The HHS Research Advisory Committee (RAC) members advise the Associate Dean for Research about a number of matters including the use of resources, research policies, and researcher needs. They also review internal grant applications and serve as the selection committee for HHS Research Excellence Awards. The committee members are:
Stephanie Irby Coard, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Studies
Email: sicoard@uncg.edu
Email: sicoard@uncg.edu
Dr. Coard’s research examines racial, ethnic, and cultural influences on youth development and family functioning and the development and implementation of culturally relevant evidence-based practices targeting African American families and communities. Her clinical training and understanding of socio-cultural factors as they relate to the etiology, treatment and prevention of child mental health problems has informed her work on a number of locally and federally funded studies to pursue research in the development of culturally relevant strategies to assist African American parents to prevent and manage common behavior problems among youth. This research has resulted in the development of an observational measure of racial socialization and a parenting curriculum and written materials.
Lucía Méndez, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Email: limendez@uncg.edu
Email: limendez@uncg.edu
Dr. Méndez’s research focuses on early child language and literacy development in bilingual and culturally diverse preschoolers. Her current research investigates literacy-based approaches to vocabulary instruction for Latino preschoolers and the role of language in promoting school readiness skills, including early math, sciences and literacy.
Sharon Morrison, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Public Health Education
Email: sdmorri2@uncg.edu
Email: sdmorri2@uncg.edu
Dr. Morrison is a community-engaged researcher, advocate, and local community member with interests in how we engage and respect our diverse origins and ways of life. Dr. Morrison is the 2022-2023 HHS Office of Research Faculty Fellow for Community Engaged Research and lends her expertise to the HHS RAC as a community-engaged research scholar, advocate, and ally. She is also a Research Fellow with the Center for New North Carolinians at UNCG.
Lenka Shriver, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition
Email: lhshrive@uncg.edu
Email: lhshrive@uncg.edu
Dr. Shriver’s research is concentrated in the areas of child nutrition/obesity and nutrition & exercise. Her research efforts target a variety of social, behavioral and environmental factors that impact nutrition-related outcomes among children and adolescents. In the area of nutrition & exercise, Dr. Shriver’s research focuses on assessing dietary intakes and eating behaviors of athletes and on improving nutrition knowledge and long-term eating habits of athletes transitioning out of competitive sports.
Amanda Tanner, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Public Health Education
Email: aetanner@uncg.edu
Email: aetanner@uncg.edu
Dr. Tanner is a public health behavioral researcher, interested in health disparities, especially as they relate to sexual and reproductive health outcomes. The central, integrated research areas that drive her public health research agenda include: 1) Infectious Disease Behavioral Science; 2) Promotion of Sexual and Reproductive Health; and 3) Community Engagement.
Laurie Wideman, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Kinesiology
Email: l_widema@uncg.edu
Email: l_widema@uncg.edu
Dr. Wideman’s research focuses on the endocrine system and how it responds to exercise, disease or injury throughout the lifespan. This work includes the response of hormones, adipokines and cytokines to acute and chronic physical activity/exercise and the influence of the endocrine system on other physiological systems. Dr. Wideman is the Safrit-Ennis Distinguished Professor of Kinesiology.