Researchers
Stephen C. Alder, PhD, MBA
Professor Alder is a Health Ecologist specializing in community-based health development. He has a background as a clinical research and biostatistical methodoligist. His doctoral training emphasized individual and group health behavior change. His research experience includes developing theorty-based health behavior change interventions aimed at public health issues such as reducing unnecessary antibiotic... Read More
Research Interests: Global Health and Development, Community Engagement, Health Ecology, Leadership and Administration, Community-Based Primary Healthcare, Integrating Public Health & Clinical Medicine, Health Behavior, Health Policy, Health & Medical Innovation and Entrepreneurism, and Biostatistical, Epidemiological & Research Methods
Kelly G. Baron, PhD, MPH, CBSM
Dr. Baron is involved in sleep research as well as providing non-drug treatment for sleep disorders. In the clinic, she provides Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), the most effective treatment for chronic insomnia. She also delivers cognitive and behavioral treatment for other sleep disorders including circadian disorders, problems using CPAP treatment in sleep apnea, nightmares, sleep walking and coping with disorders of excessive sleepiness such as narcolepsy.
Research Interests: Circadian Rhythms Disruption and Obesity, Technology-Assisted Interventions for Sleep, Non-Pharmacologic Treatments for Sleep Disorders in Medical Populations, Couples and Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)
L. Scott Benson, MD, PhD, MPH
Scott Benson, MD, PhD, MPH is an Associate Professor in the Division of Public Health. His interest in global health was fostered by his environmental health research in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. This interest in the overlap between Public Health and the environment prompted him into medicine. He completed medical school, an internship/residency in Internal Medicine as well as a fellowship in Infectious Diseases. During his training, he conducted and participated in research in Ghana, Peru and India. He joined the Divisions of Public Health and Infectious Diseases where where he teaches, continues to work abroad and consults with infectious disease patients and returning travelers in the University Infectious Diseases clinic.
Benjamin Brown, MD, MPH
Benjamin Brown, M.D, M.P.H. is a board-certified family medicine physician. He received a bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from Utah State University and attended medical school at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont. Following medical school, he attended the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health where he earned a Masters of Public Health with a focus in social and behavioral health. He completed his residency training in Family Medicine at the University of Utah.
Dr. Brown divides his time between working as a clinical physician in addition to pursuing research interests with the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. His research interests include immigrant health, health disparities, and disease prevention. Dr. Brown also has interests in mindfulness and lifestyle approaches to improve one's health.
Rachel Ceballos, PhD
Dr. Rachel Ceballos is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Utah, Senior Director for Community Outreach and Engagement at the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI), is a member of the Cancer Control and Population Sciences Program at HCI, and holds a Huntsman Cancer Institute Endowed Chair in Cancer Research.
Her areas of research include understanding the psychological and social impact of cancer, especially in communities that experience unequal health outcomes. She has experience working with rural, African American, Native American, and Latino communities, is committed to the practice of community engagement at all levels of the research process, and co-learning between researchers and the communities we serve.
Prior to arriving at the University of Utah and HCI, she was an Associate Professor in the Division of Public Health Sciences at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and an Affiliate Associate Professor in the Department of Health Systems and Population Health at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA.
Susan E. Cochella, MD, MPH
Susan E. W. Cochella, M.D., M.P.H., is a board certified family medicine physician who specializes in full spectrum care for patients of all ages. She received her medical degree from the University of Nevada, completed residency at the University of Utah, as well as a faculty development fellowship and master’s in public health... Read More
Research Interests: Care of children, adolescents and young families
Teresa DeAtley, PhD, MPH
Teresa (Tess) DeAtley, PhD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Public Health. She is a social and behavioral scientist with expertise in tobacco regulatory science and tobacco-related health disparities. In addition, she explores the impact of smoking on comorbid disease conditions such as mental health and HIV/TB infection. Methodologically, Dr. DeAtley specializes in utilizing mixed method approaches to answer biopsychosocial research questions.
Dr. DeAtley received her bachelor’s degree in public health at the College of William and Mary. She earned her Master of Public Health degree and a Certificate in Global Tobacco Control from Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, and her PhD from Brown University in the Department of Behavioral and Social Health Sciences. Dr. DeAtley was a pre-doctoral fellow for the Population Reference Bureau's U.S. Policy Communication Training Program and the Brown Population Studies and Training Center. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. DeAtley has held research positions at the World Health Organization, the Truth Initiative, and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.
Michael C. Flynn, MD
Michael Flynn, M.D., is a board-certified physician specializing in pediatrics and internal medicine. He received his bachelor of science degree in bio-engineering from the University of Colorado in 1994, and obtained his medical degree from the University of Texas in 2000. He completed a pediatric and internal medicine internship at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York in 2001, and finished his residency in 2004. Dr. Flynn became board-certified with the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Internal Medicine in 2004.
Research Interests: Patient education and resident training.
Katherine T. Fortenberry, PhD
She is currently an Associate Professor (Clinical) in the University of Utah Division of Family Medicine, where she serves as the Behavioral Science Education Director and sees patients at the Madsen and Sugarhouse Family Clinics. Her overall goal is to promote effective treatment of mental and behavioral health concerns in primary care settings by: 1) educating family physicians and other healthcare professionals to effectively utilize behavior change principles and maintain their own self-care; 2) training psychology and medical trainees to effectively work in an interdisciplinary environment; 3) increasing access to high quality care through improving behavioral health services and reducing barriers to care.
Research Interests: She is currently focusing on translating research to improving care for individuals with comorbid diabetes and mental health conditions, including substance use disorders, in the primary setting. Additionally, she guides Family Medicine residents in developing and disseminating clinic quality improvement (CQI) projects.
Steven Godin, PhD, MPH
Steven Godin received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the APA approved program at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He also received training and supervision from the faculty at the New Jersey Family Therapy Institute. He was licensed to practice clinical psychology in New Jersey from 1991 to 2017. From 1991 until 2001, he practiced family and marital therapy at the Associates in Psychological Services in Somerville, NJ. He also specialized in health psychology (risk behavior reduction), as well as sports psychology (performance anxiety and peak performance).
Research Interests: Primary Care Research; Health Disparities; Community Engaged Research
Lisa H. Gren, PhD
My overall research goal is to identify the right type of care needed to improve health, and deliver it to the right person at the right time. My clinical trials work is focused on finding the right type of care, and has resulted in (1) changes to the United States Preventive Services Task Force recommendations on cancer screening and... Read More
Research Interests: Global Health; Primary Care Research; Health Disparities; Community Engaged Research; Cancer Epidemiology & Prevention
Tiffany Ho, MD, MPH, FAAFP
Tiffany Ho MD MPH FAAFP is a board certified family medicine physician who also practices obstetrics as well as inpatient medicine. She's originally from San Jose, California and has hopped to various cities for training. She studied Neuroscience with a minor in Geriatrics at UCLA then moved to Baltimore to attend Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and School of Public Health. Following that she migrated to sunny Seattle where she trained at Swedish Cherry Hill Family Medicine Residency with a focus on Integrative Medicine. Dr. Ho join the University of Utah Department of Family and Preventive Medicine when the Sugarhouse Primary Care clinic opened up in 2020. Her areas of interest include community orientated primary care, LGBTQ+ care including gender affirming care, women's health (including prenatal care), mental health and increasing student interest to purse family medicine. In her free time she enjoys experimenting with sourdough, climbing, and exploring new food or outdoor adventures.
Bernadette Kiraly, MD
I am a family physician currently practicing at the Sugar House Health Center Family Medicine Clinic at the University of Utah. Primary care is my passion with an emphasis to elevate those who may need assistance navigating the health system. My interest and skills in underserved care were first honed at the U Health Redwood Clinic where I spent my first few years after residency. There I witnessed the unique health care needs of the refugee population. In 2003, I joined the University of Utah Department of Family & Preventive Medicine, Division of Family Medicine at the Sugarhouse Family Health Center. I was able to continue working with diverse communities by strengthening our clinic's New American/refugee health program and expanding to work with gender minority populations. I serve as the co-medical director of the U Health Transgender Health Program providing primary care and gender affirming hormone therapy for transgender and gender diverse people.
Amy B. Locke, MD, FAAFP
Dr. Locke completed her medical degree and residency training from the University of Michigan Medical School. She then served as faculty at UM until 2015 where she served as Director of Integrative Family Medicine, directed the Integrative Medicine Fellowship program and helped coordinate care of adolescents.
Dr. Locke joined the University of Utah in 2015. She is focused on working with individuals and communities to achive optimal health and healing. By addressing physical and mental health together through a whole person health paradigm, she focuses on the foundations of health such as nutrition, movement, sleep and connection, paring these with an understanding of how stress shows up in the body. She hopes to bring the best of conventional and integrative medicine together to prevent and treat illness. Her clinical interests include nutrition, preventive medicine, mind-body medicine, care of children and adolescents, families and individuals of all ages.
She sees patients at the Madsen Family Medicine clinic for primary care and for Integrative Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine consultation.
Laura E. Moreno, MD
Dr. Laura (Eli) Moreno is a Family Medicine physician. She practices full spectrum family medicine with obstetrics at the University of Utah.
Dr. Moreno earned a medical degree from the Universidad de Guadalajara in Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico. She completed a surgical internship at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL and family medicine residency at Valley Family Medicine in Renton, WA.
She is one of the faculty for the residency program at the University of Utah and has cultivated her career in academics through scholars programs at the University of Washington and Georgetown.
Her outpatient clinical practice is at the Redwood Health Care Center in the University of Utah, which she joined August last year. Her passions are: serving the Hispanic and Refugee population in Salt Lake City and teaching residents and medical students the art of medicine with a focus on diversity and inclusion, cultural competency and woman's health.
Jennifer Mundt, PhD, DBSM
Shahpar Najmbadi, PhD, MPH, MS
Shahpar Najmabadi is a Research Assistant Professor for the Division of Public Health. As a public health professional and researcher with a clinical background, she is intensely interested in improved outcomes for reproductive health. Her research focuses on advancing evidence-based health care that decreases preventable mortality and morbidity and enhances life-long well-being of medically underserved women. Her current research focuses on menstrual cycle biomarkers as an indicator of reproductive issues. She is also interested in healthcare workforce research, and her research helps advocate for policies that promote fairness in the US healthcare system.
Ivette López, PhD, MPH
Ivette Amelia López is a Professor of Public Health at University of Utah Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. She is also the Deputy Director of the Utah Area Health Education Centers. Dr. López was born and raised in Caguas, Puerto Rico, and came to the United States mainland to pursue an advanced education. She is, and has been for over two decades, a dedicated professional in pursuit of... Read More
Research Interests: Latino health, Latina and African American women’s health, community-based mixed research and pedagogy, cultural humility, health literacy, and racial and ethnic disparities in higher education and health academic faculty/administration.
Christy A. Porucznik, PhD, MSPH
Her area of research interest is in appropriately timing measurement of exposures. In the environmental domain, she studies endocrine disruptors and reproductive endpoints including fertility, pregnancy outcomes, and breastfeeding. Her other primary focus area is on prescription medications, primarily opioids, and the impact of policy changes on drug dispensing and adverse events. Read More
Research Interests: Primary Care Research; Reproductive & Women's Health; Life Course Epidemiology & Health; Substance Abuse and Policy
Susan Saffel-Shrier, MS, RD
Susan Saffel-Shrier, MS, RD, CD, is a registered dietician and certified gerontologist, and currently serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Division of Nutrition at the University of Utah. Susan provides both general nutrition services and geriatric nutrition as part of the Senior Clinic at the Sugar House Health Center. In addition to partnering with patients to pursue healthy lifestyles, she provides nutrition care for patients with chronic diseases including diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and weight issues. She offers both individual and group appointments for diabetes and weight management. Read More
Research Interests: Global Health; Primary Care Research; Community Engaged Research
Karen C. Schliep, PhD, MSPH
Through my training, I have developed a solid foundation in reproductive epidemiology. My research to date has centered on determining the impact of diet, lifestyle, and psychosocial factors on premenopausal women’s reproductive health, including sex steroid synthesis and gynecologic pathology. My prior research has led me to my current research focus investigating differences in chronic disease pathogenesis between men and women, specifically as... Read More
Research Interests: Reproductive & Women's Health; Life Course Epidemiology & Health
Kimberley Shoaf, DrPH, MPH
Over the course of my academic career, I have been a practice-based public health systems and services researcher utilizing mixed-methods. Much of my research has focused on the field of emergency public health and the development of the health workforce. Over the past 20 years, I have been the Principle Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator on numerous grants conducting both research and training activities relevant to public health emergencies and disasters both domestically and internationally. My research has focused on two main areas, identifying and quantifying the health impacts of a variety of hazards and connecting the... Read More
Research Interests: Global Health; Health Professions Workforce; Health Professions Education & Mentoring; Health Disparities; Community Engaged Research; Emergency Preparedness & Disasters
Saskia Spiess, MD, FAAFP
Saskia Spiess, MD, is a family medicine and obstetrics provider in Salt Lake City, Utah. She provides care for pregnant patients and pediatric patients, as well as wellness exams and health screenings for adults, teens, and children. She is a board-certified family medicine physician. Her professional interests include women’s health, pregnancy and newborn care, full spectrum Family Medicine, as well as equity in healthcare. Her research interests include equity in healthcare, clinician resilience and how to use technology in innovative ways to provide high quality healthcare. In her leisure time, she enjoys camping, biking, skiing and spending time with her family. She is fluent in German and functional in medical Spanish. The privilege of caring for others in important, vulnerable, and life-changing moments is Dr. Spiess's highest honor. Dr. Spiess sees patients at the University of Utah Madsen Family Health Center.
Joseph B. Stanford, MD, MSPH
I seek to understand and improve the impact of reproductive health on child health and development. Since 1991, I have conducted research in natural family planning, natural procreative technology, reproductive epidemiology, and life course epidemiology, including serving as principal investigator or co-investigator for five preconception cohort studies. I am currently principal investigator for the Utah Children's Project, a cohort to investigate... Read More
Research Interests: Reproductive & Women's Health; Environmental Health; Life Course Epidemiology & Health
Erika A. Sullivan, MD
Dr. Sullivan is a board certified family physician. She completed her residency in Family Medicine from the University of Utah in 2014. She attended medical school and graduate school at the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine, where she received both an MD and an MS degree in Pathology in 2011. She also attended the University of Hawaii, Manoa for graduate school, receiving her first MS in Microbiology in 2004. She is a proud graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara where she received two bachelors degrees, a BA in French and a BS in Microbiology in 2001.
Her clinical interests include providing safe and reliable contraceptive services, gender affirming primary care including gender affirming hormone therapy, and LGBTQ+ primary care including HIV PrEP. She also enjoys providing whole person preventive medicine across the lifespan, management of chronic disease, and providing comprehensive care for the whole family.
Academically, she is interested in teaching residents about gender affirming and LGBTQ+ primary care, contraceptive care and clinical/EHR efficiency and skills.
In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her partner and their two children, reading (and writing!) books, trying new restaurants, sewing, crafting, cooking (but not doing the dishes!) and dancing.
Sharon L. Talboys, PhD, MPH
Dr. Talboys is a "pracademic" with research and practice experience in governmental, academic, and global settings. Her research and practice focus in on gender-based violence, health equity, workforce development, and community needs assessment. Her teaching focuses on global health, public health leadership and management, social and behavioral science, and experiential learning. As a researcher, she specializes in community-based participatory approaches, survey design, and qualitative methods.
She received her PhD in public health from the University of Utah, an MPH from Emory University in International Health and Social and Behavioral Science/Health Education, and a BA in Anthropology from SUNY Geneseo.
Sonja N. Van Hala, MD, MPH, DipABLM, FAAFP
Sonja Van Hala, MD, MPH, FAAFP is a board-certified family medicine physician and board-certified lifestyle medicine physician who welcomes patients of all ages to her practice. She sees patients through virtual visits (telemedicine) only. She received her medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1998 and her family medicine residency training at the University of Utah in 2001. She completed a faculty development fellowship with a focus on teaching at the University of Utah in 2003 and earned a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Utah. Her professional interests include full spectrum family care for patients of all ages, in particular women's health, lifestyle medicine, and mental health. Her research interests are leadership skills, provider wellness, and quality improvement education in medical education. In her leisure time, Dr. Van Hala enjoys live music, whole food plant-based cooking, yoga, trail-running with her dog, skiing, gardening and hanging out with her husband and two children.
James A. VanDerslice, PhD
James VanDerslice, MSEE, PhD, is an environmental epidemiologist who focuses on methods to assess community exposures and the relationships between these exposures and a wide variety of health outcomes. He is currently working on studies of the impacts of poor ambient air quality on... Read More
Research Interests: Global Health; Community Engaged Research; Environmental Health; Life Course Epidemiology & Health
Carl Whittaker, MD
