Biography:
Position:
Associate Professor
Email:
Email John Clements
Public Health Focus/Interests:
Dr. John Clements, PhD, is an associate professor who teaches in the Master of Public Health (MPH) program. His courses include biostatistics, research methods, rural public health, and various elective courses. In addition to teaching, he is actively involved in academic governance, accreditation, curriculum development, and the creation of course and program evaluation systems. Dr. Clements also mentors’ students in health outcomes research and co-developed the new rural public health and data management and analytics MPH concentrations in 2024.
Dr. Clements’ research interests include a focus on health outcomes related to diabetes disparities, rural experiences on disease progression and access to care, the influence of environmental exposures, and social determinants of health outcomes. Additionally, he is interested in how political and religious ideologies shape attitudes toward science, health care, and medical science.
Before joining the MPH program in 2019, Dr. Clements served as an assistant professor at Central Michigan University’s College of Medicine, where he was a founding faculty member. His previous experience encompasses various roles in medical education, including overseeing undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education, as well as developing research and international programs for medical students and residents.
Education:
Doctor of Philosophy, Sociology (Spec. in Environmental Science and Policy), 2013
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Master of Public Administration, Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 2000
Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI
Bachelor of Science, Biology, 1989
Aquinas College, Grand Rapids, MI
Public Health Courses Taught:
PH 802: Biostatistics for Public Health
PH 807: Practical Application and Critical Thinking Synthesis in Public Health
PH 830: Foundations of Rural Public Health
PH 834: Drivers of Rural Health
PH 862: Global Pandemics and Public Health Systems, Law, and Community Impacts
PH 878: Applied Biostatistics for Public Health Practitioners
Professional Experience/Expertise:
Course and curriculum evaluation
Development of Rural Public Health concentration and courses
Development of Data Management and Analytics concentration and courses
Mentor for 100+ students and resident health outcomes/clinical research projects
Professional Activities or Current Research:
Principal Investigator for “Disparities in Diabetes Comorbidities and Multiple Chronic Conditions,” R15 Grant for $432,884 from National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health
Diabetes and multiple chronic conditions, disparities and outcomes
Rural health
Interactions of social determinants of health and environmental exposures on health outcomes
The effects of religious affiliation, beliefs, and behaviors on attitudes about environmental attitudes, and science and technology, including emerging healthcare technologies.
Recent Publications:
Phillips Sharia, Jasmine Hamilton, Wayne McCullough, Darline El Reda, Connie Currier, and John M Clements. 2025. Refocusing public health training on effective leadership and communication skills to increase efficacy. Front. Public Health 13:1601444.
Burress, Lainy A and John M Clements. 2025. Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Type 2 Diabetes Complications and In-hospital Mortality in the United States: A Retrospective Cohort Study. Diabetology 6(3):15.
Currier, Connie, John M Clements, Robey Champine, Alec Bennet. 2024. Building Community in an Online Program: Promoting Student Engagement through Small Group Discussions. Pedagogy in Health Promotion.
Clements, John M. 2022. Access to Care by Medicare Beneficiaries with Diabetes and Multiple Chronic Conditions During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Diabetes and its Complications. 36(12):108355.
Clements, John M, Neli P Ragina, Jordan Killingsworth, Thomas G Weiss, S Akbar Husain, Mariam Zunnu Rain, Kellie M Clark, Spandana Alla, and Michelle G Jin. 2020. Differences in Spending for Diabetes and Multiple Chronic Conditions in Michigan Medicare Beneficiaries. The American Journal of Managed Care 26(11):e362-e368.
Clements, John M, Brady T West, Batoul Harissa, Nolan Hayden, Mishaal Mustafa Khan, and Raghuram Palepu. 2020. Race Disparities in the Use of Prevention, Screening, and Monitoring Services in Michigan Medicare Beneficiaries with Type 2 Diabetes and Combinations of Multiple Chronic Conditions Clinical Diabetes. 38(4):363-370.
Farley, Brendan J, Brian M Shear, Vivian Lu, Kyla Walworth, Kevin Gray, Matt Kirsch, John M Clements. 2020. Rural, Urban, and Teaching Hospital Differences in Hip Fracture Mortality. Journal of Orthopaedics 21:453-458.
Clements, John M. 2020. Knowledge and Behaviors Toward COVID-19 Among U.S. Residents During the Early Days of the Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Online Questionnaire. JMIR Public Health Surveillance 6(2):e19161.
Clements, John M, Mariana Rosca, Carla Cavallin, Shelby Falkenhagen, Thomas Ittoop, Christina K Jung, Megan Mazella, Joseph A Reed, Megan Schluentz, and Caleb VanDyke. 2020. Type 2 Diabetes and Chronic Conditions Disparities in Medicare Beneficiaries in the State of Michigan. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences 359(4):218-225.
Clements, John M, Brady T West, Zachary Yaker, Breanna Lauinger, Deven McCullers, James Haubert, Mohammad Ali Tahboub, and Gregory J Everett. 2019. Disparities in Diabetes-related Multiple Chronic Conditions and Mortality: The Influence of Race. Diabetes. Research and Clinical Practice 159(2020):107984.
Fana, Michael, Gregory Everett, Thomas Fagan, Megan Mazella, Sulmaz Zahedi, John M Clements. 2019. Procedural outcomes of deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery in rural and urban patient population settings, Journal of Clinical Neuroscience 72:310-315.
Alghanem, Fares and John M Clements. 2019. “Narrowing Performance Gap between Rural and Urban Hospitals for Acute Myocardial Infarction.” The American Journal of Emergency Medicine.
Caso, Marcello and John M Clements. 2019. “Cobb Angle for Scoliosis: Assessing a novel method of calculation.” Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 46(6):430-8.
Clements, John M. and Stephanie J Rhynard. 2018. “In-hospital Mortality, Length of Stay and Discharge Disposition in a Cohort of Rural and Urban Native Americans.” American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research. 25(3):78-91.
Clements, John M. 2018. “Measuring Actual Payment for Biodiversity Protection: The Influence of Religiously and Scientifically Framed Messages.” Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology. DOI:10.1163/15685357-02203100.
Recent Presentations:
Clements, John M. 2025. “Religion, politics and support for government funded healthcare: 1972-2022.” Oral presentation at American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Washington DC, November 2-5, 2025.
Kasiborski, Natalie and John M Clements. 2025. “Cultivating Rural Health Leaders.” Society of Public Health Education Annual Conference, Long Beach, CA, April 15-18, 2025.
Clements, John M and Natalie Kasiborski. 2025. “Preparing MSU MPH Graduates for Impact: Building Competencies for a Strong Rural Public Health Workforce.” Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, March 19-21, 2025.
Clements, John M, Darline El Reda, Cynthia Morrow, Min Tao. 2024. “Incorporating Data Equity Concepts in a Data Management and Analytics Concentration.” Oral presentation at Council on Education for Public Health 50th Anniversary Accreditation and Education Forum, Minneapolis, MN, October 26, 2024.
Phillips, Sharia K, Wayne R. McCullough, Twynette Mixon, John M Clements, Connie Currier. 2024. “Initiatives to developing a student community in an online MPH program—student experience.” Oral presentation at Council on Education for Public Health 50th Anniversary Accreditation and Education Forum, Minneapolis, MN, October 26, 2024.
Currier, Connie, John M Clements, Robey Champine, Alec Bennet. 2022. “Building Community in an Online Program: Promoting Student Engagement through Small Group Discussions. Oral presentation at Association of Schools and Programs in Public Health Annual Meeting, Virtual, March 22-24, 2022.
Gonzalez, Jocelyn and John M Clements. 2022. “Racial/Ethnic Disparities in the Screening and Management of T2DM Microvascular Complications.” Poster presentation at the PODER Research Symposium at The Latino Medical Student Association, Philadelphia, PA, March 2-6, 2022.
LinkedIn:
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