Jennifer Brandt, MD, MPH
Jennifer Brandt, MD, MPH is a second-year fellow in the Emory University Division of Rheumatology. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in biology at Harvard College, Dr. Brandt completed her MD at Emory University School of Medicine. During her medical school years, she was active with the student-led organization Health Students Taking Action Together, an interdisciplinary group of health students working to improve health education and access across the state of Georgia. From 2007 to 2008, she was heavily involved in the “Grady is Vital” campaign, working to keep the doors open at Grady Memorial Hospital in the face of severe economic constraints.
Dr. Brandt received a degree in public health at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health in the areas of epidemiology and environmental health, with funding through a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health grant. During her public health year, she assisted with the CDC-funded Atlanta Commuters Exposures study, which investigated pulmonary and autonomic response to environmental pollutant exposures. Her thesis work involved the study of longitudinal changes (via responses to the Asthma Control Questionnaire) and varying environmental pollutants faced by children in El Paso, Texas. After completing medical and public health school, she spent several months in Argentina, traveling with community nurses and working on her Spanish-language skills.
Dr. Brandt completed her internal medicine residency at Emory University, where she was recognized as “Best Clinical Resident,” and continued on to a rheumatology fellowship at Emory.
Her current research is on a survey to measure health-related quality of life among patients with lupus from the Georgians Organized Against Lupus (GOAL) cohort derived from the Georgia Lupus Registry, a CDC-funded, population-based registry established in metropolitan Atlanta. She will soon begin a project on health outcomes among persons with class-V lupus nephritis using this registry.
She maintains an interest in the intersection of cost and quality related to medical care. She is involved in a project using fellow-based teaching to educate nurses and medical students in the Emory Clinic in an effort to further their understanding and encourage interdisciplinary communication. She is interested in beginning a quality improvement project based at the Grady Rheumatology and Ophthalmology clinics in an effort to achieve better patient care outcomes in the area of inflammatory eye disease.
Dr. Brandt said, “I remain fascinated by work achieved at the intersection of disciplines, including different medical specialties as well as public and private domains, and the field of rheumatology serves as a catalyst for me to become involved in exciting projects along these lines.”
“I am extremely thankful to and inspired by my research mentors at Emory University School of Medicine and Rollins School of Public Health over the years,” she said.
In her free time, Dr. Brandt enjoys biking, swimming, and spending time with her three-month-old daughter and husband.
Related Links
- Emory Rheumatology fellows
- Emory University Division of Rheumatology
- Emory University Department of Medicine
- Emory University School of Medicine
- Rollins School of Public Health
- Grady Memorial Hospital
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