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Meet HDI's Research Team

Contracting with HDI gives you access to staff and faculty at Wheaton College who are experts both in specific fields of study and across disciplines. Our research team brings a unique, holistic understanding to the world of humanitarian and disaster response, combining integrity-filled research with a holistic, faith-rooted view of the world. 

Jamie AtenJamie Aten, Ph.D.

Founder and Executive Director of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute 
Blanchard Chair of Humanitarian & Disaster Leadership

Dr. Aten is the Founder and Executive Director of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute and holds the Blanchard Chair of Humanitarian & Disaster Leadership. He is the co-author or co-editor of 7 academic books, including the Disaster Ministry Handbook (InterVarsity Press) and Spiritually Oriented Psychotherapy for Trauma (APA Books).

Areas of Expertise

  • Psychology of religion and spirituality
  • Disasters and humanitarian response
  • Mental health, trauma, and resilience

Recent Research Projects

View Dr. Aten's faculty profile >

 

Jamie GoodwinJamie Goodwin, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Humanitarian and Disaster Leadership

Jamie Goodwin is a bilingual scholar who comes from the world of practice.  She has served on grant-funded research teams including The Global Philanthropy Environment Index, The Global Religion Research Initiative, and The National Study of Congregations’ Economic Practices. Her work has been published by The Urban Institute, The Conversation, and featured in The Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Areas of Expertise

  • International philanthropy and civil society
  • NGO leadership and strategy
  • Immigrant groups

Recent Research Projects

View Jamie Goodwin's faculty profile >

 

John Frame, Ph.D.

Guest Professor of Anti-Trafficking and Gender Based Violence

Dr. John Frame is an interdisciplinary, qualitative researcher with vast international experience, whose work and writing have explored anti-human trafficking, faith-based organizations, applied theology, and public administration.

Areas of Expertise

  • Non-profit and faith-based responses to human trafficking
  • Applied theology and practical Christian living in social action and service
  • Comparative analysis of faith-based and secular NGOs

Recent Research Projects:

 

Dennis Kilama

Research and Leadership Collaborator

Dennis is a graduate from Wheaton College’s Humanitarian and Disaster Institute and is currently a doctoral candidate at Indiana University. He has served as Senior Pastor of a church in Kampala and Deputy Vice Chancellor of Africa Renewal University. Dennis is married to Yvonne Kilama, and they have three children.

Areas of Expertise

  • Grassroots faith-based organizations and their response to social issues in Africa
  • The intersection of the local church and Indigenous giving practices in Africa
  • New mission frontiers in Africa and the strategic place of church planting in African cities

Recent Research Projects

Kent AnnanKent Annan

Director of Humanitarian and Disaster Leadership M.A.

Kent Annan is Director of Humanitarian & Disaster Leadership. He is author of You Welcomed Me: Loving Refugees and Immigrants Because God First Loved Us (2018), Slow Kingdom Coming (2016), After Shock (2011), and Following Jesus through the Eye of the Needle (2009). He writes regularly for national publications, and has cofounded and formerly served as co-director of Haiti Partners, a nonprofit focused on education in Haiti.

Areas of Expertise

  • International development
  • Refugees and immigrant groups
  • Empowering local churches in global contexts

Recent Research Projects

View Kent Annan's faculty profile >

 

Allison Ruark, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Public Health, Wheaton College

Dr. Ruark is a social epidemiologist whose 20-year career has spanned research, monitoring and evaluation, and working with faith-based organizations and other partners to further global health, particularly in Africa. Dr. Ruark had spent her career as a public health researcher and consultant, and is drawn to public health because of its emphasis on promoting health rather than treating disease and its holistic understanding of health as rooted in behavior, culture, social structures, and inequality.

Areas of Expertise

  • Global public health
  • Behavioral drivers for HIV/AIDS prevention
  • Epidemiology

Recent Research Projects

View Allison Ruark's faculty profile >

 

Yousaf Sadiq, Ph.D.

Humanitarian and Disaster Institute Senior Fellow

Dr. Yousaf Sadiq is the Senior Fellow for the Humanitarian and Disaster Institute, with a focus on the persecuted church. He is passionate about strengthening and resourcing congregations in hostile contexts.

Areas of Expertise

  • The persecuted church
  • South Asia
  • Muslim majority cultures and societies

Recent Research Projects

 

 

Yvonne Kilama

Research and Leadership Collaborator

Yvonne is a graduate of Indiana University, where she completed her M.A. in Philanthropic Studies. She has served for 15 years in community development and community health, with a focus on controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and has worked with USAID programs in an international context. Yvonne is married to Dennis Kilama, and they have three children.

Areas of Expertise

  • HIV/AIDS community case management
  • Adolescent and Girl-centered programming in Africa 
  • Program development and Strategic planning for NGOs in the Global South
  • Fundraising and Donor Development among Faith-Based Organizations

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