BS - Chemistry
Clark Atlanta University
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Faculty
Faculty
Monica Lindsey Ponder, PhD
Assistant Professor, Health Communication & Culture
Department/Office
- Communication Culture & Media Studies
School/College
- School of Communications
Biography
Dr. Monica L. Ponder (she/her/hers) is an Assistant 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 a radical Black feminist lens. 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 as a steering committee member of the Society for Health Communication and BLKHLTH Cares and 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
MS - Biochemistry
Clark Atlanta University
MSPH - Epidemiology
Emory University
PhD - Communication (Health/Crisis)
Georgia State University
Expertise
Public health communication
Crisis communication (interdisciplinary)
Arts, coping and healing
Critical & cultural approaches to health communication
Decolonizing traditional public health methodology
Moving images as a tool for social justice
Publications and Presentations
Publications and Presentations
What Happens When the Crisis Seemingly Never Ends? Perspectives in Health Communication
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
Adequacy of Existing Surveillance Systems to Monitor Racism, Social Stigma and COVID Inequities: A Detailed Assessment and Recommendations
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
Sharing Black Trauma as COVID-19 Crisis Communication Tactic: Assessing communications from a regional hospital system in Albany, Georgia
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
An Equity-Based Scoring System for Evaluating Public Health Surveillance Systems
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
Reimagining Partnerships Between Black communities and Academic Health Research Institutions: Towards Equitable Power in Engagement
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
Does Online Activism Impact Offline Impact? A Cultural Examination of Slacktivism, “Popcorn Activism,” Power, and Fragility
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
Pynk proverbs: peeling the layers on spirituality and public health practices in ‘P-valley’ television series
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.
Undocumented Hispanic Immigrants’ Perceived Stigma, Social Barriers, Coping and Adapting during COVID-19
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
Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs Related to Hypertension and Hyperlipidemia Self-Management among African-American Men Living in the Southeastern United States
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
Social Stigma’s Impact on the Gender and Sexual Minority Community During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
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
COVID-19 Frames the News: An Examination of Race and Pandemic Frames in Newspaper Coverage
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
Racism is a U.S. Public Health Crisis
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
Deepfakes as Misinformation: The Next Frontier of Sports Fandom.
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
Advancing Health Equity Through Community-based Legal Epidemiology: A Case Study of Local Policy Reform
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).
Health Policy: Processes, Alliances, and Strategies for Public Health Action
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
(Recent Scholar Activism) Pictures of health: Photos help East Point show community's challenges, but also joys.
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/
Unmasking The Truth: The Impact of Covid-19 on Albany, Georgia
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.
"Just One More Thing on Our Plate that Makes it Undesirable to be around”: African Americans’ Experiences during COVID-19
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