Jya Plavin, MPH

Assistant Professor, Public Health

Areas of Expertise

  • Community-Based Participatory Research and Organizing
  • Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA)
  • Community Health Education
  • Weight & Size-Inclusive Health Promotion
  • LGBTQIA+ Health

Biography

Jya serves as the MPH program’s field study coordinator. In addition to completing her MPH at UC Berkeley, Jya has a rich background in community health. She has previously worked as a Project Manager for Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit Programs and served as a Program Coordinator & Counselor at The Berkeley Free Clinic from 2007 to 2010. In these roles, she coordinated volunteers at a consensus-based community health clinic and provided client-centered counseling to high-need and under-resourced populations. She has extensive experience in program design, development, and community engagement.

Education

  • Master of Public Health, UC Berkeley (2012)
  • BA, Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2005)

Research

  • Community mobilization for rural suicide prevention: Process, learning and behavioral outcomes from Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide (PC CARES) in Northwest Alaska. 2019
  • Community-Based Participatory Needs Assessment for the Elder Population of Leverett, Massachusetts. 2023

Teaching Responsibilities

  • Public Health Field Experience