Julia Simhai (she/her) | Director | jsimhai@omni.org

Julia Simhai is a Director at OMNI Institute and oversees projects in our Community Health and Behavioral Health practice areas. She specializes in applied evaluation of substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery programs. She focuses primarily on working with government sector clients to design, evaluate, and improve public health outcomes in communities.

Julia has developed a deep understanding of public health evaluation, with a core focus on working with State and local public health departments and leading community needs assessments and epidemiological projects related to substance use disorder programs. She has particular experience in data visualization and has helped public health departments in Virginia, Wyoming, and Colorado create accessible project reports that lead to action. At OMNI, Julia previously led our Data Visualization Best Practice Team and is currently a member of our Reporting Best Practice Team, which sets the standards for best-in-class reporting at scale across the organization.

Julia is a member (and has served on the Board of Directors) of the Colorado Public Health Association. When not promoting public health, you can find her baking for family and friends or hiking Colorado’s mountains.

“I find it really rewarding to develop relationships with our clients and support them so that the important work they’re doing on the ground is as impactful as possible. I also love the chance to collaborate with my OMNI colleagues and getting to learn from them since we each bring different expertise across content areas and methodological training.”

CONTENT EXPERTISE

Substance Use Disorder Prevention

EDUCATION

University of North Carolina
Master of Public Health

University of Maryland
B.S., Community Health

+ Certifications, Memberships, Awards, and Service

  • OMNI Institute Service Award for exceptional contributions across the areas of work performance, client recognition, and internal contributions, OMNI Institute (2018)
  • Delta Omega Public Health Honor Society Inductee, UNC School of Public Health (2015)
  • Dean’s Senior Scholar Award, UMD School of Public Health (2011)
  • David Hyde Scholarship Award, UMD School of Public Health (2010)
  • Distinguished Service Award, Eta Sigma Gamma Honor Society, UMD School of Public Health (2010)
  • Doris Sands Scholarship Award, UMD School of Public Health (2009)
  • Member, Colorado Prevention Certification Committee (2020-2023)
  • Director, Colorado Public Health Association’s Culture of Data Conference (2020-2022)

+ Selected Presentations

  1. Brown, D., Simhai, J., James, C., & Graham, P. (2020, August). Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroups: Leveraging Multi-Sector Expertise to Advance Prevention in Changing Environments. National Prevention Network Virtual Conference (Online).
  2. Gelman, K.P. & Simhai, J.(2020, July). Building the Infrastructure for Place-Based Prevention in Virginia. Society for Prevention Research Annual Conference (Online).
  3. Gelman, K.P. & Simhai, J. (2019, May). Using Behavioral Health Data to Promote Equity in Prevention. Colorado Public Health Association Culture of Data Conference, Parker, CO.
  4. Simhai, J. (2019, April). The Power of Data: Understanding and Communicating Program Results. Parent Possible Home Visiting Conference, Westminster, CO.