Office of Academic Affairs

The Office of Academic Affairs is located in the Dean's Office Suite, Ryals Public Health Building (RPHB) Suite 130.

Erika (Ela) Austin, PhD, MPH, CPH

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
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RPHB 120C
(205) 975-9272

Dr. Austin is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the UAB School of Public Health (SOPH). She oversees the educational mission of the school, ensuring that all degree programs prepare students to join the public health workforce. Her office supports students throughout their time with SOPH, from recruitment, admissions, and enrollment to academic advising and career planning.

Dr. Austin is a social scientist whose research focuses on the health of marginalized populations, including LGBT-identified people living in the South, people at risk for or living with HIV, and people experiencing homelessness. She combines her training in survey methodology (MA in Applied Social Research, University of Michigan), sociology (PhD, University of Virginia), and public health (MPH, University of Florida) to design and conduct methodologically rigorous studies of health disparities. She joined the Department of Biostatistics in 2015 as a teaching faculty member, focusing on introductory Biostatistics courses for undergraduate and master’s students.

Scholar's Profile

Amy Hutson Chatham, PhD

Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education
Assistant Professor, Environmental Health Sciences
Director, UAB-AmeriCorps VISTA Statewide Program
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RPHB 140G
(205) 996-7080

Dr. Hutson Chatham is the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education at the UAB School of Public Health where she leads and manages the Undergraduate Education Division. She and her team are responsible for undergraduate teaching and educational program development in partnership with the five departments.

Dr. Hutson Chatham also serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences. She has worked with rural Alabama communities for decades to address educational equity issues, to create health education and promotion opportunities, and to identify and address environmental health issues including inadequate wastewater disposal. Her current research includes two Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-funded surveillance studies of pediatric soil-transmitted helminth infections in Black Belt counties and a five-year CDC cooperative agreement to raise awareness of public health impacts of inadequate sanitation among health care providers and citizens and to promote household sanitation replacement. Dr. Hutson Chatham also directs the UAB-AmeriCorps VISTA program placing nearly 90 capacity building Volunteers In Service To America annually in 10 counties to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement.

Scholar's Profile

Kelley Swatzell, DrPH

Assistant Dean for Accreditation
Associate Professor
Fellow, UAB Faculty Interprofessional Leadership (IPL) Program
Scholar, UAB Center for Interprofessional Education and Simulation (CIPES)
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RPHB 120A
(205) 975-4404

Dr. Kelley Swatzell is an Associate Professor and Assistant Dean for Accreditation in the UAB School of Public Health. She serves as faculty advisor for coordinated degree students in the MPH Concentration in Population Health. As a Faculty Leadership Fellow and Scholar with the UAB Center for Interprofessional Education and Simulation (CIPES), Dr. Swatzell develops and coordinates interprofessional (IP) education, simulation, and service opportunities for students in public health, medicine, nursing, social work, criminal justice, and other health and social service professions.

In 2019, Dr. Swatzell returned to the SOPH full-time, following 13 years at the UAB School of Health Professions, where she taught public health, research methods, and behavioral and social sciences for the health professions, and co-directed the coordinated Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies - Master of Public Health (MSPAS-MPH) degree program from 2015-2021.

Dr. Swatzell now assists with developing, implementing, and evaluating the new Evidence-Based Public Health (EBPH) MPH Core Curriculum. She values interprofessional education, simulation, community engagement, and service-learning as pedagogical practices that promote health equity and social justice by fostering empathy, communication, and understanding across the health professions.

Scholar's Profile

Staff