The Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance is pleased to announce the arrival of four new team members — Jeanine Skinner, Lauren Duke, Matt Schorr and Paxton Montgomery, Jr.
Skinner is the MVA’s newest Research Associate. In her role, she assists with grant writing and manuscript productivity, oversees research projects and conducts specialized research, as well as provides supervision for data collection, analysis and interpretation. Prior to joining the Alliance, Skinner was a Research Instructor of Neurology in the Vanderbilt Memory & Alzheimer’s Center. In her prior role, she assisted with grant writing and manuscript production, conducted clinical interviews and facilitated study recruitment efforts of African American elders into Vanderbilt Memory & Alzheimer’s Center studies.
Skinner’s research interests focus on the relationship between cardiovascular health and minority cognitive aging. She is also interested in the role of physical activity as a strategy to improve cardiovascular and brain health outcomes in older adult populations. She is passionate about engagement of minority populations in biomedical research and has worked on several research studies focused on minority health and aging, including the Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP) and the Baltimore Study of Black Aging (BSBA). For both the MOTTEP and BSBA studies, Skinner assisted with neuropsychological testing of middle-aged-and-older minority elders.
During her postdoctoral training, Skinner completed her own pilot study – the Health Education Aerobic and Resistance Training (HEART) study – which examined the effects of different types of exercise programs on cognition and biomarkers associated with type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. She earned her doctorate degree in Neuropsychology from Howard University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Neurobehavior, Neuroendocrinology and Genetics of Alzheimer’s disease at the University of Washington.
“I am excited to join the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance team,” Skinner noted. “I believe my background in minority cognitive aging and health disparity research will be an asset to the MVA to the research and community engagement initiatives.”
Duke is a Program Coordinator for the MVA. She earned her Masters in Psychological Science from the University of Colorado. Prior to beginning her work here, she was a Research Assistant for the Colorado Department of Corrections.
Her research interests focus on the prison and court system, racial disparities and care/treatment of low socioeconomic individuals.
She currently assists with writing and editing for publications, preparing reports and analyzing research data.
“I’m delighted that my background and education can help in community-engaged approaches,” Duke said. “This is an incredibly needed piece of research that is important to understanding how we can improve upon our current methods, and I am honored that MVA hired me to provide assistance.”
Schorr, the MVA’s Communications Coordinator, develops and manages the internal and external communications, including development of print materials, the MVA website, social media channels and e-newsletters.
Before joining the Alliance in February 2015, he worked in journalism for more than eight years—as a reporter for The Mayfield Messenger in Mayfield, Kentucky, from 2005 – 2012, and later as night editor for The Leaf-Chronicle in Clarksville, Tennessee, from 2012 - 2015 — and produced promotional videos for small communities in Graves County, Kentucky. He also served as an in-studio camera operator for WPSD Local 6 in Paducah, Kentucky, in 2005.
He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communications from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a Writer’s Certificate in Creative Writing from the Pierre-Laclede Honors College, both in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2003.
“I’m eager to put my experiences in journalism to use publicizing the accomplishments of the MVA and the schools it represents – Meharry Medical College and Vanderbilt University,” Schorr commented. “The Alliance does good work bridging the two institutions to advance education and research.”
Montgomery, who joins the MVA as Community Navigator, is a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he attended Notre Dame High.
Upon graduation, he enrolled at Tennessee State University on an athletic scholarship for Track and Field. While there, he studied Health Science and was involved in the Student Government Association. He graduated in 2008 with his Bachelors of Science degree in Health Science.
He received his Masters of Public Health degree from the University of Louisville in 2010.
“I knew the moment I walked in the door this was the place for me,” Montgomery said. “Everyone has been so helpful and eager to teach me. I’m excited to start the next chapter of my career with the MVA.”
About the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance
The Alliance's mission is to enrich learning and advance clinical research by developing and supporting mutually beneficial partnerships between Meharry Medical College, Vanderbilt University and the communities they serve.
