Jessica Griffin Burke, PhD, MHS

Jessica Griffin Burke, PhD, MHS, is responsible for building global health partnerships across the schools of the health sciences. Dr. Burke’s experience living in Thailand for seven years and training in cultural anthropology, global health, social epidemiology, and social and behavioral sciences are the foundation for her participatory approach to developing partnerships and projects. The approach has allowed for contextual understanding and strategic, tailored interventions for improved health outcomes. Her 2014 book, “Methods for Community Public Health Research: Integrated and Engaged Approaches,” outlines this agenda in detail. Her research focuses primarily on the complex realities and context of women’s health, specifically sexual and reproductive health, intimate partner violence, substance use and mental health.

She has built several successful global health research-practice partnerships around the world, including current work in Nepal and Madagascar, and is particularly passionate about using engaged and creative methods to facilitate dialogue and action. For example, in 2005, Dr. Burke and her colleagues introduced concept mapping as a participatory research method for public health researchers interested in generating hypotheses and developing theory and has used the method to prioritize community health issues, develop conceptual frameworks and create new measurement tools. Her recent community-engaged concept mapping work includes the creation of the Power in Nepali Girls empowerment scale. In 2019, Drs. Burke and Sara Baumann cocreated Collaborative Filmmaking, which is an embodied, visual and participatory research method in which participants are trained to create, analyze and screen films to generate a deeper understanding of sensitive health topics. The method has resulted in a series of powerful and authentic films that have been effectively used for educational and advocacy efforts. To view the films and learn more about how Collaborative Filmmaking has been used in partnership around the globe, visit www.collaborativefilmmaking.com.

Before joining Pitt Health Sciences’ leadership team, Dr. Burke served as vice dean for the University’s School of Public Health. She is professor of behavioral and community health sciences in the School of Public Health and directs the school’s Concept Mapping Institute and the Community-Based Participatory Research and Practice certificate program. She was a founding codirector of the Center for Social Dynamics and Community Health and previously served as the school’s associate dean for academic affairs.

Prior to arriving at the University of Pittsburgh in 2005, Dr. Burke held academic and administrative roles at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; the Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University; and the Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. Dr. Burke earned a BA in cultural anthropology from New York University and an MHS in international health and PhD in social and behavioral sciences from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She also earned a certificate in collaborative leadership from the Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Leaders Network.