Health Behavior and Health Education

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

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

Core Faculty

	Jose Arturo Bauermeister, M.P.H., Ph.D. Multilevel approaches to HIV/AIDS prevention, sexuality and health; health outcomes among men who have sex with men (MSM), sexuality and Internet use; interpersonal factors associated with youth well-being.
	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 M. Chatters, Ph.D. Religion and health, aging, social support, family studies, African Americans.
	Hannah Faye Chua, PhD Mechanisms of effective tailored health communications and persuasion; health communication and neuroscience; role of self in health change behavior; social cognition; emotions and decision making; cultural differences in cognition
	Noreen M. Clark, Ph.D. Self-regulation, management of chronic disease, patient and community education, professional education, social and behavioral aspects of chronic disease, especially asthma and heart disease.
	Cathleen M Connell, Ph.D. Psychosocial context of chronic illness among older adults, self-care behaviors of family caregivers of people with dementia, community outreach education to increase knowledge and awareness of Alzheimer's disease.
	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.
	Derek M. Griffith, Ph.D. Men's health disparities, health care disparities, racism, community-based participatory research, qualitative research, program evaluation.
	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.
	Nancy K. Janz, Ph.D. Women and heart disease, quality of life, psychosocial factors that influence preventive and disease management behaviors; disease management.
	Toby E. Jayaratne, Ph.D. Effects of lay genetic explanations for disease on health attitudes and behaviors, social and political implications of genetic explanations for human characteristics and for perceived gender, class and race differences.
	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.
	Daniel J. Kruger, Ph.D. Altruism, cooperation, competition, resource use, risky behavior, health promoting behavior, mortality patters, life history, socio-economic context and behavior, Geographical Information Systems.
	Laurie Lachance, Ph.D. 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.
	Alison L. Miller, Ph.D. Early childhood mental health, developmental psychopathology, prevention/intervention programs for high-risk children, youth and families, child poverty socio-emotional development, school readiness
	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.
	Mark B. Padilla, Ph.D. Applied medical anthropology, Latin America and the Caribbean, globalization/transnationalism, Latino health issues, gender and ethnic disparities in health, international sex work and HIV/AIDS, tourism and development studies, political economy of health
	Edith A. Parker, Dr.P.H. Community-based participatory research, community-based intervention design and evaluation, lay health workers.
	Thomas M. Reischl, Ph.D. Community psychology, program evaluation, violence prevention, family support programs, citizen controlled interventions, measurement and design issues in community-based research.
	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. Scott Roberts, Ph.D. Genetic testing, social and behavioral interventions, risk communication, Alzheimer's disease, mental health & aging, public health ethics.
	Amy Jo Schulz, Ph.D. Racial and socioeconomic disparities in health, urban health, women's health disparities, social determinants of health, community-based participatory research.
	Jean Thatcher Shope, Ph.D. Young drivers, older drivers, substance use, crash and offense risk, adolescent risk factors, problem behavior.
	Rachel Campbell Snow, D.Sc. International reproductive health, contraception, HIV/AIDS, policy and planning.
	Victor J. Strecher, Ph.D. Behavior change, health promotion, disease prevention and management, computer-tailored interventions, multimedia.
	Melissa A. Valerio, Ph.D. Chronic disease management and prevention, Latino health, health literacy, and survey methods.
	Brian J. Zikmund-Fisher, Ph.D. Health and medical decision making, application of psychological and economic principles to health education, risk communication, numeracy, survey and experimental design.
	Marc A. Zimmerman, Ph.D. Empowerment theory, adolescent health and resiliency, community-based prevention research.

Faculty with Joint Appointments

	Alan P. Baptist, M.D., M.P.H. Asthma, allergy, and immunology.
	C. Raymond Bingham, Ph.D. Adolescent development, with a focus on adolescent driving and alcohol use.
	Rebecca M. Cunningham, M.D. Alcohol and violence-related injury.
	Michele Heisler, M.D., M.P.H. Patient self-management of chronic illnesses, patient-doctor relations, disparities in processes and outcomes in chronic illnesses.
	Harvey L. Leo, M.D. Asthma and allergic disease in children in emerging nations, food allergies in childcare and school settings, psychological impacts of food allergy in young children, impact of chronic disease in children and families.
	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
	Antonia M. Villarruel, Ph.D., R.N. Health promotion with Latino populations, sexual HIV risk reduction interventions.
	Bradley J. Zebrack, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.S.W. Health, medicine, and quality of life.

Emeritus Faculty

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