Amanda Morgan, Ph.D, MPH joined the UNLV School of Public Health in 2011. She has been teaching full time since then, instructing students in environmental justice, sexuality and sexuality health, and introduction to public health courses. As part of the Social and Behavioral Department at the UNLV School of Public Health, Dr. Morgan is passionate about empowering people to make risk-aware health choices and help prevent the health disparities that we see today across some many Southern Nevada communities. Amanda is a UNLV alumni, receiving her B.S, MPH, and Ph.D all from UNLV.
Jason Flatt
I have experience conducting research with diverse Sexual and Gender Minorities (SGM) or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and another identity (LGBTQIA+) persons living with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) and their caregivers. My research involving SGM older adults and caregivers has helped to enhance understanding of ADRD risk and disparities, long-term care and related healthcare needs, workforce challenges, and potential solutions. I am currently Co-PI (Anderson, Flatt, Wharton; NIA R24AG066599 ) on The RISE (Research Inclusion Supports Equity) Registry. This registry is the first effort to recruit, engage, and retain SGM older adults with ADRD and SGM ADRD caregivers. I am also lead PI of a new 5-year grant to develop more inclusive measures of caregiving for SGM older adults living with ADRD. I am also in the final year of my Career Award (NIA K01AG056669), “The Epidemiology of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias in Sexual and Gender Minority Older Adults: Identifying Risk and Protective Factors.” I also received the 2020 Early-Stage Investigator Award from the NIH Sexual and Gender Minority Research Office for this research. My research research has also been funded by American Federation for Aging Research, the Alzheimer’s Association, and The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
Tim Grigsby
Dr. Tim Grigsby is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Health. He completed his PhD in Preventive Medicine (Health Behavior Research) from the University of Southern California in 2016. His primary research interests are on the health effects of childhood trauma, the conceptualization, measurement, screening, and prevention of substance misuse, and identifying sources of health disparities in Hispanic/Latinx communities. His secondary interests are in the dissemination of novel research and analytic methods in public health research. His work explores the role of family- and community-based trauma exposure as risk factors for substance use, misuse, and related health outcomes in minority populations. Specifically, his work has identified adverse childhood experiences and perceived discrimination as important risk-factors of substance use, violence, and adverse health outcomes in minority populations.
Manoj Sharma
Manoj Sharma, MBBS, Ph.D., MCHES® is a public health physician and educator with a medical degree from the University of Delhi and a doctorate in Preventive Medicine (Public Health) from The Ohio State University. He is also a Master Certified Health Education Specialist certified by the National Commission on Health Education Credentialing. He is currently a tenured Full Professor & Chair of the Social & Behavioral Health Department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in the School of Public Health. He is a prolific researcher and as of June 2023 had published 15 books, over 375 peer-reviewed research articles, and over 500 other publications (h-index 51, i-10 index over 200, and over 13,000 citations) and secured funding for over $10 million. He is ranked in the top one percentile of global scientists from 176 subfields by Elsevier.His research interests are in developing and evaluating theory-based health behavior change interventions, obesity prevention, stress-coping, community-based participatory research/evaluation, and integrative mind-body-spirit interventions.