PHS Affiliate Faculty
Laura Marie Armstrong, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychological Science. Research interests: Infant and early childhood development, family processes, readiness to engage in behavioral and physical health interventions, transition to parenthood, health and wellness for parents and children. laura.armstrong@uncc.edu
Bruce Arrigo, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Criminal Justice; Adjunct Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences. Research interests: Mental health, law, and policy; social justice; ethics and community psychology. barrigo@uncc.edu
Erin Basinger, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Studies. Research interests: Stress and coping, Type 2 diabetes, Interpersonal communication, Health communication, Social support. ebasinge@uncc.edu
Elise Berman, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology. Research interests: Child health, corporal discipline, COVID-19, migration, cross-cultural validity of developmental measurements, cross-cultural psychology, Marshallese and Pacific Islanders. eberman@uncc.edu
Allison Burfield, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Sociology. Research interests: Geriatrics, pharmacotherapeutics, mental health across the age spectrum, care outcomes, large datasets. aburfiel@uncc.edu
Candace (Dace) Brown, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences. Research interests: Gerontology, exercise, motivation, diversity representation, inter-multidisciplinary science, and psycho, social, neuro behaviors. cbrow342@uncc.edu
Sam Cacace, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences. Research interests: Military and veteran health, survey methodology, dyadic research methods, measurement invariance, latent variable modeling, structural equation modeling (SEM), item response theory (IRT), and differential item functioning (DIF). scacace@uncc.edu
Alicia Dahl, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences. Research interests: Health behavior change strategies (motivational interviewing, health coaching) technology-based interventions (mobile apps, websites) nutrition and physical activity education and promotion, maternal and child health, mental health, health disparities. adahl3@uncc.edu
Boyd H. Davis, Ph.D., Professor, Department of English. Research interests: Language use in dementia and in TBI; caregiver training; patient-provider communication; technology-based care interventions. bdavis@uncc.edu
Christine Davis, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Communication Studies. Research interests: Health communication, end-of-life communication, communication and disability, healthcare groups and teams, cultural communication, material culture, body politic, health humanities. christine.s.davis@uncc.edu
Andrea Freidus, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology. Research interests: Health disparities among congenital heart patients, food insecurity, volunteer tourism, orphans/orphan care in Malawi. afreidus@uncc.edu
Catherine Fuentes, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Anthropology. Research interests: Medical anthropology and applied anthropology, incarcerated women, domestic violence, trauma. cfuente4@uncc.edu
Janne Gaub, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology. Research interests: Policing, including police use of technology (primarily body-worn cameras), police misconduct, police use of force, specialized police units, and gender and policing (e.g., experiences of policewomen), and qualitative study of police experiences during COVID-19. jgaub@uncc.edu
Virginia Gil-Rivas, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychological Science. Research interests: Trauma, coping, health behavior change, adaptation of interventions. vgilriva@uncc.edu
Laura Gunn, Ph.D., Associate Professor; Director of Health Analytics; Director of Health Analytics and Outcomes Research Academy (HAnORA), Department of Public Health Sciences. Research interests: Applied, interdisciplinary, and collaborative biostatistics, health outcomes research, analysis of big data randomized trials, program evaluation, community-based participatory research with local partnerships, health disparities. laura.gunn@uncc.edu
Yuqi Guo, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, School of Social; School of Data Science. Research interests: Cancer Disparities, Health Technology, and Mental Health. yguo16@uncc.edu
Lorenzo Hopper, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences. Research interests: Fatherhood, men’s health, understanding and addressing health disparities, the experience of a first-generation college student, and health care services utilization. lhopper6@uncc.edu
Kendra Jason, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology. Research interests: Aging and health disparities, work and organizations, race and gender, stratification research. kjason@uncc.edu
Joseph Kangmennaang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Geography and Earth Sciences. Research interests: Immigrant health and wellbeing, Wellbeing of places, Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) prevention and control, food and water insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa. jkangmen@uncc.edu
Ryan Kilmer, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychological Science. Research interests: clinical and community psychology, children and families, factors influencing the development of children at-risk for emotional, behavioral, and/or academic difficulties, evaluation research to guide system change, program refinement, service delivery, and policy. rpkilmer@uncc.edu
Shanti Kulkarni, Ph.D., Associate Professor, School of Social Work. Research interests: Domestic violence theory and services (including dating violence), adolescent childbearing, families in poverty, and women’s health. skulkar@uncc.edu
Jennifer Langhinrichsen-Rohling, Ph.D., (Dr. L-R) Professor, Department of Psychological Sciences and Health Psychology. Research interests: Applying trauma-informed models of healthcare; Prevention/intervention of violent public health behaviors including suicide, intimate partner violence, stalking, and sexual assault. jlanghin@uncc.edu
Othelia Lee, Ph.D., Associate Professor, School of Social Work. Research interests: gerontology, health promotion and cultural diversity. elee50@uncc.edu
Susan McCarter, Ph.D., Associate Professor, School of Social Work. Areas of research: risk and protective factors in adolescence: specifically race/ethnicity and juvenile justice. smccarter@uncc.edu
Alyssa McGonagle, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychological Sciences. Research interests: worker health, stress, well-being, and work ability, workers with chronic health conditions and other disabilities, aging workers, worker safety and injury prevention. amcgonag@uncc.edu
Annelise Mennicke, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, School of Social Work. Research interests: violence prevention, sexual assault, sexual violence, campus sexual assault, incarcerated women, abuse-to-prison pipeline, bystander intervention. amennick@uncc.edu
Erika Montanaro, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychological Science. Research interests: intervention development, adolescents, young adults, technology, sexual health, risk behavior. emontana@uncc.edu
Julian Montoro-Rodriquez, Ph.D., Professor; Director of Gerontology; Department of Sociology. Research interests: family caregiving across the lifespan. jmontoro@uncc.edu
Amy Peterman, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychological Science. Research interests: socioeconomic disparities in health; psychological interventions in primary care; quality of life in chronic illness. ahpeterm@uncc.edu
Nicole Peterson, Ph.D., Department of Anthropology. Research interests: Food systems, disparities, assessment, mixed methods. npeterson@uncc.edu
Crystal Piper, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences. Research interests: Health education & behavior, health planning & evaluation, and research methods, health disparities. cpiper1@uncc.edu
Stephanie Potochnick, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Sociology Department and Public Policy Program. Research interests: Social Demography, Immigrant Children and Families, Population and Migration Policy, Health and Education Policy. spotochn@uncc.edu
Kelly Powers, Ph.D., Associate Professor, School of Nursing. Research interests: Interventions to improve provision of safe and high-quality healthcare, interventions to improve provision of patient- and family- centered care, and educational innovations for nursing and other health professions students (simulation and IPE). kpower15@uncc.edu
Maggie Quinlan, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies. Research interests: health, organizational and performative communication, ethnography, narrative/interpretive/rhetorical/feminist analyses, social justice issues, marginalized populations, women’s reproductive health, social media, medical expertise, motherhood, intersectional feminism, practitioner-patient communication, “sex-selection”, infertility, infant loss, childbirth, breastfeeding, postpartum issues, premature birth, maternal mortality, and developmental milestones. mquinla1@uncc.edu
Monika Sawhney, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences. Research interests: Demographic and health issues with a focus on maternal and child health, nutrition, reproductive health, immunizations, human resources for health sector, and strengthening of health systems; global health. msawhney@uncc.edu
JaneDiane Smith, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Special Education and Child Development. Research interests: developing and testing a prenatal early intervention curriculum for families whose child has a diagnosis eligible for early intervention, early intervention for premature, high-risk, and medically fragile infants and their families, interdisciplinary personnel preparation, collaboration across disciplines (e.g., early intervention, medical). jdianesm@uncc.edu
Lisa Walker, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Sociology. Research interests: small group processes, status, power, influence. lisa.walker@uncc.edu
Lauren Wallace, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences. Research interests: Social determinants of maternal and child health outcomes, public health disaster preparedness, drivers of health disparities. lwalla33@uncc.edu
Sharon Watson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology. Research interests: Applied anthropology, developmental studies, medical anthropology, implementation & dissemination, HIV/AIDS, food insecurity, cultural aspects of health, participatory action research, community health, program planning and evaluation, health policy and management, health systems, work, social mobility, and racism. Watson.S@uncc.edu
Meagan Zarwell Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences. Research interests: Gender and sexual minority health disparities, HIV prevention, social capital, and implementation strategies. mzarwell@uncc.edu