Media Contact
Sam Fahmy
Director of Communications
School of Public Health
[email protected]
Ph.D. student Bre Edison says that School of Public Health faculty have made her feel supported and valued while facilitating a journey that has empowered her to grow as a researcher. She was recently recognized as a member of the Journal of Adolescent Health’s “Distinguished Dozen” for her research-based contributions to adolescent and young adult health.
Name: Bre Edison
Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri
Undergraduate and master’s degrees and institutions: I earned my Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in exercise and sport science with minors in biology and medical anthropology and a Master of Public Health from the University of Pittsburgh.
Expected date of graduation: May 2025
Ph.D. concentration: Health Promotion and Behavior
Dissertation advisor: Dennis Reidy
Why did you choose the Georgia State School of Public Health?
A good friend in my master’s program attended Georgia State for her undergraduate degree and encouraged me to apply to the School of Public Health’s Ph.D. program. When I interviewed with a couple of faculty members it immediately felt kismet. They made me feel very supported and valued before I even enrolled. Ultimately, my co-advisors and the program facilitated my journey, empowered me to grow as a researcher and prepared me for my next steps.
Tell us about your research:
My broad research interests focus is on adolescent and young adult sexual health and dating violence prevention. That encapsulates comprehensive sex education, sexual health communication, sexual behaviors, healthy relationship development and much more. My niche interest is definitely sexual health communication among youth with an emphasis on marginalized populations that are often overlooked in formal sex education curricula. I try to root my research in considering how culture heavily influences sexual health and behavior.
What’s been your most memorable experience so far in the Ph.D. program?
Surprisingly, co-teaching a graduate level course. Teaching has always made me anxious, but my advisor worked with me to prepare lessons, and the students were really engaged and supportive. As the semester progressed, I felt less nervous and really began to enjoy the experience and learn how to improve.
What’s your career aspiration?
I would love to stay in academia at a research institution, continuing to research sexual health among youth as a principal investigator. A bit of a side goal I have is to write and publish a collection of short stories that is informative, research-driven and narrative-based that can be a point of reference for dating and sex education. Eventually, when I’m more settled in my career, I want to become a lactation consultant and get into Black maternal health work. I have so many interests that I don’t want to limit myself, and often these public health issues are interrelated and complex.