Dr. Christensen received his PhD. in Developmental Psychology with a cross-area emphasis in Health Psychology from Brigham Young University. His current research is focused on shared decision making, as well as diabetes prevention/intervention programs. Other research interests include health behavior changes, stress and coping, and nutrition - all within the scope of developmental, health, and social psychology. Future research aims to identify the potential moderating and/or mediating factors that may influence the effects that stress may have on health during adolescence and emerging adulthood.
Dr. Collin earned her PhD in Epidemiology from Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health. The overarching goal of Lindsay’s research is to understand multi-level contributors to disparities in recurrence and mortality among breast and ovarian cancer patients. In her doctoral work, Lindsay was awarded a National Cancer Institute F31 to evaluate therapeutic changes, patient characteristics, and biomarkers that may explain variation in breast cancer recurrence among women diagnosed with breast cancer, using Danish registry data. She has collaborated with the Georgia Cancer Registry and the Greater Atlanta Breast Cancer Task Force to examine race/ethnic disparities in breast cancer mortality in the metropolitan Atlanta area. She also has a strong methodologic interest in Bayesian statistics, quantitative bias analysis, and efficient design of validation substudies. At the Huntsman Cancer Institute, Lindsay is working in the lab of Dr. Jen Doherty. She was awarded a TL1 postdoctoral fellowship, which aims to understand the role of comorbidities and racial/ethnic disparities in ovarian cancer treatment, treatment response, and outcomes.
Dr. Golden received her PhD in Health Promotion from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Her scientific focus is broadly described as health promotion with an emphasis on childhood obesity treatment and prevention. She was awarded an American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship to examine the factors that increased the likelihood of high implementation quality and effectiveness at the participant level for micropolitan communities engaged in a pediatric weight management intervention. The focus of her postdoctoral work will be in community-engaged, dissemination and implementation science, in the areas of physical activity, healthful eating, and weight control, with an emphasis on reducing health disparities and advancing health equity.
Dr. Ilozumba received her PhD in Epidemiology (Cancer Epidemiology track) from the University of Florida. The goal of Mmadili’s research is to understand the molecular, genetic, and environmental risk factors of cancer etiology and outcomes. Her research also addresses cancer health disparities in racial and ethnic minorities. Dr. Mmadili has conducted several cancer research projects investigating the etiology of several cancer sites including breast, colorectal and prostate cancer and their relationships with risk factors including genetic polymorphisms, obesity (adiposity), environmental exposures, dietary supplements, physical activity, energy intake, gene, and protein expression biomarkers of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. Dr. Ilozumba’s current research at Huntsman Cancer Institute focuses on research projects within the ColoCare Study, Total Cancer Care Study, and other consortia (such as FOCUS and MetaboCCC). Specifically, in the ColoCare Study, she will be investigating the associations of molecular, genetic, and environmental risk factors with clinical outcomes such as survival, prognosis, and recurrence as well as cancer health disparities in colorectal cancer patients.
Dr. Merle obtained his PhD from the University of Minnesota in Educational Psychology. His postdoctoral research in the HSIR division contributes to implementation science across a broad spectrum of federally-funded health and mental health implementation and hybrid implementation-effectiveness trials. His research targets implementation outcomes around health disparities, including cancer symptom management, HIV prevention, and reducing cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and pediatric obesity. The focus of is work is on improving the uptake and sustained use of evidence-based practices by developing tools and implementation strategies that target multilevel barriers within implementation contexts (i.e., schools, hospitals, behavioral health clinics, community organizations) and ultimately creates generalizable knowledge and leads to quality improvement.
Dr. Mosalpuria earned her PhD in Health Services Research, Administration, and Policy from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She received numerous scholarships and awards during her PhD. In her doctoral dissertation, she explored the effects of chronic lifestyle conditions and comorbidities on health care expenditures and utilization. Before her PhD, she worked for five years monitoring and evaluating Polio elimination programs, immunization programs for mothers and children, and national health programs in lower middle-income countries. She conducted epidemiological investigations related to Acute Flaccid Paralysis. Among her responsibilities was capacity development for physicians and other health care professionals at community health centers. She was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation for India’s triumph over Polio by the World Health Organization and India’s Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. She is an experienced project manager and hospital administrator. The overarching goal of Kavita’s post-doctoral research is to understand the multi-dimensional nature of social determinants of health in the tobacco use life cycle in vulnerable populations. She hopes that her research will contribute to reducing health disparities and increasing equity.