Dr. Hamidah Sharif-Amanyi

Principal Investigator

Dr. Hamidah Sharif-Amanyi is a seasoned public health educator, researcher, and program leader with over two decades of experience advancing community wellness, health equity, and public health education. She currently serves as tenured Associate Professor of Public Health at Fort Valley State University, where she leads research initiatives, mentors MPH students, and secures external funding for public health programming and global engagement.

A two-time postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Sharif-Amanyi completed advanced research training at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with the Health Disparities Research Group under Dr. Thomas LaVeist, and at Teachers College, Columbia University under Dr. Barbara Wallace. She holds a Doctor of Education and two Master’s degrees in Health Behavior and Health Education from Columbia University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from Adelphi University.

Throughout her dynamic career, Dr. Sharif-Amanyi has held multiple leadership roles in both the public and private sectors. She served as Director of Health Education for Cigna Healthcare Corporation's Mid-Atlantic Region, where she developed corporate wellness programs and led national training forums for health educators. She also served as Health Promotion Consultant for major organizations including Aetna Healthcare, Cigna Healthcare, the Prince George’s County Government, Loudoun County Government, and the City of Atlanta.

Her deep commitment to maternal and child health is evident in her work as Director of Health Education and Outreach for the Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership in NYC, where she designed community health promotion programs and adolescent peer education initiatives. As Director of Community Outreach at West Harlem Environmental Action (WE ACT), she advanced public health advocacy through lead poisoning and asthma education, community mobilization, and environmental justice campaigns. Earlier in her career,

Dr. Sharif-Amanyi served as a Health Educator and Outreach Worker for the Central Harlem Healthy Start Program, supporting prenatal health for at-risk populations, and as Program Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Health Education at Coppin State University, where she led the Health Education Studies Program. Dr. Sharif-Amanyi is the Founder and Director of Research for Thrive Well Consulting Company, a health promotion and consulting firm focused on designing and evaluating worksite wellness programs for government and corporate clients.

In her current faculty role, Dr. Sharif-Amanyi integrates her rich background into student training, developing innovative public health courses, mentoring thesis research, and implementing community-based participatory research projects. Her scholarly work focuses on food insecurity, rural health, maternal-child wellness, and environmental determinants of chronic disease. She has published in top public health journals, including the Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition and Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association, and is author of the forthcoming book The Empty Pot: The Impact of Race, Place, and Hunger on Black Women’s Health in America.

Dr. Sharif-Amanyi’s career reflects a commitment to culturally responsive health education, interdisciplinary scholarship, and equity-centered public health practice.