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AFFILIATES

BECOME A MEMBER

Becoming an affiliate of the HEALTH Center for Addictions Research and Cancer Prevention provides access to resources and a broad network of stakeholders who are interested in understanding, mitigating, and ultimately eliminating health disparities. Our Affiliates are instrumental partners in our interdisciplinary efforts to disseminate innovative and transformative research findings back into the communities we serve. 

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We seek to continue maximizing our collaborative efforts by encouraging University of Houston faculty interested in pursuing research in addictions, cancer, and/or health-equity science to affiliate with our Center. Affiliation provides exclusive benefits and access to resources, services, and support provided by the Research Infrastructure Core, Community Engagement Core, and the Investigator Development Core.

Affiliate membership is based on a competitive application process.

The evaluation of new membership is based on scholarship to date, future scholarly potential, and the applicant’s fit with the goals and research interests of the HEALTH Center for Addictions Research and Cancer Prevention.

Please email the completed application and required components to
healthrcmi@central.uh.edu
Affiliate applications are accepted year round.  

To learn more about our Affiliation program, including membership advantages please watch our informational webinar.

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Susan M. Abughosh, PhD

Associate Professor

College of Pharmacy

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Research Interests:

Medical Adherence, Chronic Disease, Motivational
I
nterviewing-Based Interventions

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Contact

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Chiara Acquati, PhD

Assistant Professor

Graduate College
of Social Work

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Research Interests:

Psychosocial Oncology, Stress and Coping, Close Relationships and Caregiving, Social Determinants of Health/Health Disparities, Intervention Research

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Contact

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Ran An, PhD

Assistant Professor

College of Engineering

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Research Interests:

Sickle Cell Disease

Organ-On-A-Chip Technology Electrochemical Sensing Electrokinetics

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Contact

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Fatin Atrooz, PhD

Post Doctoral Fellow

College of Pharmacy

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Research Interests:

Stress exposure and substance use, Psychological stress and addiction, Early life sleep deprivation, Mental Health,
and Substance Use

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Contact

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Omolola E. Adepoju, PhD, MPH

Assistant Professor

College of Medicine

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Research Interests:

Health Disparities

Technology and Health

Chronic Disease

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Contact

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Venkatesh Balan, PhD

Assistant Professor

Engineering Technology

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Research Interests:

Prostate Cancer, Breast Cancer, and Extracellular Polysaccharides (EPS)

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Contact

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Johanna Bick, PhD

Assistant Professor

College of Liberal Arts
& Social Sciences

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Research Interests: 
Early Life Stress and Neurodevelopment,

Prevention and Intervention,

Health Disparities

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Contact

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Winston Liaw, PhD

Chair & Clinical Professor

College of Medicine

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Research Interests: 
Artificial intelligence, Non-Medical Drivers of Care, Primary Care Delivery

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Contact

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Diana S-L. Chow, PhD

Professor

College of Pharmacy

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Research Interests:

Formulation development, Drug Delivery System, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, Preclinical/Clinical research, Cancer

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Contact

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Kumaraswamy Chitrala, PhD

Assistant Professor

Division of Technology, Cullen College of Engineering​

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Research Interests:

Cancer Biology, Neurological
Disorders, Computational Biology
& Bioinformatics, Aging

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Contact

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Lila Carden, PhD

Assistant Professor

Division of Technology, Cullen College of Engineering

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Research Interests:

Technology and Healthcare, Social Behaviors, Risk Management Framework, Minorities

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Contact

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Sang Kyu Cho, PhD

Assistant Professor

College of Pharmacy

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Research Interests:

Health Outcomes Research, Health Policy, Health Economics, Minority Populations 

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Contact

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Luke Heggeness, PhD   

Post Doctoral Fellow 

College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

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Research Interests:
Emotion Regulation, Substance use and Addictive Behaviors, Transdiagnostic Mental Health Vulnerabilities

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Contact

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Austin De La Cruz, PharmD 

Clinical Assistant Professor

College of Pharmacy

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Research Interests:

Substance Use Disorders,
Mental Health, Psychiatry

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Contact

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Lorra Garey, PhD

Research Assistant Professor

College of Liberal Arts
& Social Sciences

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Research Interests:

Psychopathology, Addiction, Smoking Cessation Treatment, Vulnerable Populations

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Contact

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Renita Horton, PhD

Assistant Professor

College of Biomedical Engineering

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     Research Interests: 

Cardiovascular Disease Models, Microdevices, Environmental Cues and Heart Disease, 

Heart Disease Mechanisms

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Contact

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Ben King, PhD, MPH

Clinical Assistant Professor

College of Medicine

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Research Interests:

Homelessness

Social Determinants of Health

Environmental Epidemiology Cardiovascular Epidemiology

Cerebrovascular Epidemiology

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Contact

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Bin Guo, PhD

Associate Professor

College of Pharmacy

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Research Interests:

Cancer Biology, Cancer Pharmacology, Drug Delivery, Drug Discovery 

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Contact

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Therese A. Kosten, PhD

Professor

Psychology

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Research Interests:

HPA Axis and Stress, Memory and Addiction, Sex Differences,

Epigenetics, Maternal Behavior, and Medication Development

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Contact

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Raj Kumar, PhD

Professor

College of Medicine

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Research Interests:

Steroid Hormone Receptors,
Breast Cancer, and Endocrine-Related Cancers

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Contact

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Zhengwei Li, PhD

Assistant Professor

College of Engineering

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Research Interests:

Bioelectronic Medicine

Biohybrid Robotics

Cancer Biophysics

Biohybrid Engineering

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Contact

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Mary Love, PhD

Assistant Professor

College of Nursing

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Research Interests:

Cardiovascular Disease,

Stroke Resilience,

Race-Related Stress, Psychological/Biological Factors

Social/Cultural Factors

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Contact

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Onyebuchi Ononogbu, PharmD

Assistant Professor

College of Pharmacy

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Research Interests:

Cancer Health Disparities, Cancer Screenings, Medication Adherence,
Quality Improvement of Cancer
Patients' Hospital Stays,
Minority Representation in
Healthcare Professions

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Contact

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Maram Quttina, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow 

Division of Technology, Cullen College of Engineering

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Research Interests:

Cancer Detection, Ovarian Cancer, Therapeutic Response, 3D Micropatterned Platform

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Contact

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Zelma Oyarvide Tuthill, PhD

Assistant Professor

College of Liberal Arts
& Social Sciences

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Research Interests:

Sexual Minority & Race-Related
Stress & Coping, LGBTQIA+
Tobacco Disparities

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Contact

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Pranav J. Parikh, PhD

Associate Professor

College of Liberal Arts
& Social Sciences

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Research Interests:

Sensorimotor Control, Systems Neuroscience, Clinical Device Development

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Contact

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Steven Starks, MD

Assistant Professor

College of Medicine

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Research Interests:

Mental Health Equity, State Mental Health Policy, Substance Use Disorders, Workforce Diversity & Inclusion

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Contact

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Samina Salim, PhD

Associate Professor

College of Pharmacy

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Research Interests:

Neuroscience, Pharmacology, Psychological Stress,

Cancer, and Sleep

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Contact

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Anirban Roy, PhD

Research Assistant Professor

College of Pharmacy

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Research Interests:

Cellular & Muscular Signaling of Skeletal Muscle, Regeneration/Degeneration, Muscle Metabolism

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Contact

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Meghana Trivedi, PharmD, PhD

Associate Professor

College of Pharmacy

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Research Interests:

Translational Research, Clinical
Research, Cancer Prevention,
and Medication Adherence

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Contact

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Steven P. Woods, PhD

Professor

College of Liberal Arts
& Social Sciences

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Research Interests:

Clinical and Cognitive Neuropsychology, HIV
and Aging Health

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Contact

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Emily LaVoy, PhD

Associate Professor

College of Liberal Arts
& Social Sciences

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Research Interests:
Physical Fitness/Exercise
on Immune Dysregulation, Exercise Oncology

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Contact

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Nathan G. Smith, PhD

Professor

College of Education

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Research Interests:
LGBTQ Health Disparities, Sexual Health, Mental Health, Substance Use, Stress Physiology 

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Contact

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Brooke Redmond, PhD

Research Assistant Professor

College of Liberal Arts
& Social Sciences

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Research Interests:
Digital-Based Interventions, Health Disparities,
Health Behaviors, Psychopathology 

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Contact

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Rashim Singh, PhD

Research Assistant Professor

College of Pharmacy

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Research Interests:
Drug-Induced Gut Toxicity, Cancer Chemoprevention, Dietary Polyphenols Intervention 

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Contact

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Elizabeth Jelsma, PhD

Assistant Professor

College of Education

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Research Interests:
Race-Related Stress, Substance Use, Health Disparities, Human Development

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Contact

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Dinler Antunes, PhD

Assistant Professor

College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

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Research Interests:
Computational Biology, Cancer Immunotherapy, Cellular Immunity, Therapy Design

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Contact

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Samaneh Karami, PhD   

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

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Research Interests:
Cancer Biology, Early Detection of Cancer, Drug Discovery, 3D Cancer Models

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Contact

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Elizabeth Coen, PhD

Assistant Professor 

Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts    
School of Theatre & Dance

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Research Interests:
Arts in Health Interventions, Community-Engaged Research, Youth Mental Health, Information Literacy

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Contact

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Dipali Venkataraman Rinker, PhD

Research Assistant Professor

College of Pharmacy

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Research Interests:
High-Risk Addictive Behaviors, Social Mechanisms of Behavior Change, Social Determinants of Health

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Contact

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