People
Co-Director – George Rust, MD, MPH, FAAFP, FACPM
Dr. Rust trained at an urban public hospital in Chicago, led clinical services at a migrant & community health center in Central Florida, and founded the National Center for Primary Care at the historically-black Morehouse School of Medicine. He has won many awards for teaching, research, & service, and has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. Throughout his career he has sought to build bridges between primary care and community health and population health equity.
Co-Director – Jeff Harman, Ph.D.
Dr. Harman, a health economist and health services researcher, joined the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine at the Florida State University College of Medicine in 2015. After working for several years as a mental health counselor, he received his Ph.D. in Health Services Research. His research explores utilization and expenditures of health services, with an emphasis on the impact of health policies on outcomes, costs, and services for vulnerable populations, such as individuals with limited incomes and individuals suffering from mental illness and addiction.
Founding Director – Dr. Les Beitsch, MD, FACPM
Prior to joining the College of Medicine, Dr. Beitsch held numerous leadership positions in public health, including Dr. Beitsch was Commissioner of Health for the State of Oklahoma, serving in that capacity from June 2001 till November 2003. Before that time he held several positions within the Florida Department of Health for 12 years, most recently Deputy Secretary. He is the recipient of numerous awards in public health, including the Florida Public Health Association Presidential Award and the CDC Exemplary Service Award.
Affiliated Faculty
Claudia Blackburn, M.P.H., Assistant Professor FSU-COM BSSM
Administrator, Leon County Health Dept, Tallahassee, FL.
Joedrecka Brown-Speights, MD
Associate Professor, Dept. of Family Medicine
FSU College of Medicine
Joedrecka S. Brown Speights, M.D., is Professor and Chair, Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health at the Florida State University College of Medicine. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and fellowship-trained in maternal child health (MCH). She is the 2018 recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Distinguished Service Award by the Florida State University. Her experience includes serving as the medical director of the National Community Center of Excellence in Women’s Health, Office of Women’s Health, Department of Health and Human Services at Turley Family Health Center (USF Morton Plant Mease Family Medicine Residency), where she practiced full-scope family medicine including operative obstetrics, and global health.
Samantha Goldfarb, Dr.PH., M.P.H.
Assistant Professor FSU-COM BSSM
Dr. Goldfarb joined the FSU College of Medicine in 2015 as Research Faculty in the Department after graduating from University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health with a Doctorate of Public Health (DrPH) in the Department of Health Care Organization and Policy. Dr. Goldfarb’s degree holds a concentration in Maternal and Child Health Policy, and her research is focused on these issues, particularly as they relate to the life course perspective which holds that there are a complex set of risk (e.g., stress, perceived discrimination) and protective (e.g., education, mental health counseling) factors that impact individuals’ health throughout their life span which must be addressed for optimal prevention of poor health outcomes.
Katelyn Y Graves, Ph.D.
Research Faculty FSU-COM BSSM
Dr. Graves has a background in demography and sociology, with an emphasis on biosocial health. She has experience with a broad range of demographic and statistical analyses, utilizing software programs such as Stata and SAS. She is well-trained in analyzing secondary data sets such as Medicare and Medicaid claims data. She is involved in several program evaluations aimed at assessing public health programs and improving population health for the state of Florida.
Heidi Kinsell, Ph.D.
Research Faculty FSU-COM BSSM