Dennis Donkor joined the Begun Center in Fall 2024 as a Research Associate for the Children’s Behavioral Health Center of Excellence. Dennis is a pragmatic public health professional with over a decade of experience in program implementation and evaluation focused on reducing health disparities among infants/children, youth and women. His interest for this population group started from Ghana, West Africa where he spearheaded the establishment of 50 new adolescent friendly centers that engaged adolescents within schools about their sexual and reproductive health reaching about 5000 high school students with education and community activities and connecting them to resources to raise their awareness about sexual health. Dennis also served as an epidemiologist at the Cleveland Department of Public Health on the MomsFirst project focused on supporting expectant mothers and new moms to have safe pregnancy in the city of Cleveland. In this role, he ensured high quality data reporting, monitored the program’s reach and collaborated with partners and key stakeholders to achieving the goal of reducing disparities in infant mortality. Throughout his career, Dennis has focused on improving the health of vulnerable populations through community-based research and projects addressing social determinants of health. Dennis holds a Masters in Geography from Western Michigan University and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Toledo.
Q: Why is your work at the Begun Center important to you, to our community, and to the world? I consider it a privilege to conduct research that contributes to the health of adolescents. It is a formative period where young people war with their emotions, passion, mental health, creativity etc. I feel my work at Begun provides a conducive environment that lessens this burden on them.
Q: What is a cause about which you are particularly passionate? The health of infants, children and mothers.