• PhD, Public Policy and Administration, Mississippi State University

• M.S., Sociology, Mississippi State University

Dr. Hanna is a retired associate research professor and works part-time for the Social Science Research Center in the Systems Change Lab, which she formerly created and directed. She is currently partnering with the Mississippi Department of Human Services to oversee a study examining the state’s early childhood system and the degree to which its public programs and services align to support the care, education, health, and development of young children. During her time at the SSRC, Dr. Hanna has written, administered, and collaborated on grant projects addressing public policy and systems change at the intersection of early childhood health and education. She served as Principal Investigator for a research portfolio of over $10M that included projects funded by the Health Resources & Services Administration, the Mississippi Department of Human Services, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and Annie E. Casey Foundation. These projects focused on increasing the detection and treatment of early childhood delays and disabilities, ensuring adequate rates of payment for child care subsidies, fostering the transparency of public data, incorporating continuous quality improvement processes for state agency programs, understanding the wages and working conditions of child care providers, and increasing opportunities for connections and knowledge sharing among program end users (families and providers) and administrators. Dr. Hanna earned a PhD in public policy and administration and an MS in sociology from Mississippi State University (MSU). She received her undergraduate training in psychology at the University of Mississippi.

Dr. Hanna's work is supported in part by MAFES.