Kanika Harris, PhD, MPH, joined the Center for School, Health and Education as a consultant in 2015 and has a wealth of expertise in social determinants of health and health disparities. She brings innovative approaches and a social-culturally relevant lens to investigating current health issues. She assists in facilitating the professional development and technical assistance program designed for school-based health center leaders and their school partners in addressing barriers for youth at risk for high school dropout and adverse health outcomes.
Prior to joining CSHE, she served as a research fellow at the Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Health in Ann Arbor, Michigan. At CRECH, she led several research projects both domestically and internationally that focused on women’s health, birth outcomes, and HIV prevention for women of color and vulnerable populations. Her research background includes designing and testing cognitive intervention models that address risk-taking behaviors for minority populations.
The Center for Health and Health Care in Schools promotes child wellness and school success by partnering with communities to create collaborative solutions to bridge health and education so that kids are happy, healthy and motivated to learn. A nonpartisan children's health and education policy, resource, and technical assistance center located in the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University, CHHCS draws on a public health framework and applies its expertise to build and sustain evidence-based services and programs that promote school-connected child well-being and success. CHHCS and CSHE developed and deliver an evidence-based curriculum for managing chronic stress in urban children and adolescents.
JFM Consulting Group identifies innovative and effective ways to help the nonprofit, philanthropic and public sectors increase the impact of their work and improve the quality of life in the communities they serve. JFM provides comprehensive evaluation, strategic planning and program development services to CSHE and its programs.
Possibilities for Change supports professionals in identifying and preventing adolescent risky behaviors with technology-driven tools that enhance and automate workflow. Partnering with primary care practices, school-based health centers, schools and community based organizations, P4C’s mission is to identify risks, improve outcomes and change lives. Possibilities for Change, in collaboration with CSHE, developed the Rapid Assessment for Adolescent Preventive Services –Public Health, or RAAPS-PH, a standardized screening and counseling system to identify the social and environmental factors that put students at risk for poor health, unhealthy behaviors and problems in school.