Faculty & Staff

Dr. Clara Haignere, PhD, MPH, CHES
Associate Professor

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Position:

Associate Professor, Temple University, Department of Public   Health

Education:

Ph.D International Studies.& M.A.- Medical Sociology, University of Denver,
M.P.H.- Stress & Mental Health, Columbia University
CHES - Certified Health Education Specialist
B.A.- Sociology, German Minor, University of California, Davis

Research and Teach Areas:

International Public Health, Adolescent Health, HIV/AIDS, Sexual Abstinence
Education, Health Behavior Theories, Maternal
and Child Health & Health Policy Issues.

Dr. Haignere has been a member of the faculty at Temple University for fifteen years. Before coming to Temple University, she taught at the University of Colorado Medical School, Brooklyn College, Hunter College, and New York University. She has thirty years experience in international, national, and regional public health, working with underserved populations in diverse locations such as El Salvador, Chile, Costa Rica, Harlem, Brooklyn, and North Philadelphia. She speaks Spanish and German, having lived in Chile, Costa Rica, Germany and Austria.

She has developed health educational materials including HIV/AIDS curriculums for homeless youth, an HIV/AIDS video titled AIDS Not Us, and Family Life Education for the NYC School District. She has been a grant reviewer for the National Institute of Child Health with the National Institutes of Health and a reviewer for Family Planning Perspectives, Health Promotion Practice, Health Education Research, and Journal of Health Education and Behavior. She regularly presents at the American Public Health Association, the Society for Public Health Education, and has been invited to speak at the CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health, International AIDS Conferences, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children's Defense Fund. For twelve years, Dr. Haignere was the Principal Investigator for the CDC-sponsored grant, conducting the biannual Philadelphia Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

Dr. Haignere has authored numerous articles, reports, and educational materials. Her publications include articles in such prestigious journals as Journal of the American Medical Association, AIDS Education and Prevention, International Journal of Health Studies, Journal of School Health, Health Education Research, and the Journal of Health Education and Behavior. Since 2001 she has offers students around the country international public health experience through the Temple Summer Abroad Program to Costa Rica that she personally developed.

Dr. Haignere is currently on a research study leave for fall 2008 to develop a book comparing some European universal health care systems that might be applicable to the U.S.’s health care short comings. When one looks at the US health care system, conditions, and services compared with most countries in the world, Americans can be extremely thankful for their advanced, high-tech medicine, and public health infrastructure. But when you compare the US system to most other advanced nations, one must question what can we are doing wrong. Using the United Nations’ more comprehensive definitions of well-being developed to compare advanced nations, life in these United States for a large segment of our residents is not the best the world has to offer. So in fall 2008, Dr. Haignere is traveling in Norway, Denmark, Germany, France, and Switzerland to learn more details about how we might improve the US health care system.