Research in the Department of Community and Behavioral Health
We have many research projects that are funded by organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and local and national philanthropic organizations. Our faculty research topics such as American Indian and Alaska Native health, skin cancer prevention, health education, mental health, obesity, maternal and child health, and community development, among others.
Faculty Highlights
Annie Collier, PhD
Associate Professor
Journey in Public Health
When I began my career, my areas of emphasis were psychosocial oncology and psychoneuroimmunology. I then moved to Micronesia in 1995, both for adventure and a career challenge, serving as Director of Psychological Service for the Republic of Palau. The two-year experience was transformative, both personally and professionally. My professional focus changed to that of substance abuse, child abuse, and domestic violence. After leaving Palau and accepting a position at the University of Otago, Christchurch School of Medicine in New Zealand, I developed more expertise in the field of alcohol and drug dependency, program development, capacity building, and community-based participatory research while working extensively with the Māori professional community. My long-term specialty became that of developing mental health and physical wellness programs, especially for communities that had limited or no access to providers or services. This has evolved into a passion for increasing access to healthcare through the use of digital technologies.
Even though I am a clinical psychologist by training, my work has gradually expanded beyond providing individual services and instead focuses on larger-scale community interventions that protect and improve the health of underserved people. I appreciate CBH’s emphasis on community engagement, behavioral health, and wellness. I was excited to work with the mHealth Lab team, as well as the opportunity to work in the area of substance use, specifically as it pertains to high concentration cannabis. The combination of research and practice in the department felt ideal and was completely in line with the type of work I love doing-- and want to continue.
Public Health Research
My main areas of interests include wellness program development and evaluation with Indigenous people and refugees; community-based participatory research; digital health strategies for mental health and substance abuse; leveraging peer support programs; and the use of creativity and positive psychology through social practice art and community engagement. I am currently the PI and co-PI of three NIH and NSF funded studies with American Indian and Alaska Native people: the use of an app to support vaccine uptake, the use of a culturally modified app to support sobriety, and the use of a culturally relevant behavioral mHealth app to support youth resilience in a Southwest Tribal community. For each of these studies, I rely heavily on transformative mixed methodologies and community-based participatory research models to ensure the feasibility, acceptability, and implementation of the technology that is developed. I lead app content and program design, evaluation of user experiences, applications of theoretical models within complex multi-disciplinary teams, and dissemination efforts. Finding ways to increase user engagement and long-term app stickiness is a critical challenge that I continue to explore in my work, as well as how to design mHealth apps that are appealing and useful for people of diverse cultural backgrounds and abilities. I typically use community-based participatory frameworks and come up with practical yet creative solutions that address multiple stakeholders’ needs. My research is driven by an underlying desire to provide social value and impact in the area of health disparities.
Miria Kano, PhD
Associate Professor
Journey in Public Health
I came of age in the 1980s, amid the HIV and AIDS (Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) Epidemic, coming “out” as a lesbian. In 1987, President Reagan made his first public speech about AIDS. I had already lost three friends to the disease, held others awaiting results from poorly understood HIV tests, and buried my cousin, murdered for being gay. I had a street-level understanding of the effects of politics, public health policy, social stigma, homophobia, discrimination, poverty, poor healthcare, and disease misinformation on the health and well-being of people I knew and loved.
After a career as an administrative supervisor at two healthcare clinics, I knew that I needed to do more to help improve the health of those in my community (sexual and gender minorities or SGM) who did not share the privileges that I had. I worked as a public health researcher while completing my doctorate in Anthropology. Public health was a natural fit for me, as my interests were to improve the health and quality of life of people affected by serious illnesses. I found a home in public health, as one of the only scientific disciplines that allows us to unapologetically act as research advocates, a role that is important to me.
I was excited to join the CoSPH and CBH to build a network within the Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) Program, as I have conducted cancer research for more than 10 years. As an inherently disciplinary field, and I was drawn to the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues also interested in CPC. As a result of such collaborations, I am currently working with Drs. Cathy Bradley and Linda Cook on a T32 proposal to the National Cancer Institute, “Intersectional and Multidisciplinary Cancer Prevention and Control Team Science with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, and Sexual and/or Gender Diverse Populations” (IMPACTS). The proposed training program will provide social justice-informed, mentored CPC education and training for pre-doctoral scholars interested in population-focused and community-engaged cancer health disparities research with BIPOC and SGD communities.
Public Health Research
As a medical anthropologist, my program of research is multilevel and translational, identifying gaps in care delivery and inequities experienced by those whose lives are touched by cancer, developing and/or adapting interventions to address gaps, and then translating evidence-informed or evidence-based interventions into medical and cancer survivorship care. To this end, I recently submitted an R01 proposal with site partners from The MD Anderson Cancer Center, the University of Alabama, Birmingham, New York University, and The Fred Hutchinson Cancer. Our aims are to: improve QoL for SGM cancer survivors; increase support for caregivers; and enhance culturally responsive SGM cancer survivorship care. The immediate goal is to conduct a multiple methods study at five National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers to catalyze intervention planning and to identify and match interventions to priority SGM cancer survivorship needs and intervention contexts.
Susan Moore, PhD
Associate Research Professor
Journey in Public Health
When I decided I was interested in working in a health-related field, Public Health offered the chance to do things that help people at a scale beyond the individual. Even small changes in public health can have a great impact! I came to CoSPH and CBH from Denver Health, drawn by a combination of the opportunity to focus on research that interested me and the chance to do so in a welcoming environment with colleagues who shared a passion for community focused work.
Public Health Research
My research focuses on utilizing mobile and digital health technologies to deliver well designed, effective solutions in patient-centered care, aiming to promote health behavior change and enhance health outcomes. Examples of digital health technologies that I work with are mobile applications, wearable devices, and clinically focused algorithms that support better clinical decision making. Several of my projects involve academic-industry collaboration, which includes an emphasis on rapid methods and innovative solutions.
Jan Lowery, PhD
Clinical Professor
Journey in Public Health
I discovered public health as an undergraduate student at Long Beach State University after I had changed my major a few times and attended 4 other colleges (it took me 6 years to graduate). One of my professors had worked for the World Health Organization and after taking his course, I knew I wanted to work in public health. I went to UCLA to pursue my MPH and was originally interested in environmental health. I ended up taking an elective class on cancer epidemiology. I was hooked, and I took a job at a cancer registry where I solidified by passion for cancer data and research. Interestingly, my professor at UCLA ended up being a colleague and co-investigator on a project that I directed here at CSPH and the Cancer Center for many years.
I started working at the University in the Department of Preventive Medicine and the Cancer Center as a PRA before we had a school of public health. I was lucky enough to be here, finishing up my PhD, when CSPH officially opened, and was invited to join the faculty in Epidemiology where I stayed for 8 years. I joined CBH after leaving CSPH for a few years to work in a large healthcare system. The mission of CBH aligns well with my concurrent position within the Cancer Center in the Office of Community Outreach and Engagement to educate and engage communities across Colorado in implementing cancer prevention strategies to reduce cancer risk and disparities. I am having a lot of fun attending community events to talk with folks about cancer, risk factors, and prevention – it is so rewarding!
Public Health Research
My research has focused on cancer prevention and control, and testing interventions to increase screening among persons at increased risk for cancer due to their family history or genetic make-up. I also consider myself to be a public health practitioner, as much of my work has involved implementing and evaluating evidence-based strategies such as family history collection and genetic screening, in primary care, healthcare systems, and public health.