Megan Hawkes, M.P.H.

Research Associate

Megan Hawkes has served as a Research Associate in HZA’s South Portland, Maine office since joining the firm in the summer of 2016. Since her arrival, she has taken an active role in a number of projects.

One such project involvesMaine General Medical Center’s Partnerships to Improve Community Health (PICH)grant, which is a CDC funded grant aimed at making a population-level impact on chronic disease and chronic disease risk factors by improving residents’ access to community and clinical sectors to improve their health. Ms. Hawkesconducted interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders, synthesized qualitative data and interpreted outcome data. For an evaluation of an initiative in Maine designed to reduce high-risk drinking, prescription drug abuse and marijuana use among youth and young adults, Ms. Hawkes conducted key informant interviews and focus groups and synthesized qualitative data. She serves as the liaison for this latter project, working closely with community coalitions and school districts to help identify where youth are at risk have engaging in risky behavior.

Prior to joining HZA, Ms. Hawkes worked for the Northern New England Division of The Salvation Armywhere she was responsible for grant writing and grant management. She created a grant program and practices for the division, which included conducting research of funding opportunitiesfor Salvation Army programs in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. She also created tools to facilitate the grant application process, drafted and reviewed proposals, developed outcome measurements and managed grants from proposal to final report.

In 2013, Ms. Hawkescompleted an internship at PharmAccess Foundation, a non-profit organization that seeks to make quality healthcare accessible in Africa. For her internship program, she worked at a Mister Sister Mobile clinic in Windhoek, Namibia, where she worked with development staff and finance and logistics departments to manage the daily operations of the clinic. She led and supervised wellness screening of 300 individuals, and assisted with the development of quality improvement measures and software tracking. She also interacted with and submitted key reports to leaders and stakeholders. Preceding that, Ms. Hawkesserved as an Analytic Research Assistant at the Boston University Center for Global Health and Development in Boston, Massachusetts where she worked with a team of professionals to analyze data and produce a report on the early impacts of the Karnataka Cash Transfer on children and families in Karnataka, India. She assisted in the creation of aNVivo template, analyzed and coded qualitative transcripts, and reported progress and data to the project manager.

Ms. Hawkesreceived a B.S. in Medical Biology and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of New England in 2010, and went on to earn her Master’s in Public Health in 2013 from Boston University.

Needs Assessment

From Delaware Opioid Needs and Gap Assessment Proposal – January 2017

Megan Hawkes, M.P.H., Quantitative Evaluation Lead

Megan Hawkes specializes in projects aimed at reducing or preventing substance abuse or promoting population-level health and has been working closely with Dr. Archibald to evaluate the Partnerships for Success and Strategic Prevention Framework Rx grants as well as Prevention for States, a US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) project aimed at reducing prescription drug deaths and hospitalizations by enhancing state prescription monitoring programs.

Ms. Hawkes serves as HZA’s liaison for its work with Drug Free Community coalitions, working closely with community coalitions and school districts to help identify where youth are at risk of engaging in risky behavior. She has evaluated a number of Drug Free Community projects whose foci are substance abuse prevention among youth, analyzing Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey data which is a complex dataset encompassing consumption and risk factor data administered to youth in middle and high schools. She also is evaluating the Maine General Medical Center’s CDC-funded Partnerships to Improve Community Health grant, which is aimed at making a population-level impact on chronic disease and chronic disease risk factors by improving residents’ access to community and clinical sectors to improve their health. For the initiatives to reduce high-risk drinking, prescription drug abuse and marijuana use among youth and young adults, Ms. Hawkes conducted key informant interviews and focus groups, synthesized the qualitative data and interpreted outcome data.

Prior to joining HZA, Ms. Hawkes worked for the Northern New England Division of the Salvation Army where she was responsible for grant writing and grant management. She created a grant program for the division, which included conducting research of funding opportunities for Salvation Army programs in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. She also created tools to facilitate the grant application process, drafted and reviewed proposals, developed outcome measurements and managed grants from proposal to final report.

In 2013, Ms. Hawkes completed an internship at PharmAccess Foundation, a non-profit organization that seeks to make quality healthcare accessible in Africa. For her internship program, she worked at a Mister Sister Mobile clinic in Windhoek, Namibia, where she worked with development staff and finance and logistics departments to manage the daily operations of the clinic. She led and supervised wellness screening of 300 individuals, and assisted with the development of quality improvement measures and software tracking. She also interacted with and submitted key reports to leaders and stakeholders. Preceding that, Ms. Hawkes served as an Analytic Research Assistant at the Boston University Center for Global Health and Development in Boston, Massachusetts where she worked with a team of professionals to analyze data and produce a report on the early impacts of the Karnataka Cash Transfer on children and families in Karnataka, India. She assisted in the creation of aNVivo template, analyzed and coded qualitative transcripts, and reported progress and data to the project manager. Ms. Hawkes earned her M.P.H. from Boston University.

Program Evaluation

From Alabama Prevention Evaluator Services Proposal – January 2017

Megan Hawkes, M.P.H., Research Associate

Megan Hawkes is a Research Associate who specializes in projects aimed at reducing or preventing substance abuse or promoting population-level health.

Formative and summative evaluations:She is currently assisting Dr. Archibald in evaluating the Partnerships for Success and Strategic Prevention Framework Rx grants as well as Prevention for States, a US CDC project aimed at reducing prescription drug deaths and hospitalizations by enhancing state Prescription Monitoring Programs.

For the SPF Rx initiative to reduce high-risk drinking, prescription drug abuse and marijuana use among youth and young adults, Ms. Hawkes conducted key informant interviews and focus groups and synthesized the qualitative data. She has been working closely with Dr. Archibald and the team’s data analyst to develop the strategic plan.

Evaluating collaborative initiatives:Ms. Hawkes serves as the liaison with a number of Drug Free Community coalitions across Maine whose foci are substance abuse prevention among youth. These collaborative efforts are designed to reduce high-risk drinking, prescription drug abuse and marijuana use among youth and young adults. She has developed logic models and submitted data in compliance with federal Drug-Free Communities’ data reporting requirements. Experienced with the complex dataset, she analyzes Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey (MIYHS) data which is a multifaceted dataset encompassing consumption and risk factor data. The MIYHS is administered to youth in middle and high schools to help inform decision-makers in identifying where prevention and treatment strategies are needed and demonstrate trends to measure successes as well as challenges.

Conducting evaluations:She also is evaluating the Maine General Medical Center’s CDC-funded Partnerships to Improve Community Health grant, which is aimed at making a population-level impact on chronic disease and chronic disease risk factors by improving residents’ access to community and clinical sectors to improve their health. This is another collaborative effort involving dozens of medical care providers and community agencies delivering prevention messages to at-risk clients. Ms. Hawkes conducted interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders, synthesized qualitative data and interpreted outcome data.

Prior to joining HZA, Ms. Hawkes worked for the Northern New England Division of The Salvation Army where she was responsible for grant writing and grant management. She created a grant program and practices for the division and created tools to facilitate the grant application process. In 2013, Ms. Hawkes completed an internship at PharmAccess Foundation, a non-profit organization that seeks to make quality healthcare accessible in Africa. For her internship program, she worked at a Mister Sister Mobile clinic in Windhoek, Namibia, where she worked with development staff and finance and logistics departments to manage the daily operations of the clinic. Preceding that, Ms. Hawkes served as an Analytic Research Assistant at the Boston University Center for Global Health and Development in Boston, Massachusetts where she worked with a team of professionals to analyze data and produce a report on the early impacts of the Karnataka Cash Transfer on children and families in Karnataka, India. Ms. Hawkes received a B.S. in Medical Biology and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of New England, and earned a Master’s degree in Public Health in from Boston University.

From SAMHSA IDIQ Proposal – December 2016

Junior Research Analyst:Megan Hawkes, M.P.H.

Megan Hawkes serves as a Research Associate in HZA’s South Portland, Maine office. She is specializing in projects aimed at reducing or preventing substance abuse or promoting population-level health. She is assisting Dr. Archibald in evaluating the Partnerships for Success and Strategic Prevention Framework Rx grants as well as Prevention for States, a US CDC project aimed at reducing prescription drug deaths and hospitalizations by enhancing state Prescription Monitoring Programs. For the initiatives to reduce high-risk drinking, prescription drug abuse and marijuana use among youth and young adults, Ms. Hawkes conducted key informant interviews and focus groups and synthesized the qualitative data. She serves as HZA’s liaison for this latter project, working closely with community coalitions and school districts to help identify where youth are at risk of engaging in risky behavior.

She has evaluated six Drug Free Community projects whose foci are substance abuse prevention among youth. To that end she analyzes Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey data which is a complex dataset encompassing consumption and risk factor data administered to youth in middle and high schools. She also is evaluating the Maine General Medical Center’s CDC-funded Partnerships to Improve Community Health (PICH) grant, which is aimed at making a population-level impact on chronic disease and chronic disease risk factors by improving residents’ access to community and clinical sectors to improve their health. Ms. Hawkes conducted interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders, synthesized qualitative data and interpreted outcome data.

Prior to joining HZA, Ms. Hawkes worked for the Northern New England Division of The Salvation Army where she was responsible for grant writing and grant management. She created a grant program and practices for the division, which included conducting research of funding opportunities for Salvation Army programs in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. She also created tools to facilitate the grant application process, drafted and reviewed proposals, developed outcome measurements and managed grants from proposal to final report.

In 2013, Ms. Hawkes completed an internship at PharmAccess Foundation, a non-profit organization that seeks to make quality healthcare accessible in Africa. For her internship program, she worked at a Mister Sister Mobile clinic in Windhoek, Namibia, where she worked with development staff and finance and logistics departments to manage the daily operations of the clinic. She led and supervised wellness screening of 300 individuals, and assisted with the development of quality improvement measures and software tracking. She also interacted with and submitted key reports to leaders and stakeholders. Preceding that, Ms. Hawkes served as an Analytic Research Assistant at the Boston University Center for Global Health and Development in Boston, Massachusetts where she worked with a team of professionals to analyze data and produce a report on the early impacts of the Karnataka Cash Transfer on children and families in Karnataka, India. She assisted in the creation of an NVivo template, analyzed and coded qualitative transcripts, and reported progress and data to the project manager.

Ms. Hawkes received a B.S. in Medical Biology and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of New England in 2010, and earned a Master’s degree in Public Health in 2013 from Boston University.

From Rhode Island Behavioral Health Data Collection, Evaluation and Research Proposal – December 2016

Megan Hawkes, M.P.H., Research Associate

Megan Hawkes specializes in projects aimed at reducing or preventing substance abuse and promoting population-level health. Prior to joining HZA, Ms. Hawkes worked for the Northern New England Division of The Salvation Army where she was responsible for grant writing and grant management. In 2013, Ms. Hawkes completed an internship at PharmAccess Foundation, a non-profit organization that seeks to make quality healthcare accessible in Africa.

Revenue Maximization/Financial Assessment

From Colorado Public Benefit Assistance Programs Cost and Performance Analysis Proposal – December 2016

Megan Hawkes, M.P.H., Research Associate:Ms. Hawkes is helping the Maine Center for Disease Control to develop a strategic plan for substance abuse prevention, focusing on the growing opioid problem. She co-leads an evaluation for Maine General Medical Center’s Partnerships to Improve Community Health grant, which is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded project aimed at making a population-level impact on chronic disease by improving residents’ access to community and clinical sectors to improve their health. Ms. Hawkes conducted interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders, synthesized qualitative data and interpreted outcome data. For an evaluation of an initiative in Maine designed to reduce high-risk drinking, prescription drug abuse and marijuana use among youth and young adults, Ms. Hawkes conducted key informant interviews and focus groups and synthesized qualitative data. She serves as the liaison for this latter project, working closely with community coalitions and school districts to help identify where youth are at risk have engaging in risky behavior.

Prior to joining HZA, Ms. Hawkes worked for the Northern New England Division of The Salvation Army where she was responsible for grant writing and grant management. She created a grant program and practices for the division, which included conducting research of funding opportunities for Salvation Army programs in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. She also created tools to facilitate the grant application process, drafted and reviewed proposals, developed outcome measurements and managed grants from proposal to final report.

In 2013, Ms. Hawkes completed an internship at PharmAccess Foundation, a non-profit organization that seeks to make quality healthcare accessible in Africa. She worked at a Mister Sister Mobile clinic in Windhoek, Namibia, working with development staff and finance and logistics departments to manage the daily operations of the clinic. She led and supervised the wellness screening of individuals and assisted with the development of quality improvement measures and software tracking. She also interacted with and submitted key reports to leaders and stakeholders. Preceding that, Ms. Hawkes served as an Analytic Research Assistant at the Boston University Center for Global Health and Development where she worked with a team of professionals to analyze data and produce a report on the early impacts of the Karnataka Cash Transfer on children and families in Karnataka, India. Ms. Hawkes received a B.S. in Medical Biology and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of New England in 2010, and went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Public Health in 2013 from Boston University.