year as a medical assistant, where she interned at the Oxford Health Alliance and HEAL Global Partnership, where she researched and wrote a report about how companies can engage to promote health and prevent childhood obesity and chronic disease, especially in emerging market countries. Karen has been a member of the Novo Nordisk Youth Panel, a group of young people who work toward increasing awareness of the social, economic, and humanitarian aspects of diabetes, in conjunction with the Unite for Diabetes campaign, as well as speaking to policymakers and other key officals. Particular interests are diabetes/chronic disease in India and other developing countries, marketing to children (how multinational corporations can invest in health), harnessing the positive aspects of globalization for health promotion, public-private partnerships, and translational research.
MATRIX takes civic responsibility seriously. All staff at MATRIX serve on committees and/or Boards of Directors of community organizations.
