Career Paths & Alumni | Penn State College of Health and Human Development

We train and develop the next leaders in basic, mechanistic, and applied research that addresses fundamental issues in health and prevention throughout the lifespan. BBH Graduate students go on to careers as academic professors, researchers, educators, policy-makers, and interventionists; they work in diverse settings, including academia, research centers, government, health care facilities, and private industry.

The vast majority of BBH graduates choose to stay within academia, and they have been very successful in obtaining high quality postdoctoral positions and faculty positions in a variety of departments according to their research interests, including Psychology, Behavioral Neuroscience, Behavioral Medicine, Health Promotion, Public Health, and Integrative Biology.

Example BBH Alumni

Below are some examples of recent former BBH graduate students!

The majority are leading research and teaching in academic settings; for example:

Dr. Tomorrow Arnold (2018), Assistant Professor, Psychology, The University of Tennessee
Dr. Jeanette Bennett (2010), Associate Professor, Psychological Science
Dr. Elizabeth Beverly (2008), Associate Professor, Behavioral Diabetes, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine
Dr. Jay Bream (1996), Professor, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins
Dr. Dwyane Brandon (2003), Associate Professor, Psychology, North Carolina Central University
Dr. Brea Burger (2014), Assistant Professor, Public Health, Muhlenberg College
Dr. Rachel Ceballos (2005), senior director of community outreach and engagement at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah (the U), associate professor in the department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the U, and a Huntsman Cancer Institute Endowed Chair in Cancer Research
Dr. Sulamunn Coleman (2018), Research Assistant Professor at The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine, The University of Vermont
Dr. Richard O'Connor (2004), Professor of Oncology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
Dr. Lauren Connell Bohlen (2015), Assistant Professor, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University
Dr. Donaldson Conserve (2013), Associate Professor, Department of Prevention and Community Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University
Dr. Melloni Cook (1996), Associate Chair of Research Initiatives, Director of the Center for Applied Psychological Research, and Dunavant Professor, Behavioral Neuroscience, Psychology, University of Memphis
Dr. Nancy Dreschel (2007), Associate Teaching Professor, Small Animal Science, Agricultural Sciences, Penn State University
Dr. Beth Edwards (2007), Assistant Teaching Professor, Biobehavioral Health, Penn State University
Dr. Heather Farmer (2018), Assistant Professor, Education and Human Development, University of Delaware
Dr. José Fernández (1999), Professor and Vice Chair for Education, Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Dr. Michael Grant (2003), Director of Online Education in Psychology, Associate Professor of Instruction and Undergraduate Academic Adviser, College of Arts and Science, Ohio University
Dr. Joseph Gyekis (2011), Associate Teaching Professor of Biobehavioral Health, Penn State University
Dr. Leah Hibel (2009), Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, Human Ecology, UC Davis
Dr. Brittney Hultgren (2017), Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington
Dr. Christine Karshin (2001), Dean, College of Health Professions, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania and Associate Dean and Associate Professor, College of Health and Human Services, Eastern Michigan University
Dr. Michelle Martin (2018), Assistant Professor, Public Health Education, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Dr. Marzieh Majd (2019), Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Miesha Marzell (2011), Associate Professor, Public Health, Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Binghamton University
Dr. Frank Materia (2020), Assistant Professor, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
Dr. Cindy McCrea (2015), Assistant Professor, Psychological Science, Boise State University
Dr. Melissa Mercincavage (2015), Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Kerry Michael (2011), Associate Professor, Psychology, University of Minnesota
Dr. Tracy Nelson (1998), Director, Colorado School of Public Health, Colorado State University
Dr. Titilayo Okoror (2006), Chair and Associate Professor, Africana Studies
Dr. Beth Orsega-Smith (2000), Professor, Behavioral Health & Nutrition, University of Delaware
Dr. Denise Orwig (1998), Professor, Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Dr. Melissa Peckins (2013), Assistant Professor, Psychology, St. John's University
Dr. Andrew Porter (2014), Associate Professor of Clinical, University of Miami
Dr. Lindsey Potter (2018), Research Instructor, Department of Population Health Sciences, Division of Cancer Population Science, University of Utah
Dr. Nichole Scaglione (2015), Assistant Professor, Health Education and Behavior, University of Florida
Dr. Nichole Sell (2019), Assistant Professor of Psychology, Wilkes University
Dr. Danica Slavish (2017), Assistant Professor, Psychology, University of North Texas
Dr. Jerod Stapleton (2010), Professor of Health, Behavior & Society and co-Leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Markey Cancer Center, University of Kentucky
Dr. Michelle Stine (2004), Teaching Professor, Biobehavioral Health, Penn State University
Dr. Andrew Strasser (2002), Research Professor of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Katherine Sauder, (2014) Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Nutrition, University of Colorado
Dr. Amy Thierry (2016), Assistant Professor, Public Health Sciences, Xavier University
Dr. Anne Ray (2011), Assistant Professor, Health Behavior, University of Kentucky
Dr. Constanza Silva Gallardo (2021), Assistant Professor, Universidad Mayor
Dr. Terrie Vasilopoulos (2009), Associate Professor, Anesthesiology, Orthopaedics, and Rehabilitation, University of Florida
Dr. Guy-Lucien Whembolua (2008), Associate Professor, College of Medicine, UC Cincinnati

In addition to working in academia, BBH graduate students work in high level positions at the CDC, UNESCO, and other groups, informing research and policy. For example:

Dr. Darigg Brown (2009), Research Public Health Analyst, RTI International
Dr. Juliet Iwelunmore (2011), Associate Professor, Behavioral Science and Health Education, Saint Louis University
Dr. Ryne Paulose-Ram (2000), Acting Director of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHNES)
Dr. Tirzah Spencer (2003), Scientist Networking and Profileing, Nemours Biomedical Research
Dr. Andrea Stroup (2018), Senior Study Director and Project Core Lead, Westat
Dr. Christine Sweeney (1998), Director, Issues Management, Pinney Associates

Others have worked in industry or in medicine, advancing medical science, pharmaceuticals, and important research initiatives (e.g., the National Human Genome Research Institute). For example:

Dr. Gelareh Alam (2015), Department of Pharmaceutical Science, Northeast Ohio Medical University
Dr. Marc Azar (2000), Chief Executive Officer, Principal Scientist, Behavioral Pharma
Dr. Dusti Jones (2020), Research Scientist, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah
Dr. Sezen Kislal (2015), Research Associate, Massachusetts General Hospital
Dr. Katie Kivlighan (2006), Assistant Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of New Mexico
Dr. Mera Krishnan (2012), Center for Bioscience Research
Dr. Michelle Matzko (2010), Research Fellow in Medicine, Infectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital
Dr. Russell Nye (2019), Clinical Research Program Manager II, Data Science & Biostatistics Unit (DSBU)