Director of Public Health Studies



Sharon M. Homan, Ph.D., Director of Public Health Studies, oversees KHI's analysis of public and population health issues and guides KHI's effort to improve the capacity of the public health system in Kansas. Homan comes to KHI following a distinguished career at Saint Louis University (SLU) where she served as an associate professor, professor, and administrator. Her administrative posts included interim associate academic provost, director of the Division of Biostatistics and associate dean of the SLU School of Public Health. The subject areas that are of special interest to her include statistical methods and evaluation, maternal and child health and mental health. Her mental health research has been focused on substance abuse, family violence and homelessness.



Homan earned a Ph.D. in biostatistics and a master's degree in preventive medicine and environmental health from the University of Iowa. She earned her bachelor's degree from Quincy College, where she earned a double major in biology and chemistry, with minors in theology and mathematics. She is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Public Health Association. She received a special leadership award from the YWCA in 1994 and was nominated by the Archdiocesan Catholic Women for the Dorothy Day Justice Seeker Award in 1999. In 1996, she was named Saint Louis University Woman of the Year.