Dr. Gillian Franklin is an Assistant Professor of Health Sciences and Biomedical Informatics in the Department of Biomedical Informatics (BMI), Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, SUNY (UB). She completed the Clinical Informatics fellowship, Master of Science in Biomedical Informatics, and Advance Certificate in College Teaching at UB.

As a trained anatomic pathologist, dermatopathologist, informatician, and public health professional, my work focuses on population and public health, public health informatics, and social epidemiology, including the environmental and social determinants of health, health equity, health outcomes, evidence-based initiatives to address health disparities, and strengthening the community capacity for prevention.

My current research as an informatician focuses on the use of clinical and health related data, using electronic health records, data science, and semi-structured health surveys to address health and healthcare disparities in compliance with public health interventions, by teasing out and attempting to understand the reasons behind vaccine hesitancy. My work includes partnering within the community, including community leaders to promote the use of fact-based health information to improve health literacy. Through this research, I hope to inspire those who encounter health and healthcare disparities, to become more open to following through with health/public health interventions. My previous work includes the following: At the University of North Texas Health Science Center, School of Public Health (UNTHSC-SPH); A sun awareness pilot project in babies and children, the Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies, Healthy Community infant mortality collaboration, the use of focus groups to explore neighborhood attitudes toward air quality, and a qualitative and quantitative assessment of isocyanates in medical devices and products as potential sources of skin exposure in neonates. After obtaining my MPH, I worked at Columbia University Medical Center, Department of Dermatology, where my research focused on immunohistochemical analyses of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) in mice and human skin. Following my PhD training, I was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where I was involved in studying how occupational exposures to arsenic in a Bangladeshi cohort, resulted in skin lesions. Additionally, I was involved with the Region 10 Health Partnership (RHP), for the Texas 1115 Medicaid Waiver, as the Learning Collaborative Coordinator at the John Peter Smith Health Network, Fort Worth, Texas.

I have worked with and mentored undergraduate, graduate, and medical students, research scientists, laboratory, and clinical residents. I have additional interests in undergraduate, graduate, and medical education, as it relates to the social dimensions of asynchronous learning, and various learning styles.

I challenge the next generation of students to invest in ongoing work that promotes primary prevention, health equity, and addresses the environmental and social determinants of health.