Danielle Walker

Danielle Walker’s teaching experience and interests include global health, epidemiology, community health, public health education, HIV/AIDS, health promotion, disease prevention, health behavior, and ethics. She was awarded the Outstanding Dissertation Award for the UTEP College of Health Science for her doctoral work on understanding the multidimensional factors that influence HIV testing among women in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She finds joy in helping students learn the foundations of public health, identify their unique gifts, and provides hands on experiences with current projects so connections can be made between theory, gifts, and practice.  She has a passion to fight injustice, which guided her career in HIV care at CDC and currently as the CEO of a global health nonprofit. Her current research is focused on increasing HIV knowledge and testing to optimize the HIV Continuum of Care in Davao, Philippines, along with improving access to care in Uganda. Walker also has experience in HIV research in other African countries, building statistical predictor models for HIV testing, conducting community assessments around the world, and is exploring how public health models can improve community development in Mexico.

Danielle and her husband are co-founders of Meeting TENTS (Meeting The Everyday Needs To Survive), a global health nonprofit that comes alongside community leaders to help improve health outcomes. They focus on collaborating with community leaders, conducting formal community assessments, and using public health methodologies to drive sustainable goals. Meeting TENTS also provides direct avenues for students to conduct internship hours and get involved in global health projects. 

“The field of public health amazes me with how it links to faith so naturally. Public health models are at the core of my research, and when those are applied to global missions then unique avenues to serve the forgotten and marginalized begin to emerge. Many Christians have a heart for missions, but allowing research and sound methodology guide international collaboration provides evidence-based strategy for sustainability,” said Walker. “We merge the heart of Jesus with sustainable solutions to help global communities thrive. The field of public health gives us valuable tools to be the practical hands and feet of Jesus to this world.”