Who We Are
Roshanak Mehdipanah
Roshanak (she/her) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education in the School of Public Health. She completed her PhD at the University of Pompeu Fabra, Spain and her MS from the School of Public Health and Health Systems at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Her research focuses on how urban policies, particularly related to the built environment, impact health and health inequities of individuals, neighborhoods and cities. Dr. Mehdipanah has brought particular attention to how housing policies and real estate markets shape health inequities among individuals and across neighborhoods. Through community-based participatory research that is supported through grants from the NIH, the WHO, and foundations, she has developed an understanding of how housing is a determinant in health, and has established how housing instability exacerbates health risks.
Director
Melika Belhaj
Melika (she/her) is an urban planning and public health researcher focused on healthy cities. At the University of Michigan School of Public Health, she manages various research projects that try to better understand how housing ecosystems, land use and reuse strategies, and urban planning policies influence individual and community wellbeing. She is passionate about bridging research and action. True in both her life and her work, she values deep and meaningful relationships, collaboration and commitment, and working with hope, passion, and love towards collective social change.
Program Manager
Farozan Ansari
Farozan (she/her) is currently pursuing a Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) at Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. She holds degrees in Architecture and Planning with a specialization in Housing from institutions in India. Farozan brings professional experience in community-based residential planning and design, participatory research, and spatial analysis, with a focus on equitable access to housing, health, and urban services. Her work is grounded in a commitment to co-creating inclusive and resilient environments that reflect the needs and aspirations of underserved communities. She addresses complex urban challenges through a systems-thinking lens, bridging urban planning, public health, and social justice to advance sustainable and equitable community development.
Research Assistant
Melany Puente
Melany (she/her) is a Chang Health Equity Fellow currently pursuing a master's of public health in Health Behavior and Health Equity at the School of Public Health. She holds degrees in Global Health and International Comparative Studies from Duke University. Melany brings a background in health promotion and community partnership through experience in the Peace Corps, USAID community health programs, and nonprofit work.
Research Assistant
Melina Rodriguez
Melina (she/her), MPH, is a doctoral student in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Equity at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Her research interests center on immigrant health, community resilience and sustainability, and policy-driven health disparities. She draws on over eight years of community organizing experience to bridge theory and practice, ensuring that her research is responsive to community needs and grounded in lived experience. Her previous work includes examining the health and safety of day laborers and domestic workers responding to climate-related disasters in California, and exploring the impacts of COVID-19 on Southeast Asian American communities in Los Angeles.
Research Assistant
Patricia Hernandez
Patricia (she/her) is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health in Health Behavior and Health Equity at the School of Public Health. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Health and Society from Southern Methodist University, where she gained experience in community engagement through nonprofit work. Her research interests include disability health, adolescent health, and how the built environment shapes health outcomes. She has experience in grant writing, qualitative research, and policy analysis. Her work is guided by a commitment to making the world more inclusive and advocating for populations that are often overlooked. She is particularly interested in the intersection of the built environment, healthcare, and policy development to advance equitable health outcomes.
Research Assistant
Mara Egelhof
​Mara (she/her) is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in Community and Global Public Health at the School of Public Health. Her academic interests include food, nutrition, healthcare access, and the built environment's impact on health. She draws experience from various community volunteer opportunities and work in the Patient Food and Nutrition department at Michigan Medicine as a Dietitian Assistant. She is motivated to support local initiatives that advance health equity and to better understand the intersection of housing, food access, community health, and nutrition.