Dr. Monica Swahn

A Bit About Me

Previously, to joining VCU as the founding Dean of the School of Public Health, I was the Dean of the Wellstar School of Health and Human Services at Kennesaw State University (KSU). Wellstar College served nearly 6,500 students across 4 academic units across more than 10 disciplines. Previous to my 4 years at KSU, I was a Distinguished University Professor in the department of Population Health Sciences in the School of Public Health at Georgia State University (GSU). My main research areas pertain to health risk behaviors and disparities among adolescents and young adults, primarily focusing on the structural drivers of alcohol, violence and HIV/AIDS and mental health outcomes in the United States and globally. An additional area of research pertains to alcohol and how it exacerbates health disparities, particularly chronic diseases such as breast cancer. Some of my engagements include:

• Receiving the Sheth Distinguished Faculty Award for International Achievement in 2019 at Georgia State University.

• Serving as a Fulbright Scholar for the sub-Saharan HIV program and assigned to the School of Public Health at Makerere University, Uganda (2016-2018), to develop and implement an alcohol research center. 

• Presenting my research on the integration of Alcohol Use, Gender-Based Violence and HIV to the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations (2014, 2015, 2017).

• Consulting with the United Nations Development Program/World Health Organization on the integration of Alcohol, Violence and Infectious Diseases in policy development in sub-Saharan Africa.

• Consulting with the World Health Organization’s Africa Office on alcohol marketing in sub-Saharan Africa and on gender-based violence to the Pan American Health Organization in Guyana.

• Serving as the former Associate Vice President for Research for Georgia State University (2011-2014) and was previously as the Associate Dean for Research for the College of Health and Human Sciences, 2008-2011.

• Serving the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for just about 10 years as a health scientist/epidemiologist in the Division of Violence Prevention, Deputy Associate Director of Science in the Office on Smoking and Health and finally as a Dixie Snyder Fellow in the Office of the Chief Science Officer.