Final Semester, Spring 2022, R.I.S.E. Seminar Series
As we finalize the Spring 2022 semester, being the final funding year for The National Institute of General Medical Sciences-Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (R.I.S.E.) Program Seminar Series. This series focused on bringing eminent scientific knowledge to WSSU. The seminar series was vital in stimulating the interest of students and intellectual environment of the science disciples at WSSU. The symposium also provided an important platform for students and faculty to present their research findings to the WSSU community. This was ideal in enhancing opportunities for our scholars concerning summer research, graduate and post-baccalaureate programs.
At the end our program we look back and remember the diverse disciplines that were represented in these sessions; giving knowledge and insight to our scholars. From academic research, applicable business sense to maneuvering through life changing events; our scholars received knowledge and wisdom from some of the greatest minds across the country. We had the opportunity to bring former MARC U*STAR and NIGMS R.I.S.E. scholars who are now PhDs and Master's degrees recipients back to speak to our scholars. What a wonderful tribute to the success of these programs that these speakers were not only WSSU alumni, but also program alumni.
We celebrate our scholars, and look forward to hearing of their great achievements as they pursue their professional research careers. All made possible by the grant funds of the National Institute of Health and The National Institute of General Medical Sciences. We applaud the faculty and staff who untiringly poured into this program to make every year successful in exposing our underrepresented community to the world of research.
Kineka J Hull, PhD, MS, MSPH
Dr. Hull is a public health researcher with expertise in studying risk behaviors among adolescents and youth, sexuality and contraceptive use among African American Women, and working with diverse, underserved, vulnerable, and rural populations. She has led studies focusing on comprehensive sexual and reproductive health, pregnancy prevention, healthy communication, and COVID-19. Dr. Hull conducts her work through classroom-based and virtual interventions, focus groups, curricula development, program design and evaluation, and secondary data analysis.
Since joining RTI in 2021, Dr. Hull has been a part of a team to evaluate healthcare disparities and health service deliveries among adolescents and young adults. She also provides training and offers technical expertise for projects supporting adolescent pregnancy prevention programs. In addition, Dr. Hull is part of a team that develops and implements a youth-centered social media campaign that promotes goal setting, healthy relationships, and healthy decision-making and develops and provides educational activities and resources for youth-serving professionals. Dr. Hull also moderates focus groups on determining African American women's contraceptive preferences.
Before joining RTI, Dr. Hull served as principal investigator for a North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative funded project that organized 13 youth-serving stakeholders and provided county-wide sexual health education to sixth to ninth graders. This project reduced the county's teen pregnancy rate from third to 10th in the State over a four-year time frame. She was awarded the 2018 Lisa Clarke Bridge Builder Award for her work based on impact, establishing communication between multiple health-serving agencies, health disparity reduction, moving best practices from theory to action, and increasing advocacy for women, children, and families. Dr. Hull also led a Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) community-based intervention to increase the diversity of COVID-19 contact tracers. Her project trained and employed 32 diverse, culturally competent, and responsive contact tracers and health coaches to assist with the North Carolina COVID-19 response.
Dr. Hull has over 20 years of experience teaching in higher education and still serves as an adjunct faculty member at Winston-Salem State University and Walden University. She is a member of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists, the American Evaluation Association, the American Public Health Association, the Association of University Programs in Health Administration, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, and the Society for College and University Planning.
Jamila A. Green M.A.(WSSU/MARC U*STAR Alum)
Jamila Green is a Charlotte native and serves as the community engagement manager at YWCA Central Carolinas. She has been actively involved in nonprofit work focused on education and youth for most of her professional life, working as a site coordinator with Communities in Schools of the Midlands in Columbia, SC prior to her YWCA role. Jamila graduated from Winston- Salem State University with a bachelor’s degree in psychological science. She holds a master’s degree in community social psychology from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and a certificate in nonprofit management from the University of North Carolina Charlotte. Jamila’s education, experience, and passion for supporting diverse communities make her a strong advocate for educational access, equity, and opportunities for those with limited access to resources related to successful outcomes.
Jamila is also the owner of Made By Mahogany LLC a self-care business focused on feeling your best both inside and out. She is also a member of the Charlotte Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and enjoys spending time with those that bring her joy.
Zipporah Foster, M.S.
Operations and Recruitment Coordinator at Frankel Staffing Partners
Zipporah Foster attended Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) where she was recruited to play volleyball. She was a part of the 2013 & 2015 Southern Volleyball Champion team, 2013 CIAA Championship Runner-up team, and 2015 CIAA Champion team. In 2016, Zipporah shifted her focus from athletics to academics and was accepted into the RISE Program, where she explored research areas related to considerateness, intersectionality, religion, and the coach-athlete relationship. In her senior year, she participated in seven research presentations and published her research related to the coach-athlete relationship in an undergraduate journal.
After graduating with a B.A. in Psychology from WSSU, she continued her education at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) where she studied athletic motivation. While at EKU, Zipporah participated in two research presentations focusing on relational motivation and athletic performance. She completed her second publication on predicting athletic performance. Zipporah received her M.A. in General Psychology, with a concentration in Social Psychology.
Zipporah now works for a boutique staffing firm as an Operations and Recruitment Coordinator. She has also taught multiple courses as an Adjunct Professor and Online Facilitator at WSSU and EKU respectively. In her free time, Zipporah loves to coach volleyball, travel, and spend time with family and friends.
Bryan A. Wilson, PhD, MBA
Dr. Wilson is from the great city of New Orleans, Louisiana and has been fascinated with science since childhood. Bryan earned a Bachelors degree in Biological/Nutritional Science from Louisiana State University in 2008 and graduated from Wake Forest School of Medicine with a dual Ph.D./M.B.A degree in 2016. He is passionate about understanding cardiovascular health problems and works in the pharma industry to better understand the context of heart disease and metabolic diseases. He is currently a Senior Consultant - Clinical Science at Halloran Consulting Group, Inc. In his spare time he enjoys spending time with family (wife Britni and puppy Bailey) and mentoring the next generation of science leaders through professional and leadership development.
