Alumni
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The generosity of our alumni and friends helps us fund experiences and opportunities for our students and faculty. Learn how you can support the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
About our graduates
SBS graduates find positions as postdoctoral fellows and faculty members, working for governmental agencies and nonprofits, and researchers with nonprofits and in various industry settings.
Social and Behavioral Sciences Ph.D. Alumni
Dissertation Title: Exploring emerging adults' consideration of future cancer risk reduction: Opportunity for shifting prevention paradigms?
Advisor: Maria Thomson, Ph.D.
Dissertation Title: Intersectionality, Racial Discrimination and Oral Health Care Utilization Among Black Adults in Baltimore City, Maryland
Advisor: Maghboeba Mosavel, Ph.D.
Dissertation Title: The PROMIS Women Education Program: Promote Cervical Cancer Prevention Methods among Muslim Women in Virginia
Advisor: Vanessa B. Sheppard, Ph.D.
Dissertation Title: "It's just not enough": Examining the experiences of school-based sexual health education and conversation engagement with trusted adults among Black boys in Richmond, VA
Advisor: Kellie E. Carlyle, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Ed.
Dissertation Title: QVOICES: Queer Voices in Oncology Igniting Change through Empowered Stories of Survivorship
Advisor: Richard F. Brown, Ph.D.
Dissertation Title: A Technology-Based, Mixed Methods Approach to Examining the Psychosocial Determinants of Maternal Health Disparities
Advisor: Sun Jung "Sunny" Kim, Ph.D., M.S., M.A.
Dissertation Title: A Novel Approach to Reducing Adiposity among Young Men
Advisor: Jessica G. LaRose, Ph.D.
Dissertation Title: Food Insecurity Screening and Nutrition Care as a part of Hypertension Management in Primary Care Teams
Advisor: Maria D. Thomson, Ph.D., M.Sc.
Dissertation Title: A Multilevel Mixed Methods Examination of Treatment Nonadherence Among Rural Cancer Survivors
Advisor: Bernard Fuemmeler, Ph.D.
Dissertation Title: A Mixed Methods Approach to Examine Racial Disparities in Adherence to Surveillance Mammography Among Breast Cancer Survivors
Advisor: Vanessa B. Sheppard, Ph.D.
Dissertation Title: Behavior Change Techniques to Promote Smoking Cessation During Pregnancy: A Theory-Based Meta-Analysis
Advisor: Jessica G. LaRose, Ph.D.
Dissertation Title: Changing Landscapes: Perspectives of Young African American Women of Population-Wide Testing for Hereditary Breast Cancer Mutations
Advisor: Maghboeba Mosavel, Ph.D.
Dissertation Title: Examining the role of racial discrimination in obesity treatment disparities among African American emerging adult women
Advisor: Jessica G. LaRose, Ph.D.
Dissertation Title: The intersection of social stress, mental well-being, and sexual health in young black women
Advisor: Jessica G. LaRose, Ph.D.
Dissertation Title: A theoretically-based mixed methods approach to examining mental health disorders and help-seeking behaviors among university-enrolled African American men
Advisor: Kellie E. Carlyle, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Ed.
Dissertation Title: Motivational interviewing in a team-based wellness clinic: Perceptions and fidelity
Advisor: Maghboeba Mosavel, Ph.D., M.A.
Dissertation Title: Communicating colorectal cancer risk to average risk adults: Examining the impact on risk perceptions and health behavior intentions
Advisor: Maria D. Thomson, Ph.D., M.Sc.
Dissertation Title: Perceived financial burden, self-management behaviors and glycemic control in adults with type 1 diabetes
Advisor: Maria D. Thomson, Ph.D., M.Sc.
Dissertation Title: Designing effective messages to promote future Zika vaccine uptake
Advisor: Kellie E. Carlyle, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Ed.
Dissertation Title: Information needs and information sources of patients diagnosed with rare cancers
Advisor: Robin K. Matsuyama, Ph.D.
Dissertation Title: Examining the effects of psychosocial stress on the hypertension self-management behaviors of African American women
Advisor: Maghboeba Mosavel, Ph.D., M.A.
Dissertation Title: Cancer Health Literacy and Hospitalization in the First Five Years following a Cancer Diagnosis
Advisor: Robin K. Matsuyama, Ph.D.
Dissertation Title: Development and evaluation of a peer-to-peer intervention to increase self-management among adult in-center hemodialysis patients
Advisor: Maria D. Thomson, Ph.D., M.Sc.
Dissertation Title: Evaluation and comparison of theoretical models' abilities to explain and predict colorectal cancer screening behaviors
Advisor: Robin K. Matsuyama, Ph.D.
Dissertation Title: Impact of e-cigarettes on physician recommendations of tobacco use cessation pharmacotherapy
Advisor: Jennifer Elston Lafata, Ph.D.
Dissertation Title: Barriers and facilitators to infant feeding among low-income African American women
Advisor: Kellie E. Carlyle, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Ed.
Advisor: Richard F. Brown, Ph.D.
Dissertation Title: Development of a collaborative goal setting measure for patients with diabetes
Advisor: Jennifer Elston Lafata, Ph.D.
Current Position: Director of Clinical Epidemiology and Scientific Publications
Institution: Target RWE Health Evidence Solutions
Dissertation Title: A mixed-method examination of racial differences in females’ perceptions and experiences of sexual objectifications
Advisor: Maghboeba Mosavel, Ph.D. and Kellie Carlyle, Ph.D.
Dissertation Title: Patient perceptions of shared decision making: What does it mean and how does it affect patient outcomes
Advisor: Jennifer Elston Lafata, Ph.D.
Current Position: Assistant Professor
Institution: UTHealth School of Public Health
Dissertation Title: Understanding the public’s attitudes tissue donation: A multi-method approach
Advisor: Laura Siminoff, Ph.D.
Current Position: Chief Data and Analytic Officer
Institution: Defense Logistics Agency