PROFESSIONAL HISTORY Research Assistant Professor Sep 2013 - present Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Adjunct Faculty Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, India Jul 2013 - present Postdoctoral Associate Nov 2010 - Aug 2013 Kellogg Health Scholars Program Affiliate Fellow Sep 2009 - Aug 2010 Postdoctoral Associate Nov 2005 Aug 2007 Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois EDUCATION MPH Behavioral and Community Health Sciences 2009 Certificate in Public Health Program Evaluation 2009 PhD Biological Sciences 2005 Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania HEALTH BEHAVIOR AND EQUITY RESEARCH Determinants of childhood vaccine uptake 2012 Collaborated with geographers at Penn State University to examine impact of proximity to health centers on childhood vaccination in Niger. Used the demographic and health surveys. Findings were published in the International Journal of Health Geographics. Spatial models, poverty, and influenza hospitalization 2015 Designed and led studies using agent-based models to examine mechanisms that generate poverty-related inequalities in influenza in the US. Findings were published in BMC Public Health. Access to healthy food in Allegheny County 2008 Designed and led a mixed methods study of African Americans access to healthy food 1
Conducted focus groups and a survey, analyzed data, and reported back to the community Findings were published in Health & Place Impact assessment of labor laws in Allegheny County 2013 Assessed the impact of paid sick days policies on reducing influenza illness in Allegheny County workplaces using an agent-based model. Findings were published in the American Journal of Public Health. This study has influenced lawmakers and advocacy groups in Pittsburgh and the US. Health behaviors during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic in the US 2009-2012 Designed and led an analysis of social, policy, and individual-level determinants of acceptance of the 2009 H1N1 vaccine using a nationally representative survey. Findings were published in Health Education & Behavior. Studied the impact of access to workplace resources on self-reported influenza incidence during the 2009 pandemic using a nationally representative survey in the US. Findings were published in the American Journal of Public Health. Global health security agenda and pandemic policy analysis 2011 & 2014 Reviewed health inequalities in contagious disease epidemics, showing that they are a challenge for global health security Findings published in Biosecurity and Bioterrorism Reviewed the national pandemic plan in India from a health disparities perspective. Posited that factors at multiple levels from individual to policy are related to existing disparities in India, and that pandemic planning must account for these factors to avoid exacerbating health inequalities. Findings were published in Health Policy & Planning. COMMUNICATION, WRITING, AND EDITING Process documentation of a pilot public health program in India 2008 Carried out a process evaluation of a pilot program of the Government of India, Community-based participatory monitoring of healthcare facilities in India. Used participant observation and survey analysis. This report informed the scale-up of the program in India. Promotion of equity research in infectious disease epidemics 2015 Organized a special session at the American Public Health Association s annual conference in Chicago to promote equity research in infectious disease epidemics. Invited speakers, wrote a successful application for a special session, and also presented my research during the well-attended session. Details at https://apha.confex.com/apha/143am/webprogram/session45587.html 2
Freelance Writing Wrote articles on health policy with the aim of increasing public understanding of the issues facing marginalized people in India o Co-edited a newsletter for the Association for India s Development. An article I authored is archived at http://goo.gl/epvwn1 o Wrote an article about a low-cost Braille tutor for blind people in the developing world for SciDev.Net. Available at http://goo.gl/gzoycm Science Writing, PLoS Biology, San Francisco, CA Summer, 2005 Wrote synopses of peer-reviewed scientific research papers at the Public Library of Science (PLoS) and learned the art of presenting science to a lay audience. Examples of my writing are at http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.0030353 and http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.0030352 Peer-Reviewer Serve as a peer-reviewer for the following journals o BMJ Open o Epidemiology and Infection o American Journal of Public Health o Health & Place o PLoS ONE o Vaccine o BMC Public Health o Journal of Health Communication MANAGEMENT OF GLOBAL HEALTH PROJECTS R25 educational grant, $110,000 annual direct costs, FIC, NIH 2015-present Led the collaborative writing of a successful proposal to train infectious disease modelers in India, assembling collaborators from Public Health Foundation of India (New Delhi), the Indian Institute of Public Health (Hyderabad), and the Graduate School of Public Health (University of Pittsburgh). As a co-investigator, liaised and collaborated effectively with three joint PIs across countries and time zones, as well as with the NIH Program Officer. Led the planning and organization of a two-day symposium on modeling in Hyderabad, India. Details at http://www.healthanalytics.co.in/hadm2016/ Reviewed small, development grant-applications and helped make funding decisions as part of a team. Supervised and mentored Indian programmers and researchers to ensure success of the project. 3
Field surveys in India, $28,000 annual direct costs, CDC 2014-present Developed collaboration with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS, New Delhi) with internal funding from the Asian Studies Center, University of Pittsburgh. Coordinated with researchers in India and with funders at the CDC to pilot survey instrument and to develop a feasible study. Designed the study and led a team conducting detailed field surveys to explore the role of human-human and human-animal contacts as a risk factor for respiratory infection. Presented study design and preliminary results at the International Congress on Infectious Diseases (ICID), 2016. NON-PROFIT FUNDING EXPERIENCE The Association for India s Development 1999-2010 Worked with the Association for India's Development (AID), a 501(c)(3) organization committed to supporting sustainable development in India. Led reviews of grant proposals from organizations in India, visited project-sites, and evaluated projects for funding decisions at AID. Communicated internally and externally regarding proposals and site visits using verbal and written media. Led teams of volunteers in organizing large fundraising events in Pittsburgh. INVITED TALKS o National Consultation on Estimation of Influenza Mortality in India, May 5th 2014. Agentbased modeling to examine disparities in influenza incidence. o Center on Race and Social Problems, Economics RAP group, April 4th 2013. Policies to Reduce Influenza in the Workplace: Impact Assessments Using an Agent-Based Model. o Work Family Research Network Conference, New York City June 15th 2012. Panel on making research relevant for public policy. o Public Health Adaptive Systems (PHASYS) Seminar, January 15th 2010. Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Exposure, Susceptibility, and Access to Health Care for H1N1 Influenza: Results of a National Survey. o Center on Race and Social Problems, Economic Disparities RAP group, March 4th 2009. Neighborhood-level Nutrition Environment: People's perceptions of grocery stores in the eastern neighborhoods of Pittsburgh. SELECTED PAPERS (Full list at https://goo.gl/1yyt2g) o Guclu, H.*, Kumar, S.*, Galloway, D., Krauland, M., Sood, R., Bocour, A., Hershey, T.B., van Nostrand, E., and Potter, M. (2016) HAZEL: A tool to examine primary care access after Hurricane Sandy. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness 1-8. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2016.44. *Guclu and Kumar contributed equally to the work. 4
o Kumar, S., Piper, K., Galloway, D.D., Hadler, J.L., and Grefenstette, J.J. (2015) Is population structure sufficient to generate area-level inequalities in influenza rates? An examination using agent-based models. BMC Public Health 15(1): 947. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-2284-2 o Quinn, S.C., and Kumar, S. (2014) Health Inequalities and Contagious Disease Epidemics: A Challenge for Global Health Security Biosecurity and Bioterrorism 12(5): 263-273. o Kumar, S., Grefenstette, J.J., Galloway, D., Albert, S.M., and Burke, D.S. (2013) Policies to Reduce Influenza in the Workplace: Impact Assessments Using an Agent-Based Model Am J Public Health 103: 1406-1411. o Blanford, J.I., Kumar, S., Luo, W., and MacEachren, A. (2012) It s a long, long walk: accessibility to hospitals, maternity and integrated health centers in Niger. Int J of Health Geographics 11-24. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1476-072x-11-24 o Kumar, S., Quinn, S.C., Kim, K.H., and Hilyard, K. (2012) US Public support for global vaccine donations during the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic PLoS ONE 7(3): e33025. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10. 1371/journal.pone.0033025 o Kumar, S., Quinn, S.C., Kim, K.H., Daniel, L., and Freimuth, V. (2012) The Impact of Work- place Policies and Other Social Factors on self-reported Influenza-Like Illness Incidence during the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic Am J Public Health 102 134-140. o Kumar, S., Quinn, S.C., Kim, K.H., Musa, D., and Freimuth, V. (2011) A Social Ecological Model for Influenza Vaccine Acceptance in the US Health Education & Behavior 39(2): 229-243. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1090198111415105 o Kumar, S., and Quinn, S.C. (2011) Existing health inequalities in India: informing preparedness planning for an influenza pandemic Health Policy & Planning 27(6): 516-526. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czr075. o Kumar, S., Quinn, S.C., Kriska, A.M., and Thomas, S.B. (2011) Food is directed to the area : African Americans perceptions of the neighborhood nutrition environment in Pittsburgh Health & Place 17 370-378. o Tang, T.*, Kumar, S.*, Shen, Y., Lu, J., Wu, M.L., Shi, S., Li, W.H., Wu, C.I. (2010) Adverse interactions between micro-rnas and target genes from different species. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107 12935-40. *Tang and Kumar contributed equally to the work. o Kumar, S. and Lopez, AJ. (2005) Negative feedback regulation among SR splicing factors encoded by Rbp1 and Rbp1-like in Drosophila melanogaster. EMBO Journal 24 2646-2655. 5