Allison Chamberlain Named Director of Research and Practice Relations with DPH

Elevating practice and partnerships is one major goal articulated in the Rollins School of Public Health’s five-year strategic plan. To help the school achieve this goal, Allison Chamberlain, PhD, research associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology, has stepped into a new role as Rollins School of Public Health’s Director of Research and Practice Relations with the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH).

Rollins has a long-standing, important relationship with DPH that has expanded in recent years through the Emory COVID-19 Response Collaborative and Rollins Epidemiology Fellows Program, both of which are headed by Chamberlain. In this new role, she will work to strengthen this partnership even further.

“The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the need to forge deeper relationships with state and local public health agencies,” says Chamberlain. “In three years, our Rollins Epidemiology Fellows Program has already started to help rebuild the public health workforce in Georgia, and I see enormous opportunity for growth in that program and so many others.”

Chamberlain will build off her experience leading these initiatives, consulting with the Fulton County Board of Health, and guiding practice engagement for the Center for Infectious Disease Modeling and Analytics & Training Hub  as she begins her work in this role. She will assist Rollins faculty and DPH in forging stronger connections that enhance collaboration and advance programmatic work at the state and local level in Georgia.

“My experiences have really opened my eyes to the strengths and limitations of local health departments and what they do on a regular basis,” says Chamberlain. “But it has also shown me how their work can be enhanced if they collaborate closely with an academic partner.”