Marguerite Keesee
Norman WAS*IS
April 2006

I am currently a Program Specialist at the University of Oklahoma, Center for Applied Social Research where I serve as a senior analyst and program evaluator on two HRSA sponsored SPNS grants targeting HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and outreach to Hispanic and American Indian/Alaskan Native communities throughout the U.S. and an NCI funded community networks grant targeting the reduction of cancer health disparities in rural African American and American Indian communities in Oklahoma. I also serve as PI for two contracts with the Oklahoma State Department of Health which includes assessing the public health systems level of preparedness in responding to a potential influenza pandemic and the attitudes and health practices of school-aged children in regard to diet, nutrition and physical activity. I have professional training in the Sociology (Ph.D.) and have served as a research specialist for the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services and the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Some of the key projects I was privileged to be a part of as a research specialist for the State of Oklahoma include overseeing the operation and/or analysis of the State of Oklahoma's PRAMS and TOTS surveillance systems, the Birth Defects Registry, Family Planning, Maternity, and Vital Statistics data systems, as well as assisting in the implementation and analysis of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey across the state. In addition, I played an integral role in providing critical research associated with Welfare Reform and service restructuring and Child Welfare worker burn-out, preparing the Title V, Title X and March of Dimes needs assessments for the State of Oklahoma and assisting with the establishment, expansion and monitoring of Title X Family Planning services throughout the state. My current research interests include community-based participatory research particularly in the areas of medical and behavioral health disparities in special populations including infectious disease (STDs, HIV/AIDS, Cancer) and injury, substance abuse, health risk behaviors, juvenile delinquency and crime.