Dr. Pennel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health and Health Disparities and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the UTMB School of Public and Population Health (SPPH). Broadly, her interests and expertise include community health assessment, program planning and evaluation, community engagement, and improved integration of research/scholarship, teaching, and practice. Her educational development and scholarship goals include innovation in practice-based teaching, application of public health knowledge and skills into practice, and engagement in community- and service-based learning. Her research areas include academic public health, community health assessment and community health improvement planning, particularly as they relate to nonprofit hospitals’ requirements, and projects that build community and academic partnerships using Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approaches. Dr. Pennel and her community partner were selected as members for the 2017-2018 cohort of the CBPR Partnership Academy through University of Michigan and the Detroit Urban Research Center. Dr. Pennel leads SPPH educational efforts and is involved in public health accreditation through the Council on Education for Public Health as a site visitor, site visit chair, and preliminary self-study reviewer.

Curriculum Vitae - CV

• BS, Biology, Central Missouri State University, 1997
• MPH, Social and Behavioral Health, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, 2003
• DrPH, Health Promotion and Community Health Sciences, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, 2014

• Department of Population Health and Health Disparities