About Priscilla Barnes, MPH, PhD, MCHES

Priscilla Barnes is an associate professor of applied health science. She received her Ph.D. from Western Michigan University in 2010. She earned her Master of Public Health degree and her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University.

She is a researcher who works closely with community members and organizations to help create and improve programs that benefit public health. Her focus is on understanding how different groups can work together to make sure health services reach the people who need them most, especially in areas where access to care is limited.

Dr. Barnes has over fifteen years of experience working in public health, including with local health departments, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the U.S. Air Force. She uses this experience to study what helps or gets in the way of making health programs successful, particularly in communities that face a lot of health challenges.

She also works with African American/Black leaders and advocates to educate community members about Alzheimer’s Disease, dementia, and brain health through an app called Lola.

Much of her work is in rural Southern Indiana, where she has helped create programs like Heart Healthy Hoosiers and HoosierHelp, which connects local residents with important health services. In addition to my research, she work at the YMCA as a group fitness instructor, helping others stay active and healthy.

Her goal is to work alongside communities in addressing complex problems and linking and leveraging university resources to respond to community priorities.

SCHOLARLY INTERESTS

  • Public health partnerships

  • Community engagement

  • Coalition development

  • Community health improvement plans

APPOINTMENTS, GRANTS, AND HONORS

  • 2018-2020: Principal Investigator, Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement, "Healthy Rural Indiana 2025: Community Health Improvement Plans CHIPs Project"

  • Brian Douglas Hiltunen Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Scholarship of Engagement, Indiana Campus Compact, 2017

  • National Institutes of Health (NIH), Division of Loan Repayment (LRP), 2013-2015

EDUCATION

  • B.S.  Indiana University  1997

  • M.P.H.  Indiana University  1998

  • Ph.D.  Western Michigan University  2010

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Turnock B, Barnes P. (2007 Jul/Aug) History will be so kind. Journal of Public Health Management & Practice. 13(4): 337-341.

Barnes P, Curtis A. (2009, May/Jun) A national examination of local health department (LHD) partnerships with faith communities in the U.S. Journal of Public Health Managment and Practice, 15(3): 253-263.

Beatty K, Harris J, Barnes P. (2010, June) The role of inter-organizational partnerships in health services provision among rural, suburban, and urban local health departments. Journal of Rural Health, 26(3): 248-258.

Barnes P, Curtic A, Downey L, Moonesignhe R. (2012). A multi-state examination of partnership activities among local public health systems. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. 18(5): E14-23.

Mathis A, Barnes P, Moonesighe R. (2012). Reversing racial and ethnic disparities in postneonatal mortality across Florida: The role of local health departments versus private providers. Florida Public Health Review. 9, 9-17.

Shipley M, Lohrmann D, Barnes P, O'Neill J. (2011). "Telling their Story:" Balancing leadership responsibilities and local school health priorities. Accepted for publication in the Journal of School Health.

Stafford J, Barnes P, Goodman M. (2011). Developing an infrastructure for community based participatory research in Long Island, New York. Submitted to Journal of Community Practice for review.

Mathis A, Barnes P, Mamou F. Shah G. (2012). Integration of community health centers and local health departments in the Great Lakes Region. Accepted for pubilcation in Population Health Management.

Barnes P, Lohrmann D, Day K, Shipley M, O'Neill J. (2012). Indicators of partnership success among MICHIANA coordinated school health teams. Submitted to the Journal of School Health for review.

Shipley M, Lohrmann D, Barnes P, O'Neill J. (2012). Success stories: Communicating the school health message. Accepted for publication in The Health Educator.

Barnes P., Lohrmann D., Day K., Shipley M., O’Neill J. (2014). Indicators of partnership success among MICHIANA coordinated school health teams. The Health Educator. 45(2): 20-30.

Barnes P., Erwin P., Moonesinghe R. (2014) Measures of highly functioning health coalitions: Corollaries for an effective public health system. Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research. Vol. 3: No. 3, Article 1. Available at: http://uknowledge.uky.edu/frontiersinphssr/vol3/iss3/1

Barnes P., Schaefer S., Middlestadt S., Knoblock H. (2015). Who’s who in the crew? Exploring membership capacity in the Active Living Coalition. Evaluation and Program Planning. 50: 88-95.

Barnes P., Haderxhanaj L., Shah G. (2016). A state-level analysis of maternal and child health partnerships among Indiana local health departments. Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research. 5(1):13–20. DOI: 10.13023/FPHSSR.0501.03.

Barnes P., Erwin P., Moonesignhe R. (2017). Functional characteristics of health coalitions in local public health systems: Exploring the function of county health councils in Tennessee. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000000477.

Mayo T., Barnes P., Reece M., Sherwood Laughlin C., Deweese S., Valenta M.A., Weiss Kennedy C. (2017). Exploring proxy measures of mutuality for strategic partnership development: A case study. Health Promotion Practice. 18(4): 598-606. DOI: 10.1177/152483991770421.

Barnes P., Weiss Kennedy C., Schaefer S., Fogarty E., Lohrmann D., Thiagarajah K. (2017). Perceived factors influencing hospital-based primary care clinic referrals to community health medical nutrition therapy: An exploratory study. Journal of Interprofessional Care. 32(2): 224-227.