.jpg "Heather R. Clark, DrPH, MSPH photo")
Research Assistant Professor
Texas A&M School of Public Health
College Station, TX
For nearly two decades, my work focuses on program evaluation, community organizing and capacity building, and the evaluation of community-based partnerships. My other interests include rural-urban health disparities (which are well described in the literature) and addressing rural health issues through multi- and/or transdisciplinary approaches. My evaluation experience ranges across local, state, and national levels. Currently, I maintain five state-wide evaluation projects of which I am the Principal or Co-Principal Investigator, including the Texas Rape Prevention & Education program for the Office of the Attorney General of Texas (CDC), the Evaluation of the Collaborative Approaches to Well-being in Rural Communities Project funded by the Hogg Foundation, evaluation of the Texas Tele-forensic Remote Access Center funded by the Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime, the state funded Telehealth Center for Sexual Assault Forensic Medical Examination (Center), and the Evaluation of the Texas Supreme Court Children Commission Early Intervention Court Liaison Project. Additionally, I serve as Co-PI on a project for National Rural Health Association examining the implementation of community health worker (CHW) curriculum and assessment of CHW employment characteristics with the Texas A&M College of Nursing.
I have spent nearly two decades applying evaluation principles and community organizing and capacity building strategies to a variety of public health topics. My broad interest resulted in many collaborative research and evaluation opportunities in the local community, across my university, and with state and national organizations. Grounded in a community-based participatory research (CBPR) framework and utilization-focused evaluation perspective my research and evaluation philosophy is applicable and appropriate for funders, project sites, and consumers, and is reflected the project designs to ensure usability of information for program improvement and data driven decision-making.
