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, youth violence prevention, community-based prevention and evaluation research.

Core Faculty

	Jose A. Bauermeister, M.P.H., Ph.D. Multilevel approaches to HIV/AIDS prevention, sexuality-related health disparities; LGBT health; interpersonal factors associated with adolescent and young adult 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.
	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. Chronic illness self-management, dementia family caregiving
	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.
	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.
	Louis Graham, DrPH, MPH Men's health inequities research, policy, and practice.
	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 E. Heinze, Ph.D. Developmental transitions, social exclusion/ostracism, issues of gender and sexuality and longitudinal data methodology.
	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, M.P.H., Ph.D. Chronic disease management among older adults and family caregivers.
	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.
	Toby E. Jayaratne, Ph.D. Lay genetic explanations for disease and perceived gender and race differences in disease.
	Vicki Johnson-Lawrence, Ph.D., M.S. Social determinants of chronic disease risk factors, epidemiologic methods, intersection of mental and physical health, racial disparities among aging adults
	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, risky behavior, mortality patterns, life history, birth outcomes, Geographical Information Systems.
	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.
	Alison L. Miller, Ph.D. Childhood mental health, emotion, self-regulation, stress, eating behavior/obesity, developmental psychopathology, interventions for high-risk children and families, poverty, socio-emotional development, school readiness.
	Ritesh Mistry, Ph.D. Socioecological influence on health and health behaviors; adolescent health; global health; capacity building
	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.
	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, personalized medicine, 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.
	Rachel Campbell Snow, D.Sc. International reproductive health, contraception, HIV/AIDS, policy and planning.
	Sarah A. Stoddard, Ph.D. Adolescent health and resiliency, adolescent substance use and violence.
	Victor J. Strecher, Ph.D. Behavior change, health promotion, disease prevention and management, computer-tailored interventions, multimedia.
	Brian J. Zikmund-Fisher, Ph.D. Health and medical decision making, application of psychological and economic principles to health education, risk communication (health, medical, and environmental), numeracy, survey and experimental design.
	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 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. Brief interventions for violence and substance misuse in Emergency Department settings and injury prevention.
	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.
	Jean Thatcher Shope, Ph.D. Young drivers, older drivers, substance use, crash and offense risk, adolescent risk factors, problem behavior.
	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.

Lecturers and Adjunct Faculty

	Sara J. McLaughlin, Ph.D., M.P.H.
	Palmer Morrel-Samuels, Ph.D. Surveys, assessments, and program evaluations in the workplace.

Emeritus Faculty

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