About Voices of Child Health in Communities

Voices of Child Health in Communities (VOCHIC) is a program at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago that focuses on surveying parents in the city of Chicago, the state of Illinois, and nationally to better understand the children’s health related issues that are impacting communities. Researching children’s health related topics helps inform communities, community organizations, healthcare providers, and policy makers. VOCHIC strongly believes that children should be recognized and researched as having their own unique health issues and needs separate from adults.

By asking parents directly about child health, we gain important perspectives and insights that sometimes can be overlooked in health research and policies. VOCHIC is committed to sharing our research with the public, community organizations, healthcare providers, and policy makers. We aim to foster an open dialogue about child health and parental concerns.

Meet the Team

Marie E. Heffernan, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics; Director, Voices of Child Health in Communities; Scientific Director for Quantitative Science, Smith Child Health Outcomes, Research, and Evaluation Center Catalyst program; Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago

Marie E. Heffernan, PhD, serves as the Director for Voices of Child Health in Communities. She is responsible for overseeing survey research and dissemination of research findings. She previously worked in research administration at Northwestern University and on an interdisciplinary social sciences research initiative at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also serves on the Metrics Working Group for West Side United, a collaboration among healthcare, non-profit, and government partners to address health inequity on Chicago’s West Side. Marie received her doctorate in social psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a focus on survey methods, human development, and relationship science.

Marcus Shapiro, MPH

Research Coordinator, Voices of Child Health in Communities, Smith Child Health Outcomes, Research, and Evaluation Center Catalyst program, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago

Marcus Shapiro, MPH, serves as the Research Associate for Voices of Child Health in Communities. He primarily helps with the writing, editing, and marketing of the Voices reports. Additionally, he collaborates with the team on manuscripts and other projects. Marcus previously worked as a fellow in the Division of Overdose Prevention at CDC supporting the evaluation of local health department's overdose prevention programs. He received his Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology with a minor in Psychology from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and earned his Master of Public Health in Epidemiology also from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Ashley P. Keese, MPH

Senior Population Health Analyst, Voices of Child Health in Communities, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago

Ashley Keese, MPH, combines her expertise in epidemiology and applied statistics to analyze complex survey data and uncover insights on child and family health in Chicago. At Lurie Children’s, she collaborates on survey design, data interpretation, and dissemination of findings through reports and publications. Previously, Ashley served as an epidemiologist for the State of Tennessee where she honed her skills in health survey design and analytics. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Neurobiology with a minor in Global Health from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned her Master of Public Health from Emory University.

Annika Macy

Program Intern, Voices of Child Health in Communities, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago

Annika Macy serves as the Program Intern for Voices of Child Health in Communities. She collaborates with the team to write monthly Voices reports, contributes background research to environmental-related projects, and assists with editing for other projects. She is currently a fourth-year undergraduate at Northwestern University studying Environmental Science and Math with a minor in Spanish. She also conducts research on environmental education, and is interested in the impacts of the local environment on children and adolescents in Illinois.