Our Team

Principal Investigators

Professor, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health; Director, The Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center

S. Jan Behrman Collegiate Professor of Reproductive Medicine; Chief of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility; Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan Medical School; Professor, Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, College of Literature, Science and the Arts; Director, MICHR Community Engagement


Steering Committee

The Michigan CEAL Steering Committee is composed of community partners who live and work in Genesee, Kent, Washtenaw, and Wayne Counties.

Executive Director and Founder, Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation (DHDC)

Bruce McCoy

CEO, Bibleway Outreach Ministries

Camille Johnson

Director of Development & Communications, Eastside Community Network

INSIGHT - Institute on National Social Inequities and Gaps in Health and Health Treatment


Charo Ledon

Founder and Co-Coordinator, Buenos Vecinos

CEO, Bridges into the Future

Administrator, Community Based Organization Partners

Director of Outreach, Genesee Health Plan; Founder and CEO, National Center for African American Consciousness

Chief Executive Officer, Community Health and Social Services, Inc. (CHASS)

Jo Ann McCollum

President, New West Willow Neighborhood Association

Executive Director, Health Net of West Michigan

Co-Director, Healthy Flint Research Coordinating Center; Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Michigan Medicine

Community Health Educator, Spectrum Health

Executive Director, Friends of Parkside

Translational Research Team

The Michigan CEAL Translational Research Team is composed of University of Michigan-affiliated researchers who are dedicated to community-based participatory research.

Program Staff


Arthi Ramakrishnan, MS, CCRP

Program Manager, Michigan CEAL; Research Operations Manager, Women’s Health and Reproductive Disparities Collaborative

Tricia Piechowski, MPH, MSW, MA

Program Manager, Michigan CEAL; Program Director, Community Engagement Program at the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR)


Meghan Spiroff, MHA

Project Manager, Michigan CEAL and CIVIC


Mary Beth Damm

Center Manager, Detroit URC

Program Manager, CEAL/CIVIC