Josh Harsin

Josh Harsin is a graduate student in the joint MPH/PhD program in the School of Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center and the Applied Behavioral Science Department at KU in Lawrence.

Josh is a part of the Youth Justice Community Engagement Initiative Action Team, whose aim is to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system and to mitigate the mal effects experienced by vulnerable populations within the juvenile justice system (e.g, LGBTQI+ youth, undocumented youth). He serves as a co-facilitator for this Action Team and is a liaison between the Center and our partners in Wyandotte County.

Josh’s research interests lie in public health policy, racial and ethnic disparities, and decision-making. He studies these areas through behavioral economics grounded in behaviorist philosophies. His thesis is examining the malleability of condom-use decisions in populations at risk of contracting STIs and unwanted pregnancies.

Josh is currently supervised by Dr. Derek Reed of the Applied Behavioral Economics Laboratory and Dr. Jomella Watson-Thompson of the Center for Community Health and Development.