Beth Pathak, Ph.D.
President beth.pathak@wiise-usa.org
Beth Pathak is the founder, president, and chair of the board of WIISE. Dr. Pathak is a population health scientist who has spent 30 years conducting research on geographic, socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, and gender disparities in public health. She is a passionate advocate for methodologically rigorous scholarship which seeks to uncover the power relations that perpetuate socioeconomic and health inequalities. Currently she is Director of the COVKID Project, which has been tracking and reporting COVID-19 cases in children in teens since early 2020. Dr. Pathak has published numerous scientific papers and seven monographs, including Parent and Child Post-Traumatic Stress After Hurricane Charley: The CHEER Study, and Heart Healthy and Stroke Free: A Social Environment Handbook. Dr. Pathak worked for several years in state government in North Carolina, and served on the faculties of West Virginia University and the University of South Florida. She is a past member of the United Faculty of Florida (affiliated with the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers.) Immediately prior to founding WIISE, Dr. Pathak completed a two-year visiting fellowship with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (National Center for Health Statistics). Dr. Pathak earned her B.A. with honors from Wesleyan University with a double major in biology and environmental science and her M.S.P.H. and Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Beth has lived and worked in Florida, New York, Connecticut, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Maryland.
Janelle Menard, Ph.D.
Vice President
Janelle Menard joined the staff of WIISE as vice president in 2018. Dr. Menard is an applied anthropologist with expertise in mixed research methods and community‐based participatory research strategies in social science and community health research. She has conducted ethnographic and population-based health research in the French Caribbean and among Latin American and Caribbean immigrant groups in the U.S. Her fieldwork experience and personal relationships with immigrant families in Florida have given her insight into the practical challenges that people face with regard to health and social well-being, many of which are rooted in the social environment. As such, Dr. Menard advocates for a progressive, socio-ecological research approach to understanding and addressing issues that disproportionately affect disenfranchised groups. Dr. Menard has received several teaching awards, assisted with curriculum design and instruction for cultural competence in oncology, and managed a federally funded campus‐community partnership to address cancer health disparities. She has published in peer‐reviewed journals with wide, transdisciplinary readership, and her research has informed the development of interventions that address health inequity in underserved populations. Dr. Menard earned her B.A. in French and B.S. in anthropology from Kansas State University, her M.A. in anthropology from the University of Alabama, and her M.P.H. in epidemiology and Ph.D. in applied anthropology from the University of South Florida. She completed postdoctoral training in chronic disease and cancer prevention and control at the University of Miami. Janelle has lived and worked in Kansas, Alabama, and Florida.
Susan Hamburger, M.F.A., M.A.
Visual Arts Fellow
Susan Hamburger joined WiiSE as a Visual Arts Fellow in 2020. Ms. Hamburger is a visual artist and arts educator who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She holds a B.A. in Fine Art from Brandeis University, an M.F.A. in Visual Art from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University and an M.A. in Art Education from The City College of New York, CUNY. For the past 15 years she has focused on infusing late eighteenth and nineteenth century decorative arts motifs with renewed relevance by updating them to delineate contemporary political narratives of corruption, scandal, and malfeasance. Ms. Hamburger's work has been included in group exhibitions throughout the United States, and she has had multiple solo projects solo projects and exhibitions in New York and New Jersey. She has received fellowships and studio residencies across the country, and her work has been documented and reviewed in national publications including American Craft Magazine, Better Homes & Gardens and The New York Times. A lifelong resident of New York and Massachusetts, she has received support for work and research in Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, New Jersey, Tennessee and Wyoming. Ms. Hamburger's artworks and publications can be explored further at susanhamburger.net.
Nina Basu
Social Media Specialist
Nina Basu joined the staff of WIISE as a social media specialist in 2018. Ms. Basu’s passion for politics began in the classroom and has expanded to her community work. She volunteers regularly at Hungry Harvest, a nonprofit farmers aid group that redistributes locally grown food to food deserts in Baltimore. Fueled by recent immigration crackdowns, she has become a tutor for refugee students with Soccer Without Borders. She hopes to continue her spirit of civic engagement and commitment to social justice in her work with WIISE. Ms. Basu is completing her Bachelor’s degree, majoring in anthropology and international studies, at Towson University. Nina has lived and worked in India, West Virginia, Florida, and Maryland.