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School of Public Health
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ATLANTA—Nearly 200 faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members gathered at Georgia State University for a full-day research symposium named in honor of two of the School of Public Health’s most dedicated supporters, Marshall Kreuter and Martha Katz.
The Kreuter Katz Lecture and Public Health Research Symposium included lightning talks presented by faculty and students, roundtable presentations featuring alumni speakers, and a poster session with a reception. Bonnielin Swenor, Endowed Professor of Disability Health and Justice at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and founding director of its Disability Health Research Center, delivered the keynote address.
“Research is truly central to all that we do here in the School of Public Health,” said Dean Rodney Lyn. “Our school creates knowledge through research and also shares knowledge through teaching. We apply research-based knowledge through our projects in local and global communities.”
Lyn noted that the Kreuter Katz Lecture Series was launched more than a decade ago with initial funding from Healthcare Georgia Foundation, which is now known as Georgia Health Initiative. Generous support from additional donors has enabled the school to expand the reach of the event, which is now known as the Kreuter Katz Lecture and Public Health Research Symposium. He added that the school continues to reach out to donors as it seeks to grow the endowment and further expand the reach of the event.
The Kreuter Katz Lecture and Public Health Research Symposium is named in honor of Marshall Kreuter and Martha Katz, pictured here with Dean Rodney Lyn.
“Bringing people and research-based knowledge together with the goal of promoting health for all is an overriding focus in the School of Public Health,” Lyn said. “We see that same commitment in the work of Marshall Kreuter and Martha Katz, which why our school’s signature annual event bears their name.”
About Marshall Kreuter and Martha Katz
Kreuter was one of the earliest faculty members in what was then known as the Institute of Public Health at Georgia State. During his career at GSU, he led several community-based participatory research projects. Prior to joining Georgia State, he was a Distinguished Scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His leadership roles at CDC included Director of the Division of Health Education, inaugural Director of the Division of Chronic Disease Control and Community Intervention, and Director of the Prevention Research Centers program.
Katz also had a distinguished career at the CDC, where she served for 22 years as Deputy Director for Policy and Legislation. In this role, she advised the CDC Director on policy issues and provided leadership for the agency’s legislative initiatives, health communications programs, and relationships with external partners. She previously served as Director of Health Policy for Healthcare Georgia Foundation and was instrumental in the establishment of the CDC Foundation.
To learn more about the Kreuter Katz Lecture and Public Health Research Symposium, visit publichealth.gsu.edu/kreuter_katz_symposium/.
The 2025 Kreuter Katz Lecture and Public Health Research Symposium was organized by a committee led by Daniel Whitaker, Associate Dean for Research. In addition to Whitaker, faculty and students who assisted in planning the event were:
- Jalayne Arias, Associate Professor, Department of Health Policy and Behavioral Sciences
- Elizabeth Armstrong-Mensah, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Health Policy and Behavioral Sciences
- Brian Barger, Research Associate Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences
- Rachel Carr, Master of Public Health student
- Roby Greenwald, Interim Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences
- Jidong Huang, Professor, Department of Health Policy and Behavioral Sciences
- Ruiyan Luo, Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences
- Anne Marie Schipani-McLaughlin, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences
- Dennis Reidy, Associate Professor, Department of Health Policy and Behavioral Sciences
- Claire Spears, Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor, Department of Health Policy and Behavioral Sciences
- Erin Vinoski Thomas, Interim Director of the Center for Leadership in Disability, Research Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Behavioral Sciences, and the Daniel Crimmins and Stacey Ramirez Distinguished Scholar for Leadership in Disability
- Scott Weaver, Research Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences