Degree
BS - Chemistry
Degree
BS - Chemistry
Institution Name
Clark Atlanta University
Monica Ponder
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Profile Image
Profile Type
Faculty
Profile Type
Faculty
Monica Lindsey Ponder, PhD
Associate Professor, Health Communication & Culture
Department/Office
- Communication Culture & Media Studies
School/College
- School of Communications
Biography
Biography
Dr. Monica L. Ponder (she/her/hers) is an Associate Professor of Health Communication & Culture in the Department of Communication, Culture and Media Studies (CCMS) within the Cathy Hughes School of Communications at Howard University.
Dr. Ponder's research examines organization-level approaches to public health and crisis communication practice, particularly those centering womanist and radical Black feminist lenses. She serves as a Faculty Fellow at the Georgetown-Howard Center for Medical Humanities and Health Justice (MHHJ) and as an inaugural faculty fellow with the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stonybrook University. Dr. Ponder also leads the C3 Lab for Health Communication at Howard University.
As a scholar-activist, Dr. Ponder has led many successful public health initiatives. A long-time social entrepreneur, she advises community organizations on health communication strategy and community-centered engagement. She serves on the Whitman-Walker Health System Board of Directors, and as a steering committee member of the Society for Health Communication and BLKHLTH Cares. She formerly served as an advisory member of Beyond Sports' Return to Play Fund and as Board Chair of Georgians for a Healthy Future.
As a lifelong learner and practitioner, Dr. Ponder brings to her teaching a 14+ year career in health communication at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She views the classroom as a safe space where students become aware of their own power as scholar-activists, empowered learners, and emerging public health change-makers. In the classroom, she facilitates thoughtful conversations, encourages culturally responsive knowledge production, and collaborates respectfully as students engage their intellectual curiosity.
Dr. Ponder holds BS and MS degrees in Chemistry from Clark Atlanta University, an MSPH in Epidemiology from Emory University, and a PhD in Communication from Georgia State University.
Education & Expertise
Education
Degree
MS - Biochemistry
Degree
MS - Biochemistry
Institution Name
Clark Atlanta University
Degree
MSPH - Epidemiology
Degree
MSPH - Epidemiology
Institution Name
Emory University
Degree
PhD - Communication (Health/Crisis)
Degree
PhD - Communication (Health/Crisis)
Institution Name
Georgia State University
Expertise
Title
Public health communication
Title
Public health communication
Title
Crisis communication (interdisciplinary)
Title
Crisis communication (interdisciplinary)
Title
Arts, coping and healing
Title
Arts, coping and healing
Title
Critical & cultural approaches to health communication
Title
Critical & cultural approaches to health communication
Title
Decolonizing traditional public health methodology
Title
Decolonizing traditional public health methodology
Title
Moving images as a tool for social justice
Title
Moving images as a tool for social justice
Publications and Presentations
Publications and Presentations
Title
Critical Matriarchal Futures: Reimagining Public Health Communication Leadership as Response to State-sanctioned Violence
Title
Critical Matriarchal Futures: Reimagining Public Health Communication Leadership as Response to State-sanctioned Violence
Summary
Ponder, M. L., Patterson, N., & Reid, K. (2026). Critical matriarchal futures: Reimagining public health communication leadership as response to state-sanctioned violence. Frontiers in Public Health, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1831079
Title
What Happens When the Crisis Seemingly Never Ends? Perspectives in Health Communication
Title
What Happens When the Crisis Seemingly Never Ends? Perspectives in Health Communication
Summary
Ponder ML. What happens when the crisis seemingly never ends? Perspectives in Health Communication Ethnicity & Disease 2022;32(2):165-168. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48673377
Title
Adequacy of Existing Surveillance Systems to Monitor Racism, Social Stigma and COVID Inequities: A Detailed Assessment and Recommendations
Title
Adequacy of Existing Surveillance Systems to Monitor Racism, Social Stigma and COVID Inequities: A Detailed Assessment and Recommendations
Summary
Ford CL, Amani B, Harawa NT, Akee R, Gee GC, Sarrafzadeh M, Abotsi-Kowu C, Fazeli S, Le C, Nwankwo E, Zamanzadeh D, Ovalle A, and Ponder ML. (2021). Adequacy of existing surveillance systems to monitor racism, social stigma and COVID inequities: a detailed assessment and recommendations. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 18(24):13099. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/24/13099
Title
Sharing Black Trauma as COVID-19 Crisis Communication Tactic: Assessing communications from a regional hospital system in Albany, Georgia
Title
Sharing Black Trauma as COVID-19 Crisis Communication Tactic: Assessing communications from a regional hospital system in Albany, Georgia
Summary
Ponder, ML, Ameen, K., & Tindall, NT. (2022) Sharing Black Trauma as a COVID-19 Crisis Communication Tactic: assessing communications from a regional hospital system in Albany, Georgia. Journal of Communication in Healthcare. https://doi.org/10.1080/17538068.2022.2035176
Title
An Equity-Based Scoring System for Evaluating Public Health Surveillance Systems
Title
An Equity-Based Scoring System for Evaluating Public Health Surveillance Systems
Summary
Amani B, McAndrew B, Sharif MZ, Garcia J, Nwankwo E, Cabral A, Abotsi-Kowu C, Khan H, Le C, Ponder ML and Ford CL. (2023). An Equity-Based Scoring System for Evaluating Public Health Surveillance Systems. Ethnicity & Disease. 33 (1): 63–75. https://doi.org/10.18865/2022-2022
Title
Reimagining Partnerships Between Black communities and Academic Health Research Institutions: Towards Equitable Power in Engagement
Title
Reimagining Partnerships Between Black communities and Academic Health Research Institutions: Towards Equitable Power in Engagement
Summary
Ameen, K., Airhihenbuwa, C. O., Freire, K., Ponder, ML, & Hosein, A. (2025). Reimagining partnerships between Black communities and academic health research institutions: Towards equitable power in engagement. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(6), 921. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22060921
Title
Does Online Activism Impact Offline Impact? A Cultural Examination of Slacktivism, “Popcorn Activism,” Power, and Fragility
Title
Does Online Activism Impact Offline Impact? A Cultural Examination of Slacktivism, “Popcorn Activism,” Power, and Fragility
Summary
Ponder, ML, Addie, Y. O., Meux, A. I., Tindall, N. T., & Gulledge, B. (2023). Does online activism impact offline impact? A cultural examination of slacktivism, “popcorn activism,” power, and fragility. In Strategic Social Media as Activism (pp. 257-277). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003291855
Title
Pynk proverbs: Peeling the layers on spirituality and public health practices in ‘P-valley’ television series
Title
Pynk proverbs: Peeling the layers on spirituality and public health practices in ‘P-valley’ television series
Summary
Greene G. Addie, Y. Drayton, N. White, R. and Ponder, ML. (2025). Pynk Proverbs: Peeling the Layers on Spirituality and Public Health Practices in ‘P-valley’ Television Series. Culture, Health & Society. In Press. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2025.2556824.
Title
Undocumented Hispanic Immigrants’ Perceived Stigma, Social Barriers, Coping and Adapting during COVID-19
Title
Undocumented Hispanic Immigrants’ Perceived Stigma, Social Barriers, Coping and Adapting during COVID-19
Summary
Ponder, ML., Lindsey, J., & Sun, W. (2022). Undocumented Hispanic Immigrants’ Perceived Stigma, Social Barriers, Coping and Adapting during COVID-19. Qualitative Research Reports in Communication. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17459435.2022.2080757
Title
COVID-19 and Crisis Communication Among African American Households
Title
COVID-19 and Crisis Communication Among African American Households
Summary
Anakwe A, Majee W, Ponder ML, BeLue R. COVID-19 and crisis communication among African American households. Fam Syst Health. 2022 Sep;40(3):408-412. doi: 10.1037/fsh0000705. Epub 2022 May 12. PMID: 35549489.
Title
Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs Related to Hypertension and Hyperlipidemia Self-Management among African-American Men Living in the Southeastern United States
Title
Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs Related to Hypertension and Hyperlipidemia Self-Management among African-American Men Living in the Southeastern United States
Summary
Long, E. Ponder, ML. & Bernard, S. (May 2017). Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs Related to Hypertension and Hyperlipidemia Self-Management among African-American Men Living in the Southeastern United States. Patient Education and Counseling. 100(5): 1000-1006. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2016.12.011
Title
Social Stigma’s Impact on the Gender and Sexual Minority Community During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Title
Social Stigma’s Impact on the Gender and Sexual Minority Community During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Summary
Ponder, M. L., Jenkins, B. M., & Sun, W. (2024). Stigma’s impact on the gender and sexual minority community during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Howard Journal of Communications. https://doi.org/10.1080/10646175.2024.2317133
Title
COVID-19 Frames the News: An Examination of Race and Pandemic Frames in Newspaper Coverage
Title
COVID-19 Frames the News: An Examination of Race and Pandemic Frames in Newspaper Coverage
Summary
Ponder, M. L., Kasymova, S., Coleman, L.S., Goodman, J.M., & Smith, C. (2024). COVID-19 Frames the News: An Examination of Race and Pandemic Frames in Newspaper Coverage. Howard Journal of Communications. https://doi.org/10.1080/10646175.2023.2263737
Title
Racism is a U.S. Public Health Crisis
Title
Racism is a U.S. Public Health Crisis
Summary
Vardeman, J., Tindall, N., Cajina-Clark, J. & Ponder, M. L. (2024). Racism is a U.S. Public Health Crisis. In B.W. McKeever (Ed.), Public Relations for Public Health and Social Good. (pp. 47-64). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003327189-5
Title
Deepfakes as Misinformation: The Next Frontier of Sports Fandom.
Title
Deepfakes as Misinformation: The Next Frontier of Sports Fandom.
Summary
Ponder, M.L., Leak, T., & Meggs, K (2023). Deepfakes as Misinformation: The Next Frontier of Sports Fandom. In K. Langmia (Ed.), Black communication in the age of disinformation: Deepfakes and synthetics media (pp. 73-87). Palgrave-MacMillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27696-5
Title
Advancing Health Equity Through Community-based Legal Epidemiology: A Case Study of Local Policy Reform
Title
Advancing Health Equity Through Community-based Legal Epidemiology: A Case Study of Local Policy Reform
Summary
Blount, M. A., Hopkins, J., Ponder, M. L., Johnson, E., Nzinga, M. Y., Morris, Z., Baptiste, E., Lamsal, S., Paris, E. B., Young, S., Mooney, M. V., Standifer, M., & Douglas, M. (2025). Advancing health equity through community-based legal epidemiology: A case study of local policy reform. Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics (In press).
Title
Health Policy: Processes, Alliances, and Strategies for Public Health Action
Title
Health Policy: Processes, Alliances, and Strategies for Public Health Action
Summary
Douglas, M., Mccay, M., Newton, B., Ponder, M. L., Dobson, R., Blount, M., Nzinga, M., & Waldrop, R. (2025). Health policy: Processes, alliances, and strategies for public health action. In T. H. Akintobi & S. Miles-Richardson (Eds.), Community-centered public health: Strategies, tools, and applications for advancing health equity. pp. 131 - 156. https://doi.org/10.1891/9780826189462
Title
(Recent Scholar Activism) Pictures of health: Photos help East Point show community's challenges, but also joys.
Title
(Recent Scholar Activism) Pictures of health: Photos help East Point show community's challenges, but also joys.
Summary
Grapevine, J. (2024, August 30). Pictures of health: Photos help East Point show community's challenges, but also joys. Healthbeat. https://www.healthbeat.org/atlanta/2024/08/30/photo-project-asks-east-point-georgia-what-public-health-challenges-they-face/
Title
Unmasking The Truth: The Impact of Covid-19 on Albany, Georgia
Title
Unmasking The Truth: The Impact of Covid-19 on Albany, Georgia
Summary
Ponder, ML., Grant, D. Burke, W., C. Thomas Tobin, and CL Ford. (2025). Creative Works (film) accepted to the 2025 American Public Health Association Film Festival (Washington, DC) and official selection, 2026 BronzeLens Festival (Atlanta, GA).
Title
"Just One More Thing on Our Plate that Makes it Undesirable to be around”: African Americans’ Experiences during COVID-19
Title
"Just One More Thing on Our Plate that Makes it Undesirable to be around”: African Americans’ Experiences during COVID-19
Summary
Ponder, M. L., Gardner, T. E., & Sun, W. (2023). “Just One More Thing on Our Plate that Makes it Undesirable to be around”: African Americans’ Experiences during COVID-19. Howard Journal of Communications, 34(4), 372–391. https://doi.org/10.1080/10646175.2023.2191806
Title
Advancing Commitment to Health Equity through Community-based Legal Epidemiology: A Case Study of Local Policy Reform
Title
Advancing Commitment to Health Equity through Community-based Legal Epidemiology: A Case Study of Local Policy Reform
Summary
Blount, M. A., Hopkins, J., Ponder, M. L., Johnson, E., Nzinga, M. Y., Morris, Z., Baptiste, E., Lamsal, S., Paris, E. B., Young, S., Mooney, M. V., Standifer, M., & Douglas, M. D. (in press). Advancing commitment to health equity through community-based legal epidemiology: A case study of local policy reform. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics.