Doctoral Student Profile - Andra Wilkinson
Andra Wilkinson
Andra Wilkinson, MSPH
Program Initiated: 2012
Primary Advisor: Carolyn Halpern, PhD
Minor: Population Studies
Research Interests: adolescence, substance use, sexual health
Dissertation Research: The complex relationships between substance use and depressive symptoms along the developmental trajectory from adolescence to young adulthood and potential mediators and moderators that explain gender differences.
Honors/Awards: Carolina Population Center Predoctoral Traineeship (2012-present), NIDA F31 Individual Fellowship (2014-present)
Bio: Andra Wilkinson is a fourth-year PhD candidate and trainee at the Carolina Population Center. Wilkinson has led and collaborated on research examining the connection between adolescent substance use and depressive symptoms, the relationship between gender norms and substance use and/or sexual risk behavior, the predictors of youth employment, the contextual determinants of disparities in STI prevalence, etc. Further, Andra has focused her training on developing quantitative skills including growth curve modeling, evaluation, and cost effectiveness analysis. Prior to graduate school, Andra worked as an implementation scientist and evaluator at Kaiser Permanente where her role was to try and bridge the gap between research and practice. During her undergraduate career, Andra studied biology and spent nights registering patients in an emergency department in hopes of becoming a physician before she fell in love with public health.
