R.N. St. Agnes School of Nursing
B.S. Boston University
EdM Boston University
M.P.H. Harvard University
DrPH Columbia University

Nancy Van Devanter, Dr.PH, RN is an Associate Professor at the College of Nursing.  Since 1986, she has conducted research in HIV/AIDS. From 1986 to 1990 she was Co-Investigator of an NHLBI funded psychosocial intervention for HIV positive blood donors in NYC.  The study identified the significant psychosocial needs and challenges to sexual behavior change for persons living with HIV. She was Principal Investigator of a subsequent CDC study with this population that assessed factors associated with HIV transmission in sero-discordant heterosexual couples. She has been the Principle Investigator for two CDC funded behavioral intervention studies designed to prevent HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI) in high risk adolescents and to increase primary, preventative health care seeking in minority youth at high risk for HIV and STIs.  Recently, she has been the Principle Investigator for a qualitative NICHD funded study of adololescents and young adults living with HIV. She is currently the Principal Investigator for the Partnership for Family Health a HRSA funded Ryan White Care ACT program providing a family centered model of care to women, children, youth and families with HIV/AIDS.  She was the Principal Investigator of a study of adherence medical care and medication among PFFH caregivers of children with HIV. She is currently conducting a study to determine the oral health and tobacco cessation needs of patients with HIV/AIDS receiving home care services through the Visiting Nurse Service of New York.

Dr. VanDevanter has also conducted research in tobacco control. With support from the Centers for Disease Control Foundation, she conducted an assessment of community capacity for tobacco control in Central Harlem, a community with the highest rates of tobacco use in New York City. The study employed a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach to conducting the assessment that engaged community members as equal partners with the research team in the development of every phase of the research.  She has conducted several other CBPR studies with a focus on health promotion and disease prevention in minority communities that experience significant health disparities due to HIV, tobacco use, homelessness and lack of access to preventive health services.

Dr VanDevanter is the former Director of the Center for Applied Public Health at Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health. The Center was created to identify, develop, and test replicable models of community- academic partnership toward the goal of improving community health and eliminating health disparities.  In that role she has worked collaboratively with several state and local health departments investigating interventions to enhance community level health and public health practice.  She is currently Principal Investigator of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded Oral History of the Public Health Response to Hurricane Katrina.

Research

• HIV/AIDS/STIs
• Tobacco control
• Adolescent health
• Community based participatory research
• Community level health promotion and disease prevention
• Public health practice
• Homelessness prevention
• Health services research
• Translational research

VanDevanter N, Gonzales V, Merzel C, Parikh N, Celentano D, and Greenberg J.  Effectiveness of STD/HIV Behavior Change Intervention on Women's Use of the Female Condom.  American Journal of Public Health 2002;92:109-115.

VanDevanter N, Hennessy M, Howard JM, Bleakley A, Peake M, Cohall A, Fullilove R, Weisfuse I.  Researcher-Community Collaboration for STD Prevention.  The Gonorrhea Community Action Project in Harlem.  Journal of Public Health Management and Practice 2002;8(6):62-68.

VanDevanter N, Shinn B, Tannert-Naing K, Bleakley A, Perl S, Cohen N.  The Role of Social and Behavioral Science in Public Health Practice:  A Study of the New York City Department of Health.  Journal of Urban Health 2003;80(4)625-634.

VanDevanter N, Messeri P, Middlestadt SE, Bleakley A, Merzel C, Hogben M, Ledsky R, Malotte CK, Cohall R, St. Lawrence JS.  A Community Based Intervention to Increase Preventive Health Care Seeking in Adolescents: The Gonorrhea Community Action Project. (2005) American Journal of Public Health. 95:331-337.

Shelley, D., Cantrell, J., Moon Howard, J., Ramjohn, D.Q. VanDevanter, N. (2007). The $5 man: the underground economic response to a large cigarette tax increase in New York City. American Journal of Public Health, 97:1483-1488. 

Merzel C, Moon-Howard, J, Dickerson D, Ramjohn D, VanDevanter N. Making the connections: community capacity for tobacco control in an urban African American community. (2008) American  Journal of Community Psychology. 41:74-88.

Merzel C., VanDevanter N. Irvine M. (2008) Adherence to antiretroviral therapy among older children and  Adolescents with HIV: A qualitative study of psychosocial contexts. AIDS Patient Care & STDs. 22: 977-987.