The College of Health and Human Services is pleased to welcome our nine newest faculty to the college, each of whom bring a wealth of knowledge, expertise and passion of their field of study to the 4,700+ students in our college!
_____________________________________________
Dr. Neelam Chanda is an associate professor in the School of Nursing. She received her bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Bangalore University, India, a master’s degree in Psychiatric Nursing from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences and a doctorate in Nursing from the University of California, San Francisco.
Chanda has a broad range of experience teaching psychiatric nursing, research methods (working directly with students) and course development and evaluation. Her focus area involves quantitative research methods including tool development. While at the University, she plans to teach the theoretical foundations of nursing practice and psychosocial nursing.
Chanda’s research interests include measuring stress in vulnerable populations, therapeutic communication in nurses and psychometrics.
Dr. Travis Cronin is an assistant professor in the Department of Social Work Education. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Brigham Young University, Idaho, a master’s degree in Social Work from Eastern Washington University, and a doctorate in Social Work from Arizona State University, Phoenix.
After obtaining his master’s, Cronin went on to work with child welfare-involved families, active duty military personnel, and university students. He is a licensed clinical social worker in Idaho and has taught in the area of diversity and oppression and advanced social work practice with child welfare families.
His research interests include adolescent and youth development, black lives, bystanding and bullying, child welfare, diversity and oppression and social work pedagogy.
Dr. Kerry Dunn is an assistant professor in the Department of Social Work Education. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts from The Evergreen State College, a master’s degree in Social Work and a doctorate in Social Welfare and Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania – as well as a Juris Doctor from the Rutgers School of Law, Newark.
Dunn has over 20 years of counseling, advocacy, and research experience in a variety of social work settings, including foster care, education, and criminal and juvenile justice. Working with students about the many ways social workers can help build a more equitable society is one of her greatest passions.
Her research interests include prison activism, capital punishment, participatory and qualitative research methods, community-university partnership and interprofessional education.
Dr. Lynn Jakobs is an assistant professor in the School of Nursing. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Nursing from California State University, Sacramento, a doctorate in Nursing from the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks – as well as Family Nurse Practitioner Certification from U.C. Davis.
Jakobs is a family nurse practitioner with nearly 20 years of experience practicing in a remote community in northern California. At Fresno State, she intends to expand her research trajectory to include respiratory problems in rural farm workers. She is an avid researcher of rural and frontier nursing and is an active member of the Rural Nurses Organization, the Western Institute of Nursing and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.
Her research interests include remote rural health care, rural populations and respiratory illnesses in farm workers.
Dr. Tanisha Garcia is an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health. She received her bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, a master’s degree in Management in Healthcare Administration from National American University, Rapid City, and a doctorate in Health Services/Healthcare Administration from Walden University, Minneapolis.
Garcia has more than 15 years of professional experience in various positions within health care, ranging from outpatient facilities to corporate governance. She began her teaching career path in allied health care programs and later developed a passion for leadership styles and theories.
Her research interests include women’s health, leadership styles and theories, change management, organizational transformation and health care information management.
Dr. Rohan Jadhav is an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Ayurveda Medicine and Surgery from Maharashtra University of Health Science, Mumbai, a master’s degree in Public Health from Missouri State University, Springfield, and a doctorate in Environmental Health: Occupational Health and Toxicology from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha.
Jadhav focuses on quantitative methods and implementation science to solve public health problems, having conducted independent projects in occupational and global health. In the coming years, Jadhav hoping to design projects to cover identification of cases with new injuries and illnesses in occupational environments, uptake of infectious/chronic disease screening, and evaluation of occupational injury reporting systems.
His research interests include occupational epidemiology, agricultural injury and health and environmental health.
Dr. Sujatha Shanmugasundaram is an associate professor in the School of Nursing. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Nursing from MGR University, India and master’s degree in Nursing from Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, India and a doctorate in Palliative Care Nursing from Monash University, Melbourne.
Shanmugasundaram has extensive experience in nursing, having worked in several countries, such as India and Australia, and has served 20 years in the academic and clinical setting. She has published a number of articles and has been referenced in international journals, as well as presented at national and global conferences.
Her research interests include palliative care, dementia, caregiver burden, simulation and cultural issues.
Dr. Kristen Snynam is an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Sciences from the University of California, Irvine, a master’s degree in Kinesiology: Exercise Physiology from California State University, Fullerton, and a doctorate in Exercise Physiology and Nutrition from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
Snyman is an active member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the American College of Sports Medicine local ACSM chapters. She is a certified strength and conditioning specialist with distinction from the National Strength and Conditioning Association and serves on the NSCA research committee, where she disseminates research and bridges the gap between research and practical application.
Her research interests include the evaluation of perceptual, metabolic, and neuromuscular (electromyographic and mechanomyographic) responses during dynamic exercise, neuromuscular adaptations as a result of strength training in young and older adult populations and youth athlete development.
Dr. Brandon Taylor is an assistant professor in the Department of Recreation Administration. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Recreation Administration, with an emphasis in Leisure Service Management from Fresno State, where he also competed on the Track and Field team. He obtained his master’s degree in Kinesiology with a focus in Curriculum Development from Fresno Pacific University and a doctorate in Organizational Leadership from the University of Phoenix.
Taylor has spent more than 14 years working in the community recreation setting within the Central Valley and serves as the coordinator of Community Recreation and Youth Services emphasis within the Recreation Administration department. His experience includes municipal recreation programming and planning for youth and adults, community special-events and outcome driven out-of-school time programming.
His research interests include perceptions of government funded recreational services, management of municipal leisure services, organizational development and leadership, as well as leisure education.
A formal reception to recognize our new and promoted and/or tenured faculty members will be held on Thursday, September 21 from 4-6 p.m. at the Smittcamp Alumni House. RSVP by September 14 at the LINK (use code: Faculty)
Fresno State College of Health and Human Services 