UNF health administration professor named 2019 Emerging Scholar

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Dr. Hanadi Hamadi, a University of North Florida (UNF) associate professor of health administration in the Brooks College of Health, was named a 2019 Emerging Scholar by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, a magazine focusing on matters of access and opportunity for all in higher education.

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education first published its Emerging Scholars edition in 2002, which recognizes 15 minority scholars from around the country who are making their mark through teaching, research and service. 

“Dr. Hamadi is extremely passionate about educating the next generation of health care leaders,” said Dr. Mei Zhao, chair of the UNF Department of Health Administration. “She continuously integrates health administration students with her scholarly and community-based activities to diversify their learning experience. Her efforts have and will continue to re-shape the health care delivery system.”

The scholars were selected on several criteria, including research, educational background, publishing and teaching record, field of study competitiveness and broad impact on the academy.

Hamadi, a Southside resident, joined the UNF faculty in 2014. Some of her current research projects include the impact of smoking policy on patient outcomes and hospital performance; development of an adolescent opioid-specific screening tool; examining the impact of community diversity and hospital factors on opioid-adverse events in Florida; examining the relationships between minority health and trauma center recognition; and identifying system-level intervention to improve birth trauma rates among minority populations.

Hamadi has mentored graduate and undergraduate students who have actively participated with her in several research projects. 

“I truly believe that this integration has broken down the silos students perceive themselves in,” she said. “They see their academic life as part of the UNF community and their personal life as part of the broader Jacksonville community. My research, and their involvement and contribution, focuses on helping them merge those two aspects.”

Hamadi has won several awards, including the 2019 UNF Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award and the UNF Scholars Transforming Academic Research Symposium Award. Hamadi also has numerous peer-reviewed publications that represent her dedication to health care research and education. 

Hamadi earned her doctorate from the University of South Carolina in health services policy and management with a concentration in health policy. She received her master’s degree in health system management from George Mason University, as well as a bachelor’s degree in biology. 

     Outside of teaching and conducting research, Hamadi is involved in academic, international, community and other forms of civic engagement, such as serving as a volunteer at a local women’s domestic violence shelter.