Health Promotion and Health Behavior Program Faculty

Program Faculty

Health Promotion and Health Behavior

Primary faculty

Image
Joseph Catania, Ph.D.

Joseph Catania, Ph.D.
Professor

Joe has 35 years of research experience, primarily in the field of sexual health, but also in the fields of lifespan development, dissemination and implementation science, intervention development and vaccine uptake. This work has been conducted in sexual and racial-ethnic minority populations among adolescent, young adult and older populations in the United States and Africa.

Image
Peggy Dolcini

Peggy Dolcini, Ph.D.
Professor

Peggy's research focuses on infectious diseases, including HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) with an emphasis on addressing health disparities. Her current work addresses dissemination and implementation of evidence-based programs and practices. Her research is funded by NIH.

Image

Karen Elliott, PhD, MS, CHES
Senior Instructor II
(Public Health Undergraduate Internship Coordinator)

Karen's instructional interest is experiential learning, including internships, practicums and service learning. Undergrad Public Health Internship.

Image
Jessica R. Gorman, Ph.D., MPH

Jessica R. Gorman, Ph.D., MPH
Associate Professor

Jessica's research focuses on adapting, implementing and evaluating scalable interventions to reduce the negative effects of cancer and cancer treatment on psychosocial, reproductive and sexual health, especially for young adults and LGBTQ+ people. She leads a robust community-engaged research program that integrates qualitative and quantitative methodologies to investigate multi-level factors contributing to healthcare experiences and quality of life outcomes, with a substantial focus on life after cancer.

Image
Veronica Irvin, Ph.D., MPH

Veronica Irvin, Ph.D., MPH
Associate Professor

Veronica’s research focuses on the idea that how medical and science information is presented can change someone’s behavior. Her first project assesses health literacy and communication methods in order to better understand how people manage their health. In her second project, she evaluates the content of information on clinical websites and consent forms in terms of accuracy, reading level and sentiment.

Image
Cynthia Mojica, Ph.D.

Cynthia Mojica, Ph.D.
Associate Professor

Cynthia conducts health services research and program evaluation in cancer prevention and control among ethnic minority and underserved populations, particularly Latinos. Her research engages community-based organizations health centers, and community members in the design, implementation and evaluation of interventions.

Image
Kari-Lyn Sakuma, Ph.D., MPH

Kari-Lyn Sakuma, Ph.D., MPH
Associate Professor
(HPHB Program Director)

Kari-Lyn's research focuses on race/ethnic disparities, particularly as it relates to tobacco use, including new and emerging products and other substances. Other areas of interest and experience are in co-parenting, obesity prevention and substance use prevention interventions.

Image
Ashley Vaughn, MPH

Ashley Vaughn, MPH
Instructor

Ashley’s teaching is guided by inclusive pedagogy, evidence-based teaching practices and a passion for public health. Students engage in a variety of active and collaborative learning approaches such as peer-to-peer instruction, team and problem-based learning, and reflection. Ashley has a particular interest in ensuring that every student has a strong sense of belonging, particularly among first-generation and other underrepresented students.

Associated faculty

Image
Jonathan Garcia, Ph.D.

Jonathan Garcia, Ph.D.
Associate Professor

Jonathan works both globally and domestically on health disparities that emerge at the intersection of sexuality, gender and race. His work has focused on devising community-led approaches to social inclusion, HIV prevention and Hepatitis C treatment access, especially among Latinos and LGBT populations.

Image
Marie Harvey, DrPH, MPH

S. Marie Harvey, DrPH, MPH
Professor

Marie's research focuses on the sexual and reproductive health of young adults. She has published widely in the area of risk and prevention of unintended pregnancy and STIs among high-risk women, men and couples and the influence of relationship and contextual factors on protective behaviors and sexual risk-taking.

Image

Sunil Khanna, Ph.D.
Professor

Sunil's research interests include the complex interrelations of biology, culture, gender, ethnicity and health in South Asia and the United States.