Health Behavior Health Education Faculty Profiles

Along with providing education and training, department of Health Behavior and Health Education faculty and researchers have achieved national and international reputations for excellence in their respective fields of research and expertise. Short summaries of faculty are detailed below.

Department Chair

Cleo CaldwellCleopatra Howard Caldwell, Ph.D.
Social networks and social supports and mental health, better health outcomes among adolescents, network interventions, family relationships, cultural factors associated with the health behavior and health status of adolescents and women

Core Faculty

K. Rivet Amico K. Rivet Amico, Ph.D.
HIV prevention, PrEP uptake/adherence, adherence in Phase II clinical trials of biomedical agents, HIV prevention, adolscents/young adults, marketing health/prevention, intervention strategies, risk reduction counseling, HIV diangosis and linkage to care, acute infection, engagement and re-engagement in HIV-care, ART adherence, MSM stigma, HIV stigma, technology based/supported interventions, standard of care HIV treatment and prevention, practice based evidence, gender disparities

Riana E. AndersonRiana Elyse Anderson, Ph.D.
Protective familial mechanisms, racial socialization, culturally-relevant and -responsive therapeutic interventions, discrimination, and family well-being outcomes for African Americans. Considers how to translate knowledge into applied methods and blogs, YouTube series, and community workshops.

Angela Beck Angela J. Beck, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Public health services and systems research, public health workforce, public health practice, organizational performance, public health competencies

Cleopatra Caldwell Cleopatra Howard Caldwell, Ph.D. 
Social networks and social supports and mental health, better health outcomes among adolescents, network interventions, family relationships, cultural factors associated with the health behavior and health status of adolescents and women

Linda Chatters Linda M. Chatters, Ph.D.
Religion and health, aging, social support, family studies, African Americans

Cathleen Connell Cathleen M Connell, Ph.D.
Chronic illness self-management, dementia family caregiving

Chris Coombe Chris M. Coombe, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Racial and economic equity, urban neighborhoods and health, social determinants, community-based participatory research, health impact assessment

Andria EismanAndria Eisman, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Adolescent health, substance use and violence prevention, socioecological and strength-based theoretical frameworks, community intervention and evaluation research, implementation science, and quantitative methodology

Paul Fleming Paul J. Fleming, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Immigration and health; gender norms and health; violence prevention; global health; community-based interventions; mixed-methods research

Kristi GamarelKristi Gamarel, Ph.D., Ed.M.
LGBTQI health; HIV prevention; substance use prevention and treatment; relationship science

Arline Geronimus Arline T. Geronimus, Sc.D.
Structure, culture, and health; racial/ethnic inequalities in health; poverty and health; population-variation in fertility-timing and in family economic and caretaking systems; structurally rooted biospyschosocial models of health inequality

Gary Harper Gary Harper, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Primary and secondary HIV prevention intervention development in the US and Kenya, resiliency among African American gay/bisexual male adolescents/young adults, health promotion among adolescents living with HIV, community-university partnerships, qualitative research methods.

Justin Heinze Justin E. Heinze, Ph.D.
Developmental transitions, social exclusion/ostracism, issues of gender and sexuality and longitudinal data methodology

Hsing-Fang HsiehHsing-Fang Hsieh, Ph.D.
Adolescent resiliency and health disparities; substance use and other health behaviors related to cancer and cancer prevention; violence victimization and social-ecological factors on adolescent health

Barbara Israel Barbara A. Israel, Dr.P.H.
Community-based participatory research, stress, social networks, social support, community capacity, evaluation research, empowerment, health disparities, social determinants of health

Mary Janevic Mary Janevic, M.P.H., Ph.D.
Chronic disease management among older adults and family caregivers

Elizabeth King Elizabeth J. King, Ph.D., M.P.H. 
HIV/AIDS and key populations, gender-based violence, equality of access to services and care, global health

Laurie Lachance Laurie L. Lachance, Ph.D., MPH 
Prevention and management of chronic disease; evaluation of community-based interventions to improve health outcomes; behaviors related to diet and nutrition; complementary and alternative medicine use

William Lopez, Ph.D., M.P.H.William D. Lopez, Ph.D. M.P.H.
Immigration enforcement and health; law enforcement violence; health inequities; public scholarship; creative writing; advocacy and research

Roshanak Mehdipanah Faculty ProfileRoshanak Mehdipanah, Ph.D.
Health equity, built environment, urban health, social determinants of health, community development; housing, urban design and health, mixed-methods evaluation, healthy neighborhoods

Alison Miller Alison L. Miller, Ph.D.
Childhood mental health, developmental psychopathology; childhood poverty and stress, eating behavior and obesity; biobehavioral self-regulation, socio-emotional development, and school readiness; child and family interventions.

Ritesh Mistry Ritesh Mistry, Ph.D.
Socioecological influence on health and health behaviors; adolescent health; global health; capacity building

Minal Patel Minal R. Patel, Ph.D., M.P.H
Health-related financial burden; cost-related non-adherence; chronic disease self-management; management of multiple chronic conditions; patient-provider communication; provider education and training; behavioral interventions to improve patient-centered outcomes and access to care; health disparities

John Piette John D. Piette, Ph.D.
Chronic disease self-management, mobile health interventions

Thomas Reischl Thomas M. Reischl, Ph.D.
Community psychology, program evaluation, violence prevention, obesity prevention, measurement and design issues in community-based research

Ken Resnicow Ken Resnicow, Ph.D.
Design and evaluation of health promotion programs for special populations, understanding the relationship between ethnicity and health behaviors, school-based health programs, substance use prevention and harm reduction

J. Roberts J. Scott Roberts, Ph.D.
Genetic testing, personalized medicine, social and behavioral interventions, risk communication, Alzheimer's disease, mental health & aging, cancer genomics, public health ethics

Amy Schulz Amy Jo Schulz, Ph.D.
Racial and socioeconomic health equity, urban health,  social determinants of health, community-based participatory research

Victor Strecher Victor J. Strecher, Ph.D.
Behavior change, health promotion, disease prevention and management, computer-tailored interventions, multimedia

Emily YouattEmily Youatt, Ph.D.
Sexual minority health; women's health; social policies as health policies; the abortion provider workforce; qualitative and mixed methods research methodologies

Brian Zikmund-Fisher Brian J. Zikmund-Fisher, Ph.D.
Health and medical decision making, decision psychology and behavioral economics as applied to health, risk communication (health, medical, and environmental), numeracy, health message design, narrative-form health messages, survey and experimental design

Marc Zimmerman Marc A. Zimmerman, Ph.D.
Empowerment theory, adolescent health and resiliency, youth violence prevention, community-based prevention and evaluation research

Faculty with Joint Appointments

Alan Baptist Alan P. Baptist, M.D., M.P.H.
Asthma, allergy, and immunology

Frank AndersonFrank Anderson, M.D., M.P.H.

Barbara Brush, Ph.D.Barbara Brush, Ph.D.
Community-Based Participatory Research, health disparity, homelessness and health, nurse workforce policy

Rebecca Cunningham Rebecca M. Cunningham, M.D. 
Brief interventions for violence and substance misuse in Emergency Department settings and injury prevention

Karen Farris Karen Farris, Ph.D.
Medication management, individuals’ medication adherence, reasons for non-adherence, including concern and necessity beliefs, and self-reporting adverse effects

Michele Heisler Michele Heisler, M.D., M.P.H.
Patient self-management of chronic illnesses, patient-doctor relations, disparities in processes and outcomes in chronic illnesses

Toby Lewis Toby C Lewis, M.D., M.P.H. 
Epidemiology and public health of childhood respiratory disease, particularly the interplay of biologic, environmental, and social factors in the development and exacerbation of asthma

Okeoma Mmeje, M.D., M.P.H.Okeoma Mmeje, M.D., M.P.H.
Reproductive health, health care management and policy

 Gretchen Piatt Gretchen A. Piatt, Ph.D.
Health systems and health care delivery for people with and at risk for diabetes, behavioral and psychosocial aspects of diabetes prevention and management, prevention and treatment of diabetes and obesity in the primary care and community settings, implementation and dissemination science for diabetes and obesity

Rob Stephenson, Ph.D.Rob Stephenson, Ph.D.

Sarah Stoddard Sarah A. Stoddard, Ph.D.
Adolescent health and resiliency, adolescent substance use and violence

Tiffany Veinot Tiffany C.E. Veinot, M.L.S., Ph.D.
Community health informatics, health information service models, social networks and social capital, rural health, youth, collaborative health information behavior, HIV/AIDS

Lecturers and Adjunct Faculty

Kirsten Herold Kirsten F. Herold, Ph.D.
The teaching of writing at the graduate level

Emeritus Faculty

Nancy Janz, Ph.D.Nancy K. Janz, Ph.D.
Impact of chronic disease and its treatment on quality of life, psychosocial factors that influence preventive and disease management behaviors, breast cancer survivorship

Neal Krause Neal Krause, Ph.D.
Stress and health in late life; religion and health among older people; social support among older people in Japan, Taiwan, and the People's Republic of China

Harold Neighbors Harold W. Neighbors, Ph.D.
Diversity in public health workforce, racial and ethnic influences on psychiatric diagnosis and community case-finding of mental disorder, use of informal and professional mental health services by African Americans

Ruth Simmons Ruth Simmons, Ph.D.
International family planning and reproductive health policies and programs, scaling up innovations in health service delivery, community perspectives