Email: mhawkins@american.edu

Phone: 202-885-6252

Dr. Melissa Hawkins is the Director of the Public Health Scholars Program in the Department of Health Studies at American University. She brings over a decade of experience in applying public health methodologies to government and private sector challenges.

Dr. Hawkins is also the research director of a five-year, USDA-funded intervention study on improving health literacy and preventing obesity among elementary school students in Washington, D.C. She previously served as Research Director for TMNcorp—a public health communications organization, where she led the design, conduct, and analyses for epidemiological investigations concerning women, infants, and children.

Dr. Hawkins holds a PhD and MHS in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, where she previously taught undergraduate and graduate students for 15 years before coming to American University. She is also a fellow with the American College of Epidemiology.