Jennifer Dacey Allen, DSc, MPH

Office

Cushing Hall 422
617-552-0192
jennifer.allen.5@bc.edu

educational history

• D.Sc. Harvard School of Public Health
• MPH Harvard School of Public Health
• MSN Boston College
• BS Boston College

recent publications

• Fontenot, H., Fantasia, H., & Allen, J.D. (2007). Adolescents and HPV: Advance practice nurses on the frontlines. ADVANCE for Nurse Practitioners.
  
• Allen J.D., Stoddard A.M., Sorensen, G.C. (2007). Do social network characteristics predict mammography screening practices? Health Education and Behavior, July 9, Epub ahead of print.
  
• Allen J.D., Kennedy M., Wilson-Glover A., Gilligan T.D. (2007)African-American men's perceptions about prostate cancer: implications for designing educational interventions. Social Science in Medicine, 64: 2189-2200.
  
• Mullen P.D., Allen J.D., Glanz K., et al. (2006). Measures used in studies of informed decision-making about cancer screening: A systematic review. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 32, 188-201.
  
• Bowen D., Allen J.D., Hart A., Vu T.  (2006). Theoretical foundations for interventions designed to promote informed decision-making for cancer screening. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 32, 201-210.
  
• Barton, M.B., Morley, D.S., Moore, S., Allen, J.D., Kleinman, K.P., Emmons, K.E., & Fletcher, S.W. (2004). Decreasing women's anxieties abnormal mammograms:  A controlled trial.  Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 96(7): 529-538.
• Goldman, R., Hunt, M.K., Allen, J., Hause, S., Emmons, K., Maeda, M., & Sorensen, G. (2003).  The Life History Interview Method: Applications to intervention development. Health Education and Behavior,30(5): 550-581.
• Allen, J.D., Sorensen, G., Peterson, K, Stoddard A, Colditz, G. (2002).  Reach Out for Health:  A church-based pilot breast cancer education program.  Health Education Monograph Series, 19, 24-31.

international presentations

• Allen, J,D,, Gilligan T.  Understanding African American Men's Beliefs about Prostate Cancer Screening: Formative Research Findings and Implications for Intervention. Presented at the 3rd International Shared Decision Making Conference in Ottawa, Canada, June 14-16, 2005.

My work centers on community-based programs in cancer prevention and control, especially for medically underserved populations. This interest evolved out of experiences I have had in international, community and acute health care settings. When I was an undergraduate nursing student at BC, I did an internship at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in New York. As an impressionable, young nurse working with terminal patients, I was deeply affected by the pain and suffering of cancer patients. I began to realize the crucial role of societal changes (e.g., access to tobacco, exposure to environmental carcinogens), in addition to individual actions, in preventing disease.

After graduating from BC, I joined the Jesuit International Volunteer Corps and worked as a nurse and teacher in Kingston, Jamaica. Living in a country where poverty is so prevalent and the gap between rich and poor so vast brought into sharp focus the impact of socio-economic and cultural forces on attaining and sustaining health. It became increasingly clear to me that people with lower levels of education and income face a disproportionate burden of disease, and have the fewest resources to deal with these hardships. I came to see health as an issue of social justice.

Since completing a master’s degree in community health nursing at Boston College and a doctorate in public health at the Harvard School of Public Health, I have worked in both academic and community settings to address health disparities. I am excited about returning to BC to become a part of a community that values world citizenship, in addition to academic achievement and research excellence. As a student at BC, I was fortunate to have faculty mentors who helped me to envision a lifetime career in the field of nursing—one that has spanned a variety of settings and populations, and has enabled me to work in multidisciplinary settings. I hope that I can do the same for others.

research interests

Design and evaluation of community-based interventions; cancer prevention and control in underserved communities; health disparities

appointments & awards

• Associate Research Scientist, Phyllis Cantor Cancer Center, DFCI, 2006-present
• Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA - Dean’s Letter of Recognition for Excellence in Teaching, 2003-2006