EPI Ambassadors Shaping the next generation of Leaders in research

Meet the Program Advisor

Shantrel Canidate, Ph.D., MPH, a social and behavioral epidemiologist and health equity researcher, joins the institute’s leadership team as the EPI Associate Director for Outreach and Community Partnerships. This role is dedicated to nurturing the internal relationships between multiple UF units, identifying opportunities for external partnerships and fostering research collaboration with Southeastern universities.

Canidate is an assistant professor in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions Department of Epidemiology. In addition, she serves as a faculty member within the social and behavioral science program and the Southern HIV and Alcohol Research Consortium. Her research focuses on applying interdisciplinary approaches to identifying, understanding and addressing substance use and HIV-related health disparities among marginalized populations, such as men who have sex with men (MSM). Her work also aims to leverage electronic health records data through artificial intelligence and utilize causal inference approaches to identify biomedical and behavioral interventions that can reduce racial disparities in HIV care among marginalized populations.

As a double gator, Canidate received both her master’s in public health and a doctorate in public health from UF, specializing in social and behavioral sciences. She later completed a two-year T32 postdoctoral fellowship in the department of epidemiology with the UF Substance Abuse Training Center in Public Health. She is currently funded as a principal investigator through the first-ever Health Equity Scholars for Action grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and through a five-year K01 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Furthermore, she is also funded as a co-investigator by the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse.

Meet the program Manager

Tasha Graham-Dinkins is the Project Manager III at the EPI, where she will lead the ambassadors program and the international fellowship program. Her work aims to significantly impact the UF’s academic and research goals. Before this, Tasha worked at the UF Health Cancer Center and held roles in the Graduate Medical Education (GME) Department at UF College of Medicine, including Project Manager II and Institutional Coordinator.

In her previous roles, Tasha provided institutional oversight and administrative support to program directors and coordinators, coordinated Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) meetings. She also served on several key committees, including the GMEC, the Institutional Program Review Committee (IPRC) and the Clinical Learning Environment Committee (CLER).

Tasha’s career began as a program coordinator in the UF College of Medicine Hematology/Oncology Department. She also has over eight years of experience as a quality assurance project manager in the blood banking industry. She earned her master’s in business administration management in 2011, holds TAGME certification and completed the UF Manager’s Cohort Program in 2023.

Tasha is deeply committed to fostering an enriching environment at EPI and is passionate about outreach and community partnership initiatives, working closely with students and employees.