2022–Present: Scientist II, Behavioral, Epidemiological, and Clinical Sciences, Global Health Population and Nutrition, FHI 360, Durham, NC 

Leading qualitative and quantitative research funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) among others. Promoted to Scientist II after 2 years as Scientist I and 3 years as Associate Director of Research in United States Programs (2016-2019). Highlights include: 

• Founded and leading a 'Decolonization of Global Health and Equity' Interest Group at FHI 360, where student interns and fellows assist with culling best practices to inform strategic planning and business development within the organization. Activities include learning plans, brown bag sessions, knowledge management, and trainings with students and funders such as USAID and Bloomberg Philanthropies to begin actualizing principles into their internal and external work.

• Currently providing technical guidance on definition, measurement, execution, and community engagement related to multiple projects at FHI 360 with decolonization and global health equity principles, including conducting partnership assessments to identify action steps to decolonize work processes informed by partner organizations. This work has since been chartered by the office of the CEO as a best practice.  

• Led a panel on decolonality and gender theory at the 2024 Prince Mahadiol Award Conference in Bangkok, Thailand as part of the conference planning committee.

• Created a COVID-19 symptoms self-assessment tool implemented in clinical settings for FHI 360’s Nigeria-based sites in the Infectious Diseases Health Systems portfolio in April 2020.

• Provides Spanish translation, technical assistance, and facilitation for both US-based and international partners including the Global Handwashing Partnership and the COVID Prevention Network, both of which are coordinated by FHI 360.

• Provided technical assistance and expert facilitation for the State Departments’ International Visiting Leaders Program held with FHI 360’s Global Connections division, for their 2020 conference that featured content in social justice and global COVID-19 inequities.

• Multiple Principal Investigator of an NIMH-funded 'Ending the HIV Epidemic' supplement exploring sex-positive approaches to HIV prevention counseling (MPI: Maragh-Bass, Sukhija-Cohen).

• Current Co-Project Director for a CDC-funded award for efforts to conduct community-based activities to reduce HIV and STI disparities among Black adolescents and young adults who identify as sexual/gender minorities in Durham, NC. (PD: MacQueen).

• Co-Investigator for an NIMH R21 exploring the use of standardized patient approaches to documenting the HIV testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) clinical experience of sexual/gender minorities of color in Durham (PI: MacQueen).

• First scientist at FHI 360 to win a Visiting Professorship with the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at UC San Francisco (2020–2022 cohort). Currently completing intensive grant training in a three-year, all expenses paid summer institute (https://prevention.ucsf.edu/education/visiting-professor-program/program-details/participants). 

• Seventh scientist at FHI 360 to win the Ward Cates Emerging Scientific Leader Award (2019–2020 cohort). Currently conducting a case study of HIV testing and PrEP counseling among primary care centers in Durham which serve African American men who have sex with men. 

• First scientist at FHI 360 to win the HPTN Domestic Scholarship; earned in second year at organization (2018–2019 cohort). Conducted HIV and Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake research in sexual/gender patient populations of color (https://www.hptn.org/research/scholars/scholars/allysha-maragh-bass-phd-mph). Earned an invited session to present this research at the largest international HIV/AIDS conference. 

• Previous Research Lead for a national collaborative of domestic health equity funders, including NIH and RWJF to identify a national equity research agenda (https://cohere.fhi360.org).

• FHI 360 NOW Award Recipient for Outstanding Work in Proposal Development. 

• Completed grants review for the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Bureau of Health Workforce Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students Program.

• Completed training in Racial Equity (Racial Equity Institute Training Phase 1) and certification in Project Management in Development (PMD Pro Level 1). 

2011–2021: Consultant, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 

Served as a consultant to the university, its outreach resource center, various projects with the Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute (UHI), and several nonprofit organizations. Highlights include: 

• Designed a medication self-monitoring system for residents of Project PLASE, a transitional housing shelter, along with a tailored training program to ensure program sustainability.

• Conducted HIV counseling and epidemiological research with the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System, and analyses to identify healthcare utilization patterns among persons who inject drugs (http://www.besurebaltimore.com/theteam/).

• Conducted East Baltimore Health Assessment for the UHI, and created summary health materials for lay audiences to be used on the program’s website. 

• Reviewed grants for the UHI Small Grants Program for Research and Development, to award seed money to students and faculty to test small programs to address Baltimore health issues. 

• Reviewed grants for the Mayor’s Office Homeless Services Program, to award funding for rapid re-housing programs for at-risk populations in Baltimore City. 

• Created a photonovella to advertise wellness services for the Youth Opportunities (YO!) Center in East Baltimore, which has been disseminated nationwide across YO! centers.  

• Tutored high school students in English and SAT Prep at Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School in East Baltimore, and guided students for professional development and summer job placements. 

2014–2016 : Research Fellow, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard School of Medicine, Boston, MA 

Served as a pre- and post-doctoral research fellow in the Center for Surgery and Public Health and conducted clinical and health services outcomes research. Highlights include: 

• Co-led a national PCORI-funded trial to develop patient-centered modes for collecting sexual orientation and gender identity data (SO/GI) in clinical settings (http://www.equalitystudy.com). 

• Conducted LGBT studies about disclosing SO/GI featured by Huffington Post (https://goo.gl/m D2L6s) (https://tinyurl.com/y9cntfof) and NY Times (https://tinyurl.com/yaw4muhc), and  Wiki’s ‘Health Equity’ Webpage  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_equity#cite_note-58).

• Developed a first-of-its-kind database to track the publication trends of qualitative surgical research, which culminated in a top ranked article in the journal Surgery (https://www. journals.elsevier.com/surgery/altmetric-articles).

• Conducted cognitive interviewing, factor analyses, and regression analyses to guide best practices for accommodating primary care patients with disabilities. 

• Co-led a symposium for the National Institutes of Health/American College of Surgeons (ACS): oversaw 15 researchers in a consensus-building exercise to identify research priorities, with 60 clinicians, scientists, and funders (https://www.facs.org/health-care-disparities/symposium).        

2010–2015: Student Investigator, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 

While completing doctoral studies, served as lead analyst and writer on a multitude of both domestic and international studies of HIV, substance use, adolescent health, emergency medical services (EMS): and patient satisfaction in healthcare. Highlights include: 

• Brown Scholar in Community Health: (https://www.jhsph.edu/admissions/scholarships /institutional-scholarships/brown-scholars/alumni/allysha-robinson.html). 

• Doctoral dissertation: The Role of Social Support and Syndemic Factors in HIV Medical Adherence among African American Injection Drug Users; utilized latent variable modeling. 

• Analyzed correlates of global substance use among at-risk adolescents (http://www.jhsph .edu /news/news-releases/2014/being-poor-is-not-the-same-everywhere.html). 

• Interviewed HIV-positive caregivers and pastors to inform advance care planning clinical trial. 

• Case study of HIV policy and funding priorities in Jamaica, which informed a tailored health communication campaign presented to the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs. 

• Trained EMS providers to screen patients for substance abuse and connect them to behavioral healthcare (http://hub.jhu.edu/gazette/2014/september-october/focus-baltimore-city-ems/). 

• Analyzed national data to identify predictors of treatment adherence among racially diverse patients and refine a cultural sensitivity checklist tool for primary care. 

2008–2010: Associate Director, University of Florida Center for Health Disparities, Gainesville, FL 

Assisted in testing evidence-based obesity and diabetes clinical interventions for racial/ ethnic minority families. Oversaw 40 research staff on studies funded by RWJF, AHEC, PepsiCo, and Blue Foundation. Worked at a center supported by the public health, medicine, and psychology departments. Highlights include: 

• Helped to found an official Research Center of Excellence (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health _Disparities_Center). 

• Led creation of health disparities research collaborative, whereby a compendium of health disparities research centers of excellence was created, and planning meetings with existing centers to foster partnership and collaboration (http://ufhealthdisparities.med.ufl.edu/). 

• Presented to officials the YMCA of the USA’s Activate America Program on collaborative initiatives, to foster partnerships for dissemination of health-smart DVD education program.  

• Presenting to then State Surgeon General Dr. Ana Viamonte Ros on the need for partnerships in health disparities research between local health departments and research universities. 

• Led data collection and site management for an AHRQ-funded trial to pilot test a clinical tool for patients to identify primary care preferences in 60 health care centers.

2007–2010: Consultant, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 

Consulted with several nonprofit organizations on behalf of the university’s public health and psychology departments, for entities including the Center for Independent Living of North Central Florida (CIL): the PepsiCo Foundation, and the North Florida Area Health Education Center (AHEC). Highlights include: 

• Served as Assessment Team Coordinator for bus-stop accessibility study for CIL, and presented to the Gainesville City Commission to advocate for people with disabilities and paratransit services (http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/fphr/index.htm). 

• Designed and led a CIL smoking cessation program tailored to people with disabilities. 

• Oversaw the Spanish translation and re-editing of a health education DVD as part of a health intervention funded by the PepsiCo Foundation for low-income children and families (http://www.gainesville.com/news/20070806/new-community-program-helps-minorityfamilies-fight-the-fat). 

• Utilized CDCynergy Social Marketing and cost-utility analyses to create an anti-smoking PSA for college-aged students, funded by and presented to AHEC. 

2006–2009: Research Associate and Graduate Intern, University of Florida School of Medicine, Gainesville, FL 

During and after completing Bachelor’s and Master’s studies, worked on projects aimed at obesity, prevention among low-income racial/ethnic minorities in Gainesville. Highlights include: 

• Master’s Thesis: Predictors of Engagement in Health Promotion Among African American Churches: A Pilot Study; utilized qualitative grounded theory and descriptive statistical analyses. 

• Conducted health education for low-income African American churches with Health-Smart Church Program (http://www.gainesville.com/news/20090730/program-sponsors-veggie-cook-off). 

• Coordinated national data collection for a clinical trial exploring clinical tools to improve patient satisfaction with 60 healthcare sites, funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.  

• Utilized grounded theory qualitative analyses to develop a tool for identifying motivators and barriers to healthy eating for low-income families, funded by PepsiCo foundation. 

2005–2006: FCAT Prep Trainer and Classroom Leader, Westwood Middle School, Gainesville, FL 

As part of an educational psychology undergraduate training program, worked with an English class to tailor programs to 6th grade students with varying tutoring and educational needs. Highlights include: 

• Matriculated into the program as a 2003 National Merit/National Achievement Scholar (http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2002-10-16/community/ 0210150352_1_semifinalists-school-scholars-national-achievement-scholars).

• Conducted fluency assessments with students to gauge their reading ability and trained them in reading comprehension exercises such as state-mandated testing and learning exercises. 

• Independently conducted a study of perceived academic competence among 6th grade English students pre- and post- FCAT assessments and presented findings to school leadership. 

• Made recommendations to middle school leadership to implement more regular parent-teacher conferences to encourage dialogue for students with remedial needs/learning disabilities.