Faculty Research & Scholarship

Health Services and Prevention Research Lab

Health Services and Prevention Research Lab (HSPR lab) advances interdisciplinary research at the intersection of health policy, population health, and behavioral science. The HSPR lab translates scientific data into actionable insights for policymakers, with an emphasis on using research to inform health care policies that are attuned to the unique needs of their communities. Our mission is to generate evidence that improves health equity, access, and outcomes across diverse and often underserved populations. Our research portfolio integrates epidemiological, policy, and systems-based approaches to examine how social, structural, and clinical factors influence health outcomes and service delivery. Guided by principles of health equity, prevention, and policy translation, our research seeks to inform interventions that bridge clinical care, behavioral health, and public policy. The HSPR Lab is committed to developing actionable insights that strengthen health systems, reduce disparities, and promote population health—locally, nationally, and globally.

Faculty Associated with this lab – Dr. Kavita Mosalpuria

Nano-Technology and Health Lab (NHL)

Dr. Lok R. Pokhrel directs Nano-Technology and Health Lab (NHL). Dr. Pokhrel is an internationally recognized expert in nanotoxicology, chemical risk assessment, and environmental health and safety (EHS). Leveraging his broad skill set, Dr. Pokhrel conducts basic and translational research at the interface of environmental and occupational health, human toxicology and chemical risk assessment, sustainable agrifood production and pollinator health, antimicrobial/multi-drug resistance (AR/MDR), analytical and environmental chemistry, sustainable nano-based product development, water quality, quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR), and environmental law and policy. At NHL, current research focuses on developing patentable novel technologies for: (1) Pest (Varroa mites, small hive beetles) and pathogen (virus, bacteria and fungi) control in honeybee colonies; (2) mosquito vector control; (3) treatment against recurrent/chronic bacterial infections in chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD); and (4) agrifood production and food safety. His research has led to multiple patent applications. He routinely mentors doctoral, master’s, and undergraduate/honors students in both the lab and field works.

Faculty Associated with this lab – Dr. Lok R. Pokhrel
Research Specialist: Dr. Jonathan Berkuta

Aerosol Research Lab

Dr. Sinan Sousan’s Aerosol Research Lab focuses on airborne exposures (aerosols and toxic gases) and their health effects. His specific expertise is related to exposure measurements and the potential health effects, based on the quantitative analysis of the collected data. His current active projects include personal exposure assessment using low-cost sensors, respiratory protection and respirator efficiency testing, quantifying secondhand electronic cigarette exposure, and detecting airborne pathogens inside residential halls and occupational sites. His interests extend to physical hazards, including extreme temperatures, UV exposure, and noise. Dr. Sousan has been an educator for over twenty years, teaching higher education levels and serving as a mentor for current and future generations of professionals. His current teaching and mentoring objectives are to educate students in public health and promote the health, safety, and well-being of workers.

Faculty Associated with this lab – Dr. Sinan Sousan
Research Specialist: Dr. Jonathan Berkuta

Dr. Aaron Kipp’s research interests are broadly in the social and behavioral factors that affect access, retention, and adherence to care for various marginalized populations, including people with HIV and tuberculosis. His work has included measurement of HIV stigma and its role as a barrier to retention in care and treatment adherence; measurement of TB stigma and its role as a barrier to retention in care and treatment adherence; and trying to ascertain the impact of marijuana use, including motivation for use, on retention in care for people living with HIV. More recently, he has been involved in a Pitt County community-based study of COVID-19 prevention and testing.

Dr. Doyle “Skip” Cummings has been actively involved in primary care research for a number of years with a particular interest in obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and stroke research as well as the role of telehealth applications. Dr. Cummings has authored or co-authored 170 publications and 300 regional, national or international presentations, and has received grant funding from federal and state governments as well as foundations. He serves on the Steering Committee for the NC Rural Health Association, is a member of the NC Institute of Medicine, and is a founding member of Pitt Partners for Health, a community health improvement initiative.

Dr. James Clifford’s research interests broadly revolve around the genetic and environmental influences that impact substance use and mental health. He has experience utilizing twin methodology and genome-wide association techniques. He is currently participating in an international consortium investigating specific genetic variants and aggregate genetic influences on electronic cigarette use. Dr. Clifford is also interested in the interplay between genetics and the environment (gene by environment interaction) and how environmental manipulation may influence genetic effects. How individuals switch tobacco use between products (e.g., cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and dual use) and forms (e.g., burned versus aerosolized tobacco) are areas of environmental research interest. Finally, Dr. Clifford is interested in developing novel ways of probing the genome and quantifying genetic risk beyond currently available methodologies.

Dr. Greg Kearney’s research advances environmental and occupational health through the interdisciplinary integration of applied epidemiology, geospatial science, data analytics, and translational research. With more than 30 years of leadership across local, state, and federal public health agencies and academia, he bridges frontline public health practice with scientific innovation to develop meaningful, evidence-driven strategies grounded in surveillance-based environmental and community health metrics. His work consistently informs clinicians, public health leaders, and policymakers to strengthen prevention and reduce health disparities.

Dr. Suzanne Lea’s research interests include the influence of environmental factors on cancer risk, health disparities, and the use of technology to improve public health. She has conducted research in eastern North Carolina focusing on hurricane response and recovery [PMID: 30969271; 32900893; 40070278]. Currently, she is contributing to a study of PFAS exposure in North Carolina led by North Carolina State University.

Dr. Huabin Luo’s research focuses on public health systems and disparities in access to preventive diabetes care and dental services. He also conducts research on immigrant health and diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES). His recent work includes NIH/NIDCR-funded research examining dental service utilization in rural communities and NIH/NIA-funded studies investigating the association between poor oral health and Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Dr. Luo actively collaborates with the ECU School of Dental Medicine on several HRSA-funded projects aimed at training dental residents to provide care for individuals with disabilities.

Dr. Kristina Simeonsson’s areas of interest include vaccine-preventable diseases, preparedness and the epidemiology of infectious diseases. She has worked closely with colleagues in the Department of Public Health to incorporate population health principles into the medical student and residency curricula. Prior to joining the faculty at the Brody School of Medicine, Dr. Simeonsson worked as a medical epidemiologist with the NC Department of Health and Human Services from 2003–2007. Her primary responsibilities included surveillance, control, and prevention of communicable diseases as well as pandemic influenza planning. She received her doctorate in medicine from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as her master in science degree in public health. She is board certified in pediatrics.

Dr. Rasmita Basu’s research examines the economics of aging and policy, with a particular interest in long-term care and post-acute care. My research investigates the impacts of Medicare payment policy changes and outcomes of post-acute care and long-term care among older adults, including those with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). The overarching goal of the research is to provide empirical evidence on payment policies and their impact on the health and well-being of older adults, to guide future refinements of those policies, and to avoid unintended consequences for this population.

Dr. Ruth Little’s research is practice oriented including public health workforce leadership development, aging & long-term care leadership, rural health, public health policy, health insurance literacy and substance abuse prevention.

Dr. Stephanie Pitts’ research focuses on examining and addressing nutrition disparities among rural and underserved populations. Dr. Pitts has led studies to examine associations between the food environment (access to healthy vs less healthy foods) and dietary behaviors and weight status. She has also led studies to examine associations between self-reported fruit/vegetable and carotenoid intake, plasma carotenoids, and skin carotenoids. Her group has been among the first to validate an innovative measure of skin carotenoids as a measure of fruit/vegetable and carotenoid intake among diverse participants.

Dr. Qiao Wang leverages her statistical expertise to develop innovative statistical methods and translate them into practical tools that address critical challenges in biomedical research and public health. Her current methodological framework focuses on data integration from diverse sources, comparative effectiveness research, and generalizability of study findings to a broader population, with a particular specialty in Bayesian approaches. Her research is inherently interdisciplinary, and her primary applied fields include mental health, cardiology, cancer surveillance, and pediatric healthcare. Her central goal is to develop evidence-based and actionable solutions that improve both personal healthcare and population health with integrity and rigor.

Dr. Zikun Yang’s research focuses on developing and applying advanced statistical frameworks to investigate complex genetic disease from multi-omics and population-scale data, with particular emphasis on diverse and admixed populations and neurodegenerative disorders. His work integrates Bayesian statistics, genetics, and multi-ancestry genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to identify risk and protective variants across diverse populations, with particular emphasis on Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. By designing and extending models such as CARMA and CARMA-X, he aims to improve causal variant detection and interpretability in admixed populations, addressing disparities in genetic research. He is also interested in Bayesian statistical theory for high-dimensional model selection and its application in genetic studies.

Joint Appointed Faculty

Dr. Eric Bailey leverages his broad research experience in studying chronic diseases including hypertension, overweight & obesity, diabetes, prenatal care, cancer, alternative medicine, HIV/AIDS, and physical fitness. He has published research findings in scholarly journals and lectured for the past 37 years on issues related to medical anthropology, multiethnic health care issues, health disparities, rural health disparities, community health, government public health, and global health programs. His current research project is entitled, “Preserving Public Health Clinics in Eastern North Carolina,” in which he has collaborated with Dr. Greg Kearney to document our historic public health clinics and hospitals using new technology, archived library research, and ethnographic fieldwork in an engaging and interactive platform which recognizes the specific achievements, strategies, and initiatives that worked effectively in varying ENC rural communities in preventing/containing major disease outbreaks along with educating the local residents about basic public health prevention.