Skip to content Skip to main navigation Report an accessibility issue
Larisa Ozeryansky, MPH, MSIPM, PhD

Larisa Ozeryansky, MPH, MSIPM, PhD

Teaching Assistant Professor

Biography

Larisa Ozeryansky, MPH, MSIPM, PhD, is an interdisciplinary global health expert, educator, and researcher with over a decade of experience designing and implementing health research, intervention, and evaluation programs across Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Scandinavia. Her work spans maternal and child health, refugee and migrant well-being, homelessness, infectious disease, laboratory systems, and health equity.

She has led or contributed to health system evaluations and policy-shaping research with organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UNFPA, KPMG Norway, and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. She has served in both technical and advisory roles—from fieldwork and program implementation to strategic landscape analyses on life-saving commodities.

She holds a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies (Migrant Health) from the University of Washington, an MPH in Global Health from the George Washington University, and a Master’s in International Policy Management from Kennesaw State University. She was also a Fulbright Scholar (Norway, 2023–2024), a Global Health Fellow and Biologist at the CDC, and a Peace Corps volunteer in Kyrgyzstan (2013-2015).

She holds a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies (Refugee Health) from the University of Washington, a Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health from the George Washington University, a Master of Science in International Policy Management from Kennesaw State University, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Oglethorpe University. She was also a Peace Corps Health Sector volunteer at the National AIDS Center in Kyrgyzstan (2013-2015), an ASPPH/PHI Global Health Fellow and Biologist at the CDC (2016-2020), a Kathryn Davis Peace Fellow at the Middlebury Language Immersion Program (Russian) (2022), and a Fulbright Research Scholar (Norway, 2023–2024).

Before joining the University of Tennessee as Teaching Assistant Professor of Public Health, she spent three years as a research mentor with Solomon Admissions Consulting, guiding high school and university students through publication, conference submission, and personal development. She also taught at the undergraduate level for four years—three years at the University of Washington and one at George Washington University—in departments ranging from environmental sustainability to scientific writing. Her commitment to teaching is rooted in her lifelong dedication to mentorship, tutoring, and volunteer work.

Besides her public health and education work, she is an avid adventurer and lifelong learner. She loves to trek and has held positions and been trained as a guide in several countries. She has traveled to over 75 countries, always seeking out trails, local traditions, and community stories. She finds joy in the outdoors, painting, performance arts, food, and language-learning.

Research

Dr. Ozeryansky’s research focuses on global health equity, refugee and migrant well-being, maternal and reproductive health, and social determinants of care. Her work applies interdisciplinary and mixed methods to explore barriers to access, culturally responsive programming, and system-level impact. She has conducted research in many countries and lived and works in global health in South Africa, Norway, and Kyrgyzstan, Highlights from Larisa’s research in the last 5 years includes her work on Enumerating Homelessness at the University of Washington and City of Seattle, her PhD dissertation and Fulbright fieldwork on belonging and psychosocial health among Ukrainian refugees, and an extensive landscape analysis and bottleneck review of life-saving commodities for maternal health in the East and Southern Africa Region for UNFPA.

Education

  • PhD, Interdisciplinary Studies (Migrant Health), University of Washington
    • Graduate Certificate, Demographic Methods
  • MPH, Maternal and Child Health, The George Washington University
  • MSIPM, International Policy Management, Kennesaw State University
  • Bachelor of Science, Biology, Oglethorpe University

Awards and Recognitions

  • Fulbright Research Scholar, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway (2023–2024)
  • Chester Fritz International Research and Study Fellowship, University of Washington (2023)
  • Kathryn Davis Fellow for Peace, Middlebury Language School Russian Immersion Program (2022)
  • Paul D. Coverdell Fellow, Kennesaw State University (2017–2020)
  • Global Health Fellowship (ASPPH/Allan Rosenfield Program), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2016–2019)
  • Peace Corps Kyrgyzstan, Small Projects Assistance (SPA) Grant Awardee for project on social support for caretakers of children living with HIV (2013-2015)
  • Civic Engagement Scholar, Oglethorpe University (2007–2011)

Publications

Larisa Ozeryansky, MPH, MSIPM, PhD

Contact Information

The flagship campus of the University of Tennessee System and partner in the Tennessee Transfer Pathway.