Faculty

Dr. Jester earned her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

For the last seven years, she was an Associate Research Scientist at Zero to Thrive in the Department of Psychiatry. She evaluated the effects of interventions for young children and families using linear mixed modeling, survival analysis and Bayesian analysis. She has also provided statistical expertise to researchers in the School of Social Work’s Treatment Innovation and Dissemination Research Group.

Shanna K. Kattari, PhD, MEd, CSE (they/them/theirs) is an associate professor at the School of Social Work, in the Women’s and Gender Studies Department (by courtesy), and is the director of the [Sexuality|Relationships|Gender] Research Collective. A white, Jewish, nonbinary, disabled, chronically ill, neurodivergent (AuDHD), polyamorous, queer fat Femme, their practice and community background is as a board-certified sexologist, certified sexuality educator and social justice activist.

Erin M. Khang serves as the Director of Field Education and clinical assistant professor at the School of Social Work. She earned her MSSA degree from the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University.

Edith C. Kieffer, MPH, Ph.D., Professor Emerita, University of Michigan School of Social Work, conducted research addressing health and health care disparities. She has extensive experience planning, conducting and analyzing data from qualitative formative research and intervention research studies in community and health care settings, including randomized clinical trials.

Sherrie A. Kossoudji is presently an associate professor emerita in the School of Social Work and held an adjunct associate professor appointment in the Department of Economics. Her principal research area was immigration. She has written numerous articles on the legal status of immigrant workers in the United States and the incentives to cross the border illegally. Much of her work attempted to discern the link between legal status in the United States and economic outcomes. She has written on wealth disparities for immigrants--in particular, on home ownership as assets for immigrants.

Jax Kynn, MA, MSW, focuses on research methods, program evaluation, social welfare policies and violence prevention. Their work is centered on understanding violence at a macro-level and how social workers can improve how institutions interact with historically marginalized populations. Kynn has experience in qualitative and quantitative research and evaluation, program management and grant writing, and they edit podcasts in their free time.

Dr. Ashley Lacombe-Duncan received her MSW (2010) and PhD (2018) from the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on healthcare access and health equity, with a particular focus on healthcare access for people who experience multiple forms of intersecting oppressions.

Jamie LaLonde, MSW ’14, developed a passion for healthcare and geriatrics during an internship at U-M’s Turner Senior Resource Center.  For the past 20 years, she has used that passion to serve in roles within nursing home, assisted living, memory care and hospice spaces where she strives to support patients, families and caregivers find satisfaction and joy.  She holds several certifications in dementia education and loves to support people in caregiving relationships to find success through education and outreach.

Ann Lampkin-Williams is a clinical professor of social work. Since 2017, Lampkin-Williams has served as dean of the College of Education, Health, and Human Services at the University of Michigan-Dearborn (UM-Dearborn). Under the umbrella of the College, she also guides the operations of the university's Early Childhood Education Center. Prior to her current appointment, she served as special counsel to the chancellor for inclusion and strategic projects. In this role, she championed complex personnel and operational transitions in support of UM-Dearborn's Metropolitan Vision.