Dr. Sabrina Jones Niggel was awarded a Ph.D. in Health Services Research May 9 during Spring Commencement at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The degree was conferred by UNC-Charlotte’s College of Health and Human Services, where Niggel has been pursuing her doctoral studies since 2010.
Niggel completed her curriculum with a concentration in health policy and studied under Dr. William P. Brandon, Metrolina Medical Foundation Distinguished Professor of Public Policy.
Brandon also served as committee chair for her dissertation, Health Legacy Foundations and the Pursuit of Charitable Healthcare, which Niggel successfully defended on March 20, 2014. Her dissertation was nominated as Best Dissertation.
Niggel’s research in healthcare philanthropy was recently featured in Health Affairs, the nation’s leading journal of health policy research. Co-authored by Brandon, this article was based on Niggel’s original database of philanthropic entities established with proceeds from healthcare mergers and acquisitions. Findings can be used to maximize existing financial resources in the pursuit of community-based healthcare initiatives.
Niggel’s research has also been presented in national and international forums. Her research about social determinants of health and the preservation of charitable healthcare assets was presented in Seattle and Baltimore through the Annual Research Meeting of AcademyHealth in 2011 and 2013, respectively. In 2012, her research about healthcare conversions in the aftermath of the Affordable Care Act was presented at the International Political Science Association’s World Congress in Madrid, Spain.
In addition to her healthcare philanthropy research, Niggel’s research pertaining to adult obesity prevalence appeared in a 2013 special issue of The Social Science Journal about social science and health. In 2010 Philoptima, LLC, awarded her with a research prize totaling nearly $11,000 for her investigation of cognitive fitness and social networking.
Currently a research assistant professor at UNC-Charlotte, Niggel has taught nonprofit management courses at Duke University, Winthrop University, and UNCC. She is a frequent presenter in the field of nonprofit management and has more than 20 years of experience with diverse nonprofit and philanthropic organizations. In addition to her work at UNCC, Niggel also runs the free medical clinic at the Ada Jenkins Center in Davidson and serves on the advisory council for the North Carolina Conservation Network.
Niggel is a 1989 North Carolina scholar and honors graduate of East Rowan High School. She is a 1993 cum laude graduate of Furman University and received her Masters in Public Administration with a specialization in nonprofit management. Niggel also earned Duke University’s certificate in nonprofit management and advanced certificate in nonprofit leadership in 1998 and 2008, respectively. In 2005, she was distinguished as a Hull Fellow of the Southeastern Council of Foundations.
She and her husband, Joe, currently reside in Mooresville. She is the daughter of Wayne and Claudette Jones of Faith.