Research Faculty
Welcome to the Brooks College of Health Faculty Research Directory. Please utilize the search directory feature to find faculty research topics you may be interested in.
Search the keyword "seeking" to find faculty currently needing research assistants.
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Clinical and Applied Movement Sciences |
Michelle C. BolingProfessor
Dr. Boling’s research focuses on the prevention and long-term consequences of patellofemoral pain (chronic knee pain), including patellofemoral osteoarthritis. Her research also focuses on effective treatment strategies for individuals with patellofemoral pain. 
James ChurillaProfessor | Graduate Program Director - Kinesiology and Lifestyle Medicine
Dr. James R Churilla is a Professor at the Brooks College of Health and serves as the Graduate Program Director of the Kinesiology & Lifestyle Medicine Program. Dr. Churilla’s overarching research agenda is Lifestyle Medicine, with the following areas of specialty: Cardiometabolic Health; Heart Failure; Muscular Strength; Physical Activity; Sedentary Behavior, and Vascular Health. Dr. Churilla received his BS in Kinesiology from Towson University, MPH in Epidemiology and MS in Cardiovascular Physiology from Florida International University, and PhD in Exercise Physiology/Physical Activity Epidemiology from the University of Tennessee. He completed his post-doctoral training at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Churilla joined UNF in 2007 and has been the recipient of numerous awards for teaching and research. Dr. Churilla’s students have also been recognized for their work by the American Heart Association, American College of Sports Medicine, and the World Congress on Insulin Resistance, Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease. Graduate Research Assistantships (GRA) are available on a competitive basis annually. These are typically ~50% tuition waiver and a modest monthly stipend. Contact Dr. Churilla for more information. 
Curt LoxProfessor/Dean
Research centers broadly on the psychosocial benefits of physical activity for special populations including the elderly, pregnant women, individuals with traumatic brain injury, overweight adults, cardiovascular patients, and individuals with HIV-1. 
Jessica StapletonAssistant Professor
Dr. “J” Stapleton is an Assistant Professor of Kinesiology in the Brooks College of Health at the University of North Florida (UNF). Dr. J also serves as the Director of Osprey Athletics Mental Performance and is the faculty supervisor of UNF’s Exercise is Medicine On-Campus chapter. Her research interests include the psychosocial mechanisms and consequences of leisure time physical activity among student-athletes and persons with mobility impairment. Accordingly, Dr. J’s current agenda focuses on the examination of social influence on sedentary, sport, and exercise behaviors among various populations. Graduate Assistantships are available on a competitive basis 
Lindsay TothAssistant Professor
Lindsay Toth, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Kinesiology in the Department of Clinical and Applied Movement Sciences at the University of North Florida. Dr. Toth’s area of research is measuring physical activity with consumer and research-grade wearable activity monitors. Her primary focus is on the accuracy of step-counting algorithms, and she has an interest in methods of harmonizing step counts among monitors. Her work also includes validation of other variables available on wearable activity monitors such as heart rate and maximal oxygen consumption. Additionally, she has worked with several colleagues on meta-analyses investigating time trends in physical activity, health outcomes related to objective measurement of physical activity, and step-count agreement. Graduate Assistantships are available on a competitive basis |
Health Administration |
Rob HaleyProfessor
Dr. Haley is a Professor at the University of North Florida's (UNF) Brooks College of Health and the Director of the Master of Health Administration Program. His research is focused on value-based purchasing and healthcare quality improvement. Dr. Haley is a J. William Fulbright Senior Specialist in Global and Public Health and serves as a Fellow with the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME). 
Hanadi Y. HamadiAssociate Professor
Hanadi Hamadi is one of the junior faculty joining UNF in 2014. She has begun to demonstrate her achievement in scholarship by co-authoring one refereed article and is in the process of authoring or co-authoring multiple refereed articles. She also presented at several national conferences over the past several years. Dr. Hamadi has collaborated and continues to collaborate in the research area of value-based purchasing and quality of hospital care with several faculty members from the MHA program. Currently, Dr. Hamadi is active locally serving on committees representing the program in her role as an assistant professor. She also serves as a peer-reviewer for many top journals. Looking for research assistant please reach out to h.hamadi@unf.edu 
Jeffrey P. HarrisonProfessor
Jeffrey Harrison PhD, MBA, MHA is a professor of Health Administration and past Chair of the Department of Public Health at the University of North Florida. He received his PhD in Health Services Research from VCU, his MBA from William and Mary and his MHA from the Medical College of Virginia. Jeff has twenty-five years’ experience in health care and is a national and international speaker on a wide range of healthcare topics and has published over forty-six professional articles and three book chapters. In 2020, he completed the third edition of his book: “Essentials of Strategic Planning in Healthcare” published by Health Administration Press. Research agenda includes Healthcare Policy, Strategic Planning in Healthcare, Organizational Performance and Assessment, Decision Support Systems, and Disaster Medical Response. Jeff is a Certified Healthcare Executive and a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives. 
Sinyoung ParkAssociate Professor
Sinyoung Park, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Administration at the University of North Florida. Dr. Park obtained her doctoral degree in Health Services Research from the University of Florida. Her research areas are Patient Experience, Population Health, Hospital and Community Partnerships, and Healthcare Outcomes. Her current research topics focus on population health management in the hospital industry and patient experience in hospital settings and post-acute care rehabilitation hospital settings. She has published articles in the Journal of Healthcare Management, Population Health Management, Journal of Health Administration Education, and others as well as presented at scientific conferences. 
Shyam B. ParyaniInstructor | Clinical Professor
Shyam Paryani, MD, MHA, FACHE is the Director of the Executive Master of Health Administration Program (EMHA). Dr. Paryani is an MHA graduate of UNF and has been involved at UNF since 2002. Dr. Paryani has almost 100 publications and books. His current research is on patient wellness and monitoring. He is helping develop a Virtual Care Center at UNF. |
Nursing |
Michele S. BednarzykClinical Associate Professor | MSN Program Director
Michele's primary research focuses on topics such as: nursing, nurse practitioners, education, health informatics, and international studies. 
Stacey HobbickAssistant Professor
Dr. Hobbick’s primary research interests include nursing and patient education, with a primary focus on student success measures, servant leadership, and faculty development. Her research into nursing education highlights faculty behaviors and their effect on academic integrity, and microlearning in social media., Recently, Dr. Hobbick has begun exploring artificial intelligence, its application to education, and the implications it has for the future of nursing education. 
Katherine MeutiAssistant Professor | Assistant Program Director- Nurse Anesthesiology Program
Katherine Meuti DNP, CRNA, APRN is an Assistant Professor in Nursing and the Assistant Program Director- Anesthesiology Nursing. Her research involves stress response and strengthening resiliency and emotional intelligence. 
Marie A Smith-EastAssistant Professor
Dr. Marie Smith-East is an Assistant Professor at the Brooks College of Health School of Nursing at the University of North Florida, a board-certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, and a nurse scientist. Her research focuses on geographic access to health care utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS), particularly for individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Dr. Smith-East is the co-founder of OspreyPsych Telehealth (established Spring 2023)—which is a psychiatric mental health student nurse practitioner practice facilitated by interdisciplinary students at UNF for practice with documentation, psychiatric diagnosing, assessment, and treatment plans through telehealth. In addition to running her own telemedicine practice, she has extensive experience working in community mental health settings, has presented for the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) on the "Next Big Thing" in mental health services research, and has shared her expertise for what nurses need to know regarding "Teen Vaping on the Rise" for the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. Yes, multiple; preferably students with an interest in mental health or studies in mental health. |
Nutrition and Dietetics |
Andrea ArikawaAssociate Professor - Chair
Dr. Arikawa’s primary research interests include the role bioactive components in foods and the gut microflora play on prevention and treatment of chronic disease as well as dietary and lifestyle behavior modification to improve biomarkers associated with inflammation, obesity, and cancer risk. Looking for 3 undergrad or graduate research assistants for gut microbiome study. Please email a.arikawa@Unf.edu if interested. 
Catherine W. ChristieProfessor
Dr. Catherine Christie is a Distinguished Professor at the Brooks College of Health. Her research interests include community nutrition, the Mediterranean diet and culture, and medical nutrition therapy. Dr. Christie is co-author of four books including The Latino Food Lover’s Glossary, Fat is Not Your Fate, Eat to Stay Young and I’d Kill for a Cookie. She serves as Editor of the Manual of Medical Nutrition Therapy published by the Florida Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics and updated each year. She has authored 28 published peer-reviewed journal articles since coming to UNF in 2001. 
Casey R. ColinAssistant Professor
Dr. Colin researches the impact of medical nutrition therapy on health outcomes through the use of the nutrition care process and standardized language. Her research also includes the role of registry studies, health informatics applications, and documentation quality within the dietetics field. Research measuring the impact of medical nutrition therapy on health outcomes is needed to demonstrate the need for improved reimbursement and access to nutrition care. 
Alireza Jahan-MihanAssociate Professor
Dr. Alireza Jahan-mihan is a faculty in the Dept Nutrition and dietetics. His ultimate research goal is to unveil the role of functional foods and their dietary bioactive components in health and diseases. Understanding the mechanisms by which bioactive food components influence the risk of development of characteristics of metabolic syndrome including diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and obesity and factors affecting appetite and food intake regulatory system is his particular interest. The specific focus of his research is on the physiological and nutritional functions of dietary proteins and peptides. Both animal and clinical approaches are applied. Sports nutrition and developmental programming are two areas that he is currently focusing on. 
Corinne A. LabyakAssociate Professor
Dr. Labyak is an Associate Professor in the Nutrition and Dietetics Department at UNF. She has worked on multiple research studies focusing on the impact of nutrition education on improving malnutrition across the lifespan, particularly in the elderly. Specifically, Dr. Labyak’s research interests are the impact of nutrition on Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). As part of her research, she has extensive experience leading behavioral weight management groups including teaching topics encompassing nutrition, techniques for increasing physical activity and focusing on behavioral mechanisms i.e. self-monitoring and goal setting. She has trained and guided over 60 students as research assistants on multiple research projects. 
Jamisha L. LeftwichInstructor | FEM Program Director
Dr. Jamisha Leftwich serves as an instructor in the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Program Director for the Integrated Future Graduate Program in Nutrition and Dietetics. Her research focus areas include community nutrition, nutrition education and counseling programming, maternal, infant, child health and nutrition, and lactation. |
Physical Therapy |
Guilherme M. CesarAssistant Professor
Guilherme (Gui) M. Cesar, PhD, PT, has a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology, a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Physical Therapy. He earned his PhD in Biokinesiology from the University of Southern California where he investigated locomotor strategies children employ to control forward momentum during a running gait termination task. Dr. Cesar expanded his research with young adults during his post-doctoral work at the Nebraska Athletic Performance Laboratory, University of Nebraska–Lincoln. During his post-doctoral fellowship, Dr. Cesar also worked closely with Athletic Medicine staff, providing a biomechanical approach to guide safe return to sport after lower extremity injuries. Following, Dr. Cesar worked as the Assistant Research Director of the Movement and Neurosciences Center at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals, advancing his pediatric research agenda at the Institute for Rehabilitation Science and Engineering. Dr. Cesar's research aims to guide understanding of how balance control can contribute to movement efficiency, enhanced mobility, and participation. 
Chitra Lakshmi K BalasubramanianAssociate Professor
Dr. Chitra Balasubramanian received her Bachelor in Physiotherapy from Manipal University, India and her PhD in Rehabilitation Science from University of Florida. She has been a faculty in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program since 2008, is a licensed physical therapist and the Director of Hicks Hall Research laboratory. The overarching goal of Dr. Balasubramanian’s research program is to motivate the design of personalized rehabilitative interventions for improvement of mobility, walking and balance function in older adults and individuals with neurologic injuries. Much of her focus through her research career has been on studying walking function in individuals who have sustained a Stroke. Dr. Balasubramanian has also been studying approaches for early diagnosis and prevention of falls in older adults. In particular, she is currently expanding her research program in other neurologic populations, such as Parkinson’s Disease. Dr. Balasubramanian’s research methods utilize augmented reality, biomechanical, neurophysiologic, and clinical performance-based tools. Seeking up to 4 research assistant positions are available; in addition I am currently accepting students to pursue research independent studies. 
Raine OsborneAssistant Professor
Raine Osborne, PT, DPT, EdD, FAAOMPT is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of North Florida, Director of the UNF Center for the Promotion of Innovation and Excellence in Rehabilitation, and a member of the Brooks IHL Residency and Fellowship Program faculty. Dr. Osborne’s clinical practice and teaching focuses on orthopaedics with a particular interest in spine and chronic pain. Dr. Osborne currently serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Physical Therapy Education and is the chair of the APTA Academy of Education Residency and Fellowship Research Collaborative. As a researcher, Dr. Osborne’s primary interest is in understanding the complex mix of personal characteristics and environmental factors that drive innovation and excellence in rehabilitation practice. Areas of focus within this research agenda include professional engagement, physical therapist residency and fellowship education, teaching and assessment of clinical reasoning, and interprofessional education. 
Sherry O. PinkstaffAssociate Professor | Chair
Dr. Pinkstaff is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of North Florida. Her clinical expertise is in the area of Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. Her research expertise is in cardiopulmonary exercise testing primarily in patients with heart failure, coronary artery disease and pulmonary hypertension. A passion of hers is to educate current and future PTs about the importance of exercise assessment, prescription and training in all patients with cardiovascular disease or those at risk of cardiovascular disease. Dr. Pinkstaff has presented at the past meetings of the American Physical Therapy Association, the American College of Cardiology, the American College of Sports Medicine and the Florida Chapter of the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. As a stroke survivor herself, she feels particularly passionate about advocating for the cardiovascular health of patients living with chronic stroke. |
Public Health |
Amber N. BarnesAssistant Professor
Amber N. Barnes researches household and community risk factors that lead to zoonotic enteric parasite exposures among vulnerable human and animal populations using a One Health framework. She works to understand the role of water, sanitation and hygiene access, availability and safety as well as our close relationship with animals in zoonotic disease transmission. Her goal is to develop tailored, community-driven global health recommendations that prevent zoonotic and reverse zoonotic enteric diseases. She leads the Coastal One Health and Zoonoses lab (www.cohzlab.com). 
Kerry L. ClarkProfessor | Epidemiology
Current studies are focused on obtaining additional evidence of the presence and magnitude of Lyme disease in the South; further optimizing DNA-based tests to identify Lyme infection in humans, animals, and ticks; and proving the existence of "chronic Lyme disease" as a persistent, sometimes treatment-resistant infection. He continues to test human patients, dogs, and ticks removed from humans and their pets across the Southeast. His primary interest is in correcting the current false paradigm that states that Lyme disease is rare in humans, animals, and ticks in the South; that seronegative Lyme disease is rare; and that Lyme disease cannot become a chronic, antibiotic-persistent infection. He believes that the most important avenue by which to improve knowledge and understanding of the true presence and magnitude of Lyme disease is rigorously obtained scientific evidence. Seeking laboratory research assistants 
Tamara I Gibson-AlonsoInstructor
Dr. Tamara Gibson-Alonso serves as an instructor in the Department of Public Health in the Brooks College of Health. Her research centers around student-centered teaching and learning and school health. Understanding teaching and learning pedagogy that prioritizes giving students greater autonomy and control over their learning is of particular interest to her, particularly at the intersection of health education. Florida is a leader in providing health education supported by legislation. Beginning in Fall 2019, pursuant to Florida State Board of Education Rule 6A-1.094124, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.), school districts are required to report on the implementation of health education in three focus areas: mental and emotional health education, substance use, and abuse prevention, and child trafficking prevention education. Focused on these topics, her research is grounded in the implementation and evaluation of health education and promotion in research and practice. I am open to collaborating with research assistants.
Stephanie L. HooperInstructor
Stephanie Hooper graduated from Georgia Southern University in 2018 with a Master's in Public Health (MPH). She is also a licensed Histotechnologist (HTL) through the American Society of Clinical Pathology (ASCP), and previously worked in community healthcare facilities for over ten years before attaining her MPH. Currently, she is an instructor for the University of North Florida, in the Department of Public Health, and the Chief Scientific Officer for a Jacksonville-based company, leading research studies on health behaviors, supplements, and products often with a particular focus on sleep and stress. 
Erin Largo WightProfessor | Director, UNF Institute of Environmental Research and Education (IERE)
Dr. Erin Largo-Wight is a Professor in the Department of Public Health and the Director of UNF’s Institute of Environmental Research and Education. Her research focuses on environmental health promotion – on environmental health solutions. Dr. Largo-Wight's first line of work is focused on nature contact and well-being. She studies the impact of nature in schools (e.g., outdoor classrooms), workplaces (e.g., biophilic office design and 'bringing nature inside'), clinical settings, and the home on self-reported and physiological measures of stress and health. Her second line of work is focused on facilitating environmental health behavior change. She studies the determinants and/or the promotion of environmental health behaviors such as reducing single-use plastic consumption, recycling, active commuting, and others. 
Katryne A. Lukens BullInstructor | Program Director BSH Public Health
Katryne Lukens Bull, MPH, CLC is an Instructor at UNF with over 25 years of public health practice experience. She was a research manager for over 15 years and has worked as an epidemiologist for State and Local departments of health. Her research focuses on mixed methods approaches, using GIS to understand health disparities, and her primary passion, human lactation. 
Julie W. MertenAssoc Professor | Interdisciplinary Health Studies Program Director
My research involves behavioral cancer prevention, specifically in the areas of skin cancer and tobacco control. I've used my research training to evaluate the effectiveness of school-based sun safety education, analyzed how people utilize the Internet and social media for cancer information, surveyed children, adolescents, and young adults on their skin cancer prevention behaviors assess cancer prevention programs among special populations, and implemented skin cancer assessment and referral intervention to increase national skin cancer screening rates. 
Lena SalpietroAssistant Professor
Dr. Salpietro's research includes remediation/gatekeeping in the helping professions, the mental health needs and experiences of individuals in the LGBTGEQIAP+ population, and suicide/the experiences of counselors who lose a client to suicide. She has extensive experience in qualitative research, including grounded theory, CQR, phenomenology, and IPA. She currently works as a telehealth counselor with expertise in counseling survivors of sexual assault, individuals who identify as gender expansive or sexually/affectionally expansive, and individuals who live with chronic illness/pain or medical trauma. Would be interested in collaborating with other faculty on projects 
Sericea Stallings SmithAssociate Professor
Dr. Sericea Stallings-Smith is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health. She completed her doctoral work in epidemiology at Brunel University London, United Kingdom, where she assessed the mortality effects of the national smoking ban policy in the Republic of Ireland. In addition, Dr. Stallings-Smith completed a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical epidemiology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, where she assessed the burden and risk factors for infectious diseases among pediatric cancer patients at international partner and collaborating sites in low- and middle-income countries. Her current research agenda focuses on the impacts of smoke-free policies on chronic health outcomes in the United States, the effects of environmental pollutants on human disease, and the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on health risks. 
Carlene TaylorClinical Assistant Professor
Dr. Carlene Taylor's research agenda is focused on integrative healthcare practices and systems, exploring interprofessional collaboration in education and healthcare practices. Dr. Taylor is engaged primarily in implementation science research with community agency partners and program evaluation following new and innovative service program implementation. The integration of spirituality, creativity, animals, and nature are primary themes of integrative practices explored, seeking ways to expose and empower emerging clinical providers to bring holistic assessment and practices into their professional disciplines. Animal-assisted interventions/animal-assisted therapy, including equine-assisted services also areas of focus. Linking clinical education with real-world community mental health practice is at the center of her current work developing and implementing the Integrative Behavioral Health Clinical Training Center in the Department of Public Health of the Brooks College of Health. Current funding programs have room for both volunteer undergraduate research assistants and a paid student assistant volunteer coordinator. 
Kassie R. TerrellAssociate Professor
Kassie Terrell’s research involves exploring and understanding competencies in working with LGBTQIA+ clients; exploring dynamics of same-sex relationships; understanding how sex, gender, sexuality, and minority stress affect mental health; crisis counseling and safety planning when working with victims of domestic violence; relationship counseling; exploring the impact social media has on young women; sizeism and fat phobia; slut shaming; pedagogy for increasing tolerance among master’s students when working with diverse populations; enhancing infusion of cultural diversity training into counseling courses; and ethical and legal dilemmas in teaching tolerance. The primary goal of Dr. Terrell’s research is to inform the practices of current and future mental health counselors. The findings of her research may provide implications for counselors to aid them in effectively supporting their clients and building competence in providing inclusive and affirmative counseling services as well as in guiding social justice advocacy efforts in the communities we serve. 
Tes TuasonProfessor | Clinical Director CMHC
Dr. Tes Tuason was born and raised in the Philippines, where she learned resilience of spirit and used one's personal power for transformative teaching and social justice research. She is a Professor, Clinical Director of the CMHC program, and a Licensed Psychologist. She did her Ph.D. at the University of Albany and her postdoc at the University of Utah Counseling Center and the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. Her research interests have focused on three areas: a) economic inequality and poverty such as investigating poverty's determinants, its consequences, the influence of cultural values, ways of coping, and effective ways for upward mobility, b) minority identity formation (ethnicity and socio-econmic status) as it relates to counseling, well-being and health, and c) family, adolescent, and child issues utilizing systems and cross-cultural perspectives (i.e., decision-making, creativity, overseas working differentiation from family). She has over 50 publications and over 100 conference presentations. 
Robert ZeglinAssociate Professor
Robert J. Zeglin, PhD, NCC, CST, LMHC, AGI is Associate Professor in the CMHC Program. He is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Florida and a Nationally Certified Counselor. He also holds certificates in Sex Therapy and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. He is a member of the American Counseling Association; Association of Counselor Education and Supervision; and Society for Sexual, Affectional, Intersex, and Gender Expansive Identities. He is also the President-Elect of the Association of Counseling Sexology & Sexual Wellness. Dr. Zeglin serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Counseling and Development and the Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling. He is also the founding editor of the Journal of Counseling Sexology & Sexual Wellness. He sits on several community committees and advocates for mental health issues in Northeast Florida and beyond, including serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors for a Jacksonville human services non-profit organization. |