Overview
I am a researcher and public health specialist with rich work experience in a wide range of public health context, including as an RN in a top-rank hospital in China, as a Health Educator II in the state health department, and as researcher/program evaluator/consultant for local and statewide health programs in the U.S. I am also a Mater Certified Health Education Specialist.
My major research interest lies in chronic disease prevention and management, which involves understanding their social determinants and evaluating the effects of interventions and policies to address these issues. Leveraging my expertise in geospatial analysis, policy evaluation, and mobile health (mHealth) interventions, I have led and collaborated on multiple projects that assess and optimize community-based health services, particularly for diabetes, cancer, and mental health management. Moreover, my engagement with artificial intelligence and predictive modeling in public health has resulted in developing digital decision-support tools for chronic disease management. Additionally, I have supported and led a number of health research programs on various topics, including smoking cessation, obesity prevention, reproductive and sexual health, maternal and child health, and juvenile delinquency prevention. My research has been published in top academic journals, such as American Journal of Health Promotion, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, the European Journal of Obesity, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Journal of Public Health Nutrition, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, and Chinese Journal of Modern Nursing.
I am the initiator of the Community Health Service Lab in the Social Science Division, co-director of the Health Humanities Lab, senior scientist at the Global Health Research Center, and affiliated faculty at the Center for the Study of Contemporary China at DKU. I am an adjunct professor in Public Health school at Wuhan University. Before joining DKU, I was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health at California State University, Los Angeles. I serve as a research mentor to both undergraduate and graduate students, and as committee member for graduate thesis projects. I am also an active member of the American Public Health Association, the Obesity Society, Society of Public Health Education, and National Association of Chronic Disease Directors. I serve as editorial board member and peer reviewer for health journals.
