Laura Allison Owens MPH

Professor Laura Allison Owens (formerly: Laura Allison Woods) has been an instructor with George Mason University’s College of Public Health since 2020. She has taught courses for subjects including Health Education & Promotion, Health Program Planning & Evaluation, Social Determinants of Health, Health Behavior Theory, Introduction to Public Health, and Health Research Methods.

Professor Laura’s work has largely been in administration and education, and beginning-to-end project, program, and policy management. She has led 20+ large-scale health programs (for disease prevention and health promotion), and 30+ health research studies, including many clinical trials. Her specialty is infectious disease prevention for vulnerable populations, and has worked specifically on initiatives for COVID-19, HIV/AIDS, and the Flu. As part of her management philosophy, Professor Laura actively learns and applies contemporary, evidence-based approaches to overcoming challenges and implementing solutions.

Passionate about public health advancement, Professor Laura’s present interests are focused on creating and leading high-performing health and education teams and initiatives. Over the course of her career, Professor Laura has authored 50+ scientific publications and abstracts, research grant submissions/reports, policy documents, and presentations. She frequently reviews public health textbooks, research abstracts, and regulatory submissions for research proposals. She treasures collaboration with students, staff, and faculty alike to implement effective and relevant courses. She considers working with the next generation of public health professionals to be a unique privilege and responsibility, and her most rewarding career opportunity. Professor Laura strongly values mentorship as a core component of her professorship.

In her spare time, Professor Laura enjoys volunteering/fostering with local animal shelters, and volunteers with the Junior League of Nashville to improve local childhood literacy rates.

Select Publications

eMERGE Consortium., Woods, LA. Neptune: an environment for the delivery of genomic medicine. Genetic Medicine 23(10):1838-1846. doi: 10.1038/s41436-021-01230

eMERGE Consortium., Woods, LA. Lessons learned from the eMERGE Network: balancing genomics in discovery and practice. HGG Adv. 2020;2(1):100018. Published 2020 Dec 25. doi:10.1016/j.xhgg.2020.100018

McDonald, WS., Wagner, JK., Deverka, PA., Woods, LA., Peterson, JF., Williams, MS. Genetic testing and employer-sponsored wellness programs: An overview of current vendors, products, and practices. Mol Genet Genomic Med. 2020;8(10):e1414. doi:10.1002/mgg3.1414

Wiesner, GL., Kulchak, Rahm A., Appelbaum, P., eMERGE Consortium., Woods, LA. Returning Results in the Genomic Era: Initial Experiences of the eMERGE Network. J Pers Med. 2020;10(2):30. Published 2020 Apr 27. doi:10.3390/jpm10020030

Aronson, S., Babb, L., Ames, D., eMERGE Consortium., Woods, LA. Empowering genomic medicine by establishing critical sequencing result data flows: the eMERGE example. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2018;25(10):1375-1381. doi:10.1093/jamia/ocy051

Wray, TB., Chan, PA., Celio, MA., Pérez, AE., Adia, AC., Simpanen, EM., Woods, LA., Monti, PM. (2018). A Web Application for Assessing the Timing and Details of Health Behaviors. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse (AJDAA). doi: 10.1080/00952990.2018.1469138

Wray, TB., Celio, MA., Pérez, AE., DiGuiseppi, GT.,  Carr, DJ., Woods, LA., Monti, PM. (2019) Causal Effects of Alcohol Intoxication on Sexual Risk Intentions and Condom Negotiation Skills among High-Risk Men who have Sex with Men (MSM). Aids and Behavior. doi: 10.1007/s10461-018-2243-x.

Woods, LA., Wetle, T., Sharkey, K. (2018). Why Aren’t Women In Academic Medicine Reaching the Top? Rhode Island Medical Journal. 101(3), 19-21.

Chow, E., Hsieh, J., Woods, LA., Jiao, J., Chang, M. (2017). Woonsocket teens TEACH Community Health. Rhode Island Medical Journal, 100(99), 2327-2228, 10-11.

Painter, JE., Temple, BS., Woods, LA., Cwiak, C., Haddad, LB., Mulligan, MJ., DiClemente, RJ. (2017). Theory-Based Analysis of Interest in an HIV Vaccine for Reasons Indicative of Risk Compensation Among African American Women. Health Education & Behavior: The Official Publication Of The Society For Public Health Education, 1090198117736860. doi:10.1177/1090198117736860

Wray, TB., Chan, PA., Celio, MA., Pérez, AE., Adia, AC., Simpanen, EM., Woods, LA., Monti, PM. (2017). HIV testing among men who have sex with men in the northeastern united states. AIDS And Behavior. doi:10.1007/s10461-017-1976-2

Risheq, H., Ahmed, J., Ali, K., Bensken, W., Coombs, S., Kofman, D., Kropp, LE., Safi, Z., Woodle,T., Woods, LA. (2016). Urban Changes and Impact on Chronic Disease of Vulnerable Populations in DC. National Academy of Medicine. Retrieved from: https://nam.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/2016-DC-Public-Health-Case-Challenge.pdf

Woods, LA., Batni, S., Bygrave, D., Campbell, S., Yang, S., Risheq, H. (2015). Supporting Mental Health in Older Adult Veterans. National Academy of Medicine. Retrieved from: https://nam.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2015DCPublicHealthCaseChallenge.pdf

Batni, S., Prior, M., Clarke, C., Bygrave, D., Larsen, V., Woods, LA., Bodnar, Y. (2014).  Supporting Adult Involvement in Adolescent Health and Education. Institute of Medicine. Retrieved from: https://nam.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Case-Challenge-2014.pdf

(See CV for more)

Affiliations

• Society of Public Health Education
• American Public Health Association
• Society for Participatory Medicine
• American Medical Women's Association
• The Junior League

Degrees

• MPH, Public Health Research, Practice, and Policy, Brown University.
• BS, Global and Community Health, George Mason University.