Faculty Profiles
Tenured Profiles
Dr. Sudip Bajpeyi
Professor of Kinesiology
J. Edward and Helen M.C. Stern Endowed Professor in Neuroscience
Director of Metabolic, Nutrition, and Exercise Research (MiNER) Laboratory |
Research Interests: The MiNER Lab focuses on investigating the effects of exercise, nutrition, and electrical stimulation-induced muscle contraction for the prevention and treatment of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. The lab conducts clinical trials focused on insulin sensitivity, energy metabolism, and body composition. Additionally, the lab studies the molecular mechanisms underlying lipid metabolism and insulin signaling in both healthy and diseased states.
sbajpeyi@utep.edu
(915) 747-5461
Publications
Faculty Profile
Dr. Jason Boyle
Assoc. Professor and Chair
Department of Kinesiology
Director, Virtual Reality and
Motor Control Laboratory
Research Interests: Motor neuroscience; limb coordination in virtual environments; aging and motor control; effective practice scheduling; human-computer interaction.
jbboyle@utep.edu
(915) 747-7239
Faculty Profile
Dr. Jeannie Concha
Associate Professor of Public Health Sciences
Research Interests: Hispanic disparities in diabetes; mental health and coping; cultural health beliefs; community health.
jeannie@utep.edu
(915) 747-8214
Faculty Profile
Dr. Maria O. Duarte
Professor and Chair
Department of Public Health Sciences
Research Interests: Nutrition and chronic disease prevention in Hispanics; nutrition interventions in gestational diabetes.
moduarte@utep.edu
(915) 747-7252
Faculty Profile
Dr. Craig Field, MPH, PhD
Professor of Psychology
UTEP College of Liberal Arts
Director, Latino Alcohol and Health Disparities Research and Training Center
Research Interests: Motivational interventions to promote health behavior change and improve health outcomes in underserved populations; alcohol use disorders; public health/health psychology; culture and health.
cfield@utep.edu
(915) 747-8539
Faculty Profile
Dr. Bruce Friedman
Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Community-based participatory and action research; culture/ethnicity; health disparities; social systems; transdisciplinary practice; homelessness; substance abuse; management/administration; international issues; spirituality.
bdfriedman@utep.edu
(915) 747-8078
Faculty Profile
Dr. Alvaro Gurovich
Professor and Chair
Department of Physical Therapy and Movement Sciences
Research Interests: Exercise-induced blood flow patterns; cardiovascular pathophysiolgy; clinical applied physiology; cardiac rehabiliation; body composition.
agurovich@utep.edu
(915) 747-7248
Faculty Profile
Dr. Gabriel Ibarra-Mejia
Associate Professor of Public Health Sciences
Research Interests: Environmental and occupational health; ergonomics; industrial hygiene and safety; prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders; community health mapping using GIS; workplace wellness.
gabmejia@utep.edu
(915) 747-7270
Faculty Profile
Dr. Hyejin Jung
Associate Professor of Social Work
Research interests: Community-based practice; disparities in mental health care; mental health literacy and education; measurement and survey development; health and well-being in subsidized housing.
hjung2@utep.edu
(915) 747-5453
Faculty Profile
Dr. Oralia Loza
Associate Professor of Public Health Sciences
Research Interests: Ethnic and gender health disparities; U.S.-Mexico border health; LGBT health; transgender care; HIV, Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and sexually-transmitted infections (STIs); sexual risk behaviors; substance use.
oloza@utep.edu
(915) 747-7232
Faculty Profile
Dr. Mark Lusk
Professor Emeritus of Social Work
Research Interests: Migration; trauma; resilience; refugees; human rights.
mwlusk@utep.edu
(915) 929-4200
Faculty Profile
Dr. Thenral D. Mangadu
Professor of Public Health Sciences
Peter de Wetter Endowed Professor in Health Sciences
Research Interests: Global health disparities (nutrition and physical activity, HIV, HCV, substance abuse, positive youth development, access to health care); program evaluation; nutrition in special populations; family and teen violence prevention and IPV.
tdmangadu@utep.edu
(915) 747-8516
Faculty Profile
Dr. Eva Moya
Professor and Chair
Department of Social Work
Orville Edward Egbert, M.D. Endowed Professor in Health Sciences
Research Interests: U.S.-Mexico border health; homelessness; intimate partner violence; tuberculosis; Photovoice method and HPV.
emmoya@utep.edu
(915) 747-8493
Faculty Profile
Dr. Vannesa Mueller
Associate Professor and Chair
Dept. of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences
Research Interests: Expressive disorders in Autism and Autism-spectrum disorders.
vtmueller@utep.edu
(915) 747-8221
Faculty Profile
Dr. Yok-Fong Paat
Associate Professor of Social Work
Faculty Fellow, Scholarship and Research
Research Interests: Family and community health; health behavior; health disparities; mental health; child well-being; interpersonal violence; intimate partner violence; targeted violence; homelessness; social integration; social justice; altruism; education; migration and immigration; quantitative and qualitative methods.
ypaat@utep.edu
(915) 747-5789
Faculty Profile
Dr. Arunkumar Pennathur
Assoc. Professor, Industrial, Manufacturing and Systems Engineering
UTEP College of Engineering
Research Interests: Work design for community health workers, smart home healthcare, healthcare professional safety and well-being, exoskeletons and sensor-based occupational work design, skills and training, gerontechnology, aging and independent living, usability and user experience, ergonomics and physical work, future of work in AI environments.
apennarthur@utep.edu
Faculty Profile
Dr. Priyadarshini Pennathur
Assoc. Professor, Industrial, Manufacturing and Systems Engineering
UTEP College of Engineering
Research Interests: Healthcare information systems, community and global health, vulnerable population, patient and provider health, safety and well-being, usability and user experience, cognitive work, human factors engineering, future of work and work design in the context of AI, Smart Work and Smart Health.
prpennathur2@utep.edu
Faculty Profile
Dr. Jennifer Salinas
Associate Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Hispanic health disparities, cancer prevention and obesity among Hispanic populations, representation of U.S.-Mexico border population, healthcare access on the U.S.-Mexico border, adaptation of interventions for the Hispanic population.
jsalinas7@utep.edu
(915) 747-7292
Dr. Emre Umucu
Associate Professor of Public Health
Associate Dean for Research and Scholarship
Research Interests: Health, wellbeing, and rehabilitation outcomes among individuals with chronic conditions and disabilities (including veterans); combat exposure and traumatic experiences among veterans; community participation outcomes in individuals with chronic conditions and disabilities (including veterans); interdisciplinary mental health, substance use, and addiction research and policy implications; employment and education outcomes in individuals with chronic conditions and disabilities (including veterans); positive psychology approaches in health, counseling, and psychology; aging and geriatric health outcomes; self-determined, strengths-based, and socially-just health research, health policy, and administration; disability in public health system; rural and frontier health policy and administration.
eumucu@utep.edu
(915) 747-7275
Faculty Profile
Dr. Stacy Wagovich
Associate Professor of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences
Associate Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs
Research Interests: Childhood stuttering; vocabulary measurement; expository discourse; language sample analysis procedures; interactions between language and stuttering in bilingual speakers of English and Spanish.
sawagovich@utep.edu
(915) 747-8226
Faculty Profile
Tenure-Track Faculty
Dr. Taslim Al-Hilal
Assistant Professor of Pharmacy
UTEP School of Pharmacy
Research Interests: Microfluidic devices; disease-on-a-chip models; biomarker detection; cardiopulmonary diseases; cancer angiogenesis; tumor endothelial markers; drug delivery; oral anticoagulation.
taalhilal@utep.edu
(915) 747-8390
Faculty Profile
Dr. Kosaku Aoyagi
Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy and Movement Sciences
Director of Pain Research in Mechanism-Based Physical Therapy (PRIME PT) Laboratory |
Research Interests: Central pain mechanisms in chronic pain conditions such as knee osteoarthritis and chronic low back pain, including risk factors and consequences; targeted clinical assessments based on underlying pain mechanisms; physical therapy pain management targeting central pain mechanisms; clinical epidemiology.
kaoyagi@utep.edu
(915) 747-8215
Faculty Profile
Dr. Jeffrey Eggleston
Assistant Professor of Kinesiology
Director, Stanley E. Fulton Gait Research & Movement Analysis Lab
Research Interests: Biomechanics; clinical gait analyses; lower extremity coordination during walking with a focus on individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder; lower extremity mechanics during jumping and landing activities.
jdeggleston@utep.edu
(915) 747-7208
Faculty Profile
Dr. Gabriel Frietze
Assistant Professor of Pharmacy
UTEP School of Pharmacy
Research Interests: Health communication; risk perception; cancer disparities among Hispanics; vaccine acceptance
gafrietze@utep.edu
(915) 747-8344
Dr. Shashwati Geed
Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy and Movement Sciences
Director, Geed Lab
Research Interests: Stroke, aging, neuroplasticity, upper extremity motor control, neurorehabilitation clinical trials, statistical modeling in rehabilitation trials.
sgeed@utep.edu
(915) 747-7289
Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Jaeho Jang
Assistant Professor of Kinesiology
Research Interests: Chronic ankle instability; joint degeneration (posttraumatic osteoarthritis); lower extremity injury prevention; sports biomechanics; musculoskeletal modeling and simulation
jjang2@utep.edu
Dr. Beatrice Lee
Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences
Research Interests: Identification of malleable risk and protective factors assisting people with disabilities to deal more effectively with stress; identification of protective positive psychology factors and promotion of mental health and well-being in individuals with neurological disorders, such as multiple sclerosis.
ylee6@utep.edu
(915) 747-8503
Dr. Jason Mallonee
Assistant Professor of Social Work
Research interests: Mental health; trauma treatment; help-seeking; treatment engagement; program development and implementation; community-engaged research.
jrmallonee@utep.edu
(915) 747-8588
Faculty Profile
Dr. Ian Mendez
Assistant Professor of Pharmacy
UTEP School of Pharmacy
Research Interests: Addiction; feeding behavior; decision making; motivation; neuropharmacology.
iamendez2@utep.edu
(915) 747-8216
Faculty Profile
Dr. Brandon Merritt
Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy and Movement Sciences
Director, PRIDE Lab
Research Interests: Speech perception; acoustic phonetics; transgender persons; health services for transgender persons; voice.
bmmerritt@utep.edu
(915) 747-7278
Faculty Profile
Dr. Kisuk Min
Assistant Professor of Kinesiology
Director, Muscle Molecular Physiology Lab
Research Interests: Effects of exercise training on chemotherapy-induced muscle dysfunction; identifying the signaling pathways responsible for myopathy in cardiac and skeletal muscle.
kmin@utep.edu
(915) 747-8228
Faculty Profile
Dr. Md Nurunnabi
Assistant Professor of Pharmacy
UTEP School of Pharmacy
Research Interests: Biomaterials; drug delivery; bio-nanomaterials and targeting drug delivery.
mnurunnabi@utep.edu
(915) 747-8335
Faculty Profile
Dr. Gregory Schober
Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences
Research Interests: The consequences of health policy for behavior and health; governance and health in developing countries; health disparities among patients with diabetes in the U.S.-Mexico border region; poverty, food assistance, and health.
gschober@utep.edu
(915) 747-8506
Faculty Profile
Dr. Camila Torriani-Pasin
Associate Professor of Physical Therapy and Movement Sciences
Research Interests: Neurological rehabilitation; stroke rehabilitation, mHealth technologies and TeleHealth; sedentary behavior, physical activity, outcome measures in neurological fields, stroke health disparities.
ctorrianip@utep.edu
(915) 747-8629
Faculty Profile
