ZAINAB JACKSON, MS, LCPC-S

Zainab Jackson is a licensed Psychotherapist in the State of Maryland. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park, and her Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Johns Hopkins University. Zainab has extensive experience providing therapeutic services for adolescents, adults, and families. She has worked at multiple outpatient mental health clinics in the Washington metropolitan area. Zainab co-founded Jackson Wellness Group LLC to provide mental health services, psychoeducation to individuals and families. She uses various evidence-based therapy techniques and specializes in mood disorders, anxiety disorders, adjustment disorders, trauma, and relationship problems. Her holistic approach to wellness focuses on improving overall mind, body, and spiritual health. She is passionate about helping individuals and families from diverse cultural backgrounds reach a fulfilled, healthy, happy, and functional lifestyle.

KRISTEN LEWIS, MS, NCC, LCPC

Kristen Lewis is currently a state-licensed Psychotherapist in Maryland. She received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Morgan State University and her Master of Science in clinical mental health counseling from Johns Hopkins University. Kristen worked as a Research Coordinator in many different departments including HIV, Diabetes, Cancer, and clinical trials in substance abuse while completing her education. Kristen also worked as a substance abuse counselor for Johns Hopkins University at Helping Up Mission. Kristen uses a nonjudgmental person-centered approach with clients and has training in substance abuse counseling using a cognitive-behavioral approach. She also provides grief and loss therapy, as well as treatment/advocacy for families and loved ones of clients with mental illnesses. Kristen is passionate about working with clients and families holistically to heal and help them move forward in treatment and recovery.

SAMANTHA SHAMIM

Samantha is a mental health & wellness advocate and digital creator. She graduated from Virginia Tech with double majors in Religion & Culture and Political Science and with a minor in Middle Eastern Studies. She is fascinated with the intersectionalities of spirituality and wellness and aspires to empower people of all backgrounds through their own individual journeys and through the power of community. She is currently developing her coaching programs through which she plans to utilize the law of attraction to help empower people. Grateful for the opportunity to write for Jackson Wellness Group LLC, Samantha hopes to touch the hearts and souls of many through her blog posts and content on the JWG website. 

DR. ROBERT T. JACKSON

Dr. Robert T. Jackson is the Lead Nutritionist at Jackson Wellness Group, where he supervises all aspects of Nutritional Wellness. He received his BA (Government) from Cornell University, his MSc in Nutrition from the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, and his PhD degree (Nutritional Sciences) from Cornell University. Dr. Jackson has taught at the University of California Berkeley, the University of Florida in Gainesville, and the University of Maryland at College Park. He also served as a Visiting Professor in the College of Life Sciences in Kuwait University.

Dr. Jackson conducts research on various nutritional issues that impact international and national groups. The major foci of Dr. Jackson's research are in the area of causes and consequences of nutritional anemia, lactose intolerance, and metabolic syndrome. Dr. Jackson’s research and practice in nutrition has sought to reduce the behavioral and physiological consequences of malnutrition.

Dr. Jackson has published extensively on these and other nutrition issues in international journals. He has also served as a co-editor of the journal Ecology of Food and Nutrition and as a reviewer for several international journals. Dr. Jackson also has significant international experience (including as a Senior Research Fulbright Fellow in Kuwait and as a USAID World Women in Development Fellow in Egypt).

Dr. Jackson has traveled to or worked in numerous countries in Africa, Asia, Central America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. Dr. Jackson assists governments to set up and evaluate various applied nutrition interventions. Dr. Jackson has been a consultant to USAID (in Egypt), the World Health Organization (in Kuwait) and the Pan American Health Organization  (the Americas).

Dr. Jackson has won several teaching awards, including being a Center for Teaching Excellence Lily Fellow at the University of Maryland College Park. Dr. Jackson has held several academic and administrative roles including currently being a professor. He has also served as the Chair of the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Maryland College Park, and Associate Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Dr. Jackson and his wife have 6 adult children and 11 grandchildren.

DR. FATIMAH L.C. JACKSON

Dr. Fatimah L.C. Jackson is the Lead Geneticist at Jackson Wellness Group and leads efforts to use genomic data to improve our understanding of contributing factors to wellness and resilience. She received her BA (cum laude with Distinction in all subjects), MA, and PhD from Cornell University. She conducts research on, and is particularly interested in, human-plant coevolution, especially the influence of phytochemicals on human metabolic effects and evolutionary processes and in population substructure in peoples of African descent. She developed ethnogenetic layering as a computational tool to identify human microethnic groups and quantitative approaches to understanding the effects of population stratification on health disparities. Trained as a human biologist, Dr. Jackson has published extensively in such journals as Human Biology, Biochemical Medicine and Metabolic Biology, and the Journal of the National Medical Association, Science, Nature, Frontiers in Genetics, and others. Her research has been funded by USAID, the Ford Foundation, the Huber Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the NIH (NIMHD and NHGRI), the Wenner-Gren Foundation, and the EPA. She has been a Fulbright Senior Fellow. She won the Nick Norgan Award in 2009 for the Best Article Published in the Annals of Human Biology, and in 2012 she was the first recipient of the Ernest E. Just Prize in Medical and Public Health Research, Avery Research Institute, College of Charleston and Medical University of South Carolina. In 2012, she was Coined by Rear Admiral Dr. Helena Mishoe, National Institutes of Health, NHLBI and US Public Health Service. Dr. Jackson has taught widely and is currently Professor of Biology and Director of the W. Montague Cobb Research Laboratory at Howard University. In 2017 Howard University named her STEM Woman Researcher of the Year and she received the Outstanding Service Award from the Department of Biology. She is chair of the Natural Sciences Division, Howard University, College of Arts and Sciences.