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Project E4: Underserved Populations

Dr. Randy Rowel Dr. Randy Rowel is an Assistant Professor in Morgan State University’s (MSU) School of Public Health and Policy. He received his undergraduate degree at Morgan and his masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Utah and the University of Maryland College Park, respectively.

At Morgan State University, Dr. Rowel’s research agenda is to examine the cultural implications of public health emergency preparedness, response, and recovery. As an Associate Faculty at Johns Hopkins University he works with their Center for Public Health Preparedness. In this capacity, Dr. Rowel, faculty, and students at Morgan co-sponsored the Public Health Preparedness: Why Culture Matters Symposium with JHU School of Public Health. He currently serves on the Maryland Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Advisory Committee and teaches a graduate level class on culture and disaster at Morgan.

In partnership with Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Dr. Rowel recently completed a project that examined natural disaster experiences of low-income African Americans and Spanish speaking Latinos populations before, during, and after Hurricane Isabel and the tornado that devastated Charles County Maryland approximately 4 years ago. This initiative also explored low-income perceptions about the threat of terrorism in this country. A follow-up study with the same population was recently conducted to further assess disaster service needs, perceptions about pandemic and avian flu, and the impact Hurricane Katrina had on their perceptions about disaster preparedness, response, and recover.

In addition, Dr. Rowel is the Director of the Why Culture Matters Work Group for Disaster Studies, an organization that informs public health professionals and faith- and community-based organizations about the needs of vulnerable populations during natural and technological disasters. Lastly, Dr. Rowel serves as an investigator for the Department of Homeland Security funded National Center for Preparedness and Catastrophic Event Response (PACER). This Johns Hopkins University led consortium was recently formed to establish the scientific foundation and principles of the practice of homeland security in matters of preparedness and response to catastrophic events.