Sharla A. Smith, Ph.D., MPH

Professional Background

Dr. Sharla Smith completed her Ph.D. in Health Systems and Services Research with a concentration in Health Economics from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in 2013. Sharla is a health services and systems researcher whose primary research is maternal and infant health disparities, women cancer disparities, and community engagement. She is the co-founder of Kansas Sisters and Brothers for Healthy Infants and the founder of the Kansas birth equity network. She has experience manipulating large datasets and performing descriptive, cross-sectional, and longitudinal data analysis using SAS and Stata, and conducting social network analysis. In addition, she has over four years of experience in clinical research. Dr. Smith is passionate about developing a culture of birth equity through community engagement, empowerment, and education.

Dr. Smith has experience teaching public health law, public health policy and law, introduction to public health, developing public health interventions, introduction to health policy and politics, and epidemiology. She advises students and has served as a faculty mentor on Master's-level and PhD research projects.

• BS, Biology, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Pine Bluff, Arkansas
• MPH, Health Policy and Management , University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock , Arkansas
• PhD, Health Services and Systems Research , University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock , Arkansas
• Other, Public Health System, The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock , Arkansas

• Community Health Council of Wyandotte, Cradle KC, Member, 2019 - Present
• National Institute for Children's Health Quality, Align National Efforts, State, and Local , Member, 2019 - Present
• American Public Health Association , Community Health Planning and Policy Development (CHPPD) Section, Member, 2017 - 2023
• Leadership Wichita, Member, 2017 - Present
• Kansas Sisters and Brothers for Healthy Infants, Co-Founder, 2016 - Present
• AcademyHealth , Public Health System Group , Chair Elect, 2007 - 2008
• AcademyHealth , Research Interest Group, Member, 2007 - 2010

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Research

Overview

Dr. Smith is a health services and systems researcher whose primary research is maternal and infant health disparities, women cancer disparities, and community engagement. She is the co-founder of Kansas Sisters and Brothers for Healthy Infants and the founder of the Kansas Birth Equity Network.

• Smith Sharla, Wickliffe Joi, Rivera-Newberry Ivonne, Redmond Michelle, Kelly PatriciaJ., Ramaswamy Megha. 2020. A Systematic Evaluation of Barriers and Facilitators to the Provision of Services for Justice-Involved Women. Journal of Community Health, 45 (6), 1252-1258. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-020-00894-w
• Redmond Michelle, Smith Sharla, Collins Tracie. 2020. Exploring African-American womens' experiences with substance use treatment: A review of the literature. Journal of community psychology, 48 (2), 337-350. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7032990/
• Assimonye Stephanie, Ramaswamy Megha, Glenn Jason, Smith Sharla. 2020. The Changing Health and Social Circumstances of Women Leaving Jails: A Three-year Longitudinal Study. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 4(S1), 146-146. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30669935/
• Smith Sharla, Mays Glen, Collins Tracie, Ramaswamy Megha. 2019. The Role of the Community Health Delivery System in the Health and Well-being of Justice-Involved Women: A Narrative Review. Health Justice, 7 (12). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6717968/
• Emerson Amanda, Smith Sharla, Lee Jaehoon, Kelly Patricia, Ramaswamy Megha. 2020. Effectiveness of a Kansas City, Jail-Based Intervention to Improve Cervical Health Literacy and Screening, One-Year Post-Intervention. American Journal of Health Promotion, 34 (1), 87-90. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117119863714
• Preston Michael, Mays Glen, Bursac Zoran, Thomas B, Laryea J, Tilford J. Mick, Odlum M, Smith Sharla, Henry-Tillman Rhonda. 2018. Insurance Coverage Mandates: Impact of Physician Utilization in Moderating Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates. American journal of surgery, 215 (6), 1004-1010. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29555083/
• Smith Sharla , Mays Glen , Collins Tracie , Preston Michael . 2017. The Provision of Clinical and Non-Clinical Maternal and Child Health Services: Does Public Health Joint Production Matter. Public H Open Acc, 1 (1)
• Morris Michael, Stefanak M, Filla John, Hoornbeek John, Pradhan Rohit, Smith Sharla. 2017. Explaining Consolidation Decisions: Motivations for Recent Local Health Department Consolidations in Ohio. AM J Pub Health
• Ahlers-Schmidt Carolyn, Schunn Christie, Redmond Michelle, Smith Sharla, Brown Molly, Kuhlmann Stephanie, Engel Mathew, Benton Mary. 2017. Qualitative Assessment of Pregnant Women's Perceptions of Infant Sleep Boxes. Global pediatric health, 4, 2333794X17744948. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5714071/