Jennifer Barkin

Dr. Jennifer Barkin is a tenured Professor of Community Medicine and OBGYN at the Mercer University School of Medicine. She serves as the Vice-Chair of the Community Medicine Department and is also the Executive Director of the Center for Rural Health and Health Disparities, which is one of two rural-health focused NIH Centers of Excellence in the country. A University of Pittsburgh-trained biostatistician (M.S.) and psychiatric epidemiologist (PhD), she completed a postdoctoral scholarship at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dr. Barkin’s intellectual property, the Barkin Index of Maternal Functioning (BIMF), was developed during her time as a doctoral student at the University of Pittsburgh. The BIMF has been commercially licensed nine times, including for the clinical trials for FDA-breakthrough postpartum depression medication Zulresso®. She serves on the Steering Committee for the Georgia Clinicians for Climate Action and the clinical advisory board for Memora Health and Joyuus, Inc. In her former role as Chair of Corporate Sponsorship for Postpartum Support International, Georgia Chapter, she led a record-breaking fundraising effort for the Black Maternal Mental Health Summit. She has provided expert testimony before the Georgia House of Representatives Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Committee. She has participated on numerous expert panels including the New England Journal of Medicine’s Resident 360 Roundtable, the Global Women’s Leadership in Climate Panel, and the Mothers and Others for Clean Air Month panel.