Kelly E. Murray, MPH

As of August 2025, Kelly is a PhD Candidate in the Department of International Health and Sustainable Development at Tulane. She combines a scientific background with strong communication skills, developed through more than a decade of experience as a full-time writer with CNN and CNN International in Atlanta and Hong Kong. Kelly holds an MPH with a concentration in Health Promotion and Behavior, as well as undergraduate degrees in Anthropology and Journalism. She continues to freelance as a journalist, covering geopolitics, U.S. national news, science, and health, drawing directly on insights from scientists and public health experts to make complex issues accessible to diverse audiences.

Kelly is most passionate about addressing the sociocultural and socioeconomic issues affecting women and girls. As a Dean's Research Council scholar, she has published on child marriage and reproductive and maternal health outcomes in Liberia and Sierra Leone. She has also conducted data analysis for Momentum, a gender-transformative, integrated family planning, nutrition, and reproductive health intervention in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As a Dean’s Research Council scholar, her dissertation examines the intersection of climate shocks and intimate partner violence in lower- and lower middle-income countries, with a special focus on young women in Kampala’s urban slums, conducted in collaboration with the NIH-funded TOPOWA study. 

Driven by a commitment to amplifying the voices of underrepresented communities, Kelly’s work aims to address public health disparities through innovative, community-centered approaches. Her ability to bridge storytelling with data-driven insights uniquely positions her to advance sustainable health and development initiatives, and to disseminate research findings to policymakers and the public.

Outside of her research, she enjoys singing in the Tulane-Newcomb Choir, playing piano, listening to live music, practicing yoga, and caring for her dog, Sap Jai.