Equitas Health Institute

Michele Battle-Fisher (She/Her) leads the Equitas Health Institute’s research efforts to better the health of LGBTQ+ people and those left out or kept out of traditional healthcare. She has a PhD in Systems Science from the University of Hull. She has Masters degrees in public health and African American Studies from The Ohio State University. She also completed doctoral work in public health and communication studies.

Before joining Equitas Health, she was an assistant program director and instructor at Wright State University’s Master of Public Health Program. She was on the faculty as an adjunct assistant professor at Wright State’s Boonshoft School of Medicine. Michele is the author of Application of Systems Thinking to Health Policy and Public Health Ethics – Public Health and Private Illness (Springer). Her book was recognized as a 2016 Doody’s Core Title and deemed vital to medical training. She belongs to the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science. Michele shared her expertise in systems science at the 2018 TEDxDartmouth.

She has spent over 20 years in public service and teaching at the college level. She has worked for Ohio Medicaid, KidsOhio.org, Columbus AIDS Task Force, and Ohio University Heritage College of Medicine (HCOM). A native of Portsmouth, Ohio, Michele lives in Central Ohio with her spouse and two children.

Dr. Jan Huebenthal (He/Him) is the Associate Director of Education of the Equitas Health Institute. With a wealth of expertise spanning teaching and learning, public health, and diversity, equity, and inclusion, Jan champions instructional design solutions at Equitas Health and leverages educational initatives to drive public discourse on LGBTQ+ and HIV health equity. Previously, Jan served as the Assistant Director of the LGBT Center at Ohio University, where his contributions extended to teaching in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies as well as the Cutler Scholars programs.

Jan earned his PhD in American Studies from William & Mary, where he was a Michael R. Halleran Fellow and received the 2019 Distinguished Dissertation Award in the Humanities and the Humanistic Social Sciences. His scholarly focus delves into the ongoing HIV/AIDS crisis and its complex racial inequities, with his work being published in journals like the Radical History Review (Duke University Press) and the European Journal of American Studies.

As a German-American dual citizen and a proud alumnus of the Universität Bremen, Jan brings a global perspective to his work. Outside of work, you can find Jan in Athens, Ohio, enjoying life with his husband and their beagle mix, Lobo.

As the Lead Trainer for The Equitas Health Institute, Ramona Peel (She/Her) collaborates on creating the Institute’s training programs and leads the delivery of training to internal and external audiences. Ramona is also a Political Science Lecturer at the Newark branch of The Ohio State University. In addition, her lived experience as a trans woman informs and enriches her work.

Ramona has 17 years of classroom teaching experience, and her work was recognized by the Ohio State University Political Science Department in 2004 when they awarded her the Henry R. Spencer Award for Distinguished Teaching. Her varied background also includes social science research, broadcasting, and journalism. In April 2017, she was a contributor and guest editor for that month’s issue of (614) Magazine. In February 2018 she was featured in an article that ran in Harper’s Magazine. Her writing has appeared in PRIZM Magazine and the Ohio Family Physician Magazine.

Ramona has a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science from Western Washington University, where she graduated Cum Laude in 1997. She lives in the Clintonville neighborhood of Columbus and has two wonderful, supportive children. She is a lifelong Seattle Seahawks fan and Star Wars geek.