Edith Wafula has previously collaborated with Penn State faculty members, Gary King and Amy Snipes, in the Biobehavioral Health Department (BBH) to study health disparities among minorities in the United States. She and King have collaborated on a research study on smoking behavior among black males in the United States. She and Snipes collaborated to examine the healthcare access barriers that black immigrants face in the United States. She has also contributed towards the efforts by the Penn State Cancer Institute at Hershey Medical Center to address the obstacles in the African American community in Harrisburg area concerning colorectal cancer screening. She has been a fellow with the Emerging Scholars Interdisciplinary Network (ESIN), University of Michigan, and was selected to participate in a research training program, the Odum Institute for Research in Social Sciences, University of North Carolina. She serves as a grant reviewer with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in Washington, DC, reviewing population health-related grants. Before joining Health Policy and Administration (HPA), she worked for Global Programs here at Penn State as an International Faculty Adviser.
Wafula previously taught undergraduate courses at Penn State, Howard University, and Howard Community College in Maryland. She is excited about teaching population health classes and developing a potential course, "serving diverse populations," in line with my research interest in minority health.
Wafula earned her master’s degree in public health - health systems organization and policy from Penn State and her Ph.D. in sociology - medical sociology from Howard University.
Wafula is excited to join the department and share with the students what she has learned over the years through education, training, and her experiences.