University of Oregon Hires Four Women for a Faculty Group on Obesity

The University of Oregon has hired four women that will make up a new cluster faculty group in health promotion and obesity promotion. The four women will begin teaching at the university this coming fall. Beth Stormshak, director of the university’s Prevention Science Institute, stated that “we’ve recruited four amazing and talented scholars whose research interests are related. All of their research is synergistic with what we’re doing here in the College of Education and campuswide.”

The Health Promotion and Obesity Prevention Initiative, Stormshak said, will address obesity rates in the United States, where 35 percent of adults and one-third of all children are considered to be overweight or obese. The cluster will integrate new expertise with existing research in related disciplines and build on longstanding the university’s strengths in prevention science and biological systems.

The new hires are:

Nicole Giuliani is a research associate in the university’s department of psychology. She holds a Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University.

Elizabeth L. Budd is completing a doctoral degree in public health at Washington University in St. Louis. She is a graduate of Santa Clara University, where she double majored in Spanish and sociology.

Tasia M. Smith is completing doctoral work in counseling psychology at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on the connections of motivation and community-based partnerships with the engagement of culturally diverse families in improving health behaviors.

Nichole R. Kelly, currently a postdoctoral researcher in a joint position at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and the National Institutes of Health. She holds a doctorate from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.

Nicole Giuliani	Elizabeth Budd	Tasia Smith	Nichole Kelly