Dr. Sandra Quinn

Dr. Sandra C. Quinn is a distinguished scholar whose mixed methods research has transformed understanding of vaccine acceptance, health communication, and racial disparities in public health outcomes. During her 13 years at UMD's School of Public Health, she served as Professor, Senior Associate Director of the Maryland Center for Health Equity (MCHE), Chair of the Department of Family Science, and Associate Dean for Public Health Initiatives and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.  From 2000-2010, she was Professor in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences and Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Education at the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Quinn's research team raised over well over $12 million in funding and published 129 articles in high-impact journals. She has been the PI on CDC, NIH, FDA and foundation grants focused on trust, vaccine acceptance, vaccine disparities, and communication during routine and emergency situations, and engagement of racial/ethnic minorities in research.  She led the establishment of the University's first Pandemic Preparedness Institute.  As a recognized national leader, she chaired a National Academies of Sciences workshop on building trust in public health emergency response and served as a member of the National Academy’s Committee on Evidence-Based Practice for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response.  In MCHE, she led such grants as Building Trust Between Minorities and Researchers to develop educational curriculum for researchers working with minority communities, and a resource on participation in research for communities.  She was PI on a NIH grant, Supplementing Survey-Based Analyses of Group Vaccination Narratives and Behaviors Using Social Media, one of the first NIH grants to examine the impact of social media on vaccine attitudes and behavior.  The Dr. Sandra C. Quinn Graduate Student Support Fund was established in her honor upon her retirement in 2023.

Dr. Quinn has been singing with Encore since September 2014.  She co-chairs the Arts & Health Research Committee and chaired the Encore COVID Task Force.  She currently sings in Annapolis Rocks and Broadway in DC.