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Affiliated faculty
NAU Center for Health Equity Research
CHER has many affiliated faculty members that are dedicated to providing top-notch education for NAU students.
Julie S. Armin, PhD
Assistant Professor, Family and Community Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine Assistant Professor of Practice, Health Promotion Sciences, University of Arizona College of Medicine Director, Health Disparities Curriculum, University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson
Intersectionality and health, cancer disparities, access to cancer care for historically marginalized populations, community-based research, participatory action research, implementation research
Amy Armstrong-Heimsoth, OTD, OTR/L
Assistant Clinical Professor, Occupational Therapy
Clinical pediatrics, neonatal intensive care, home health and school-based practice, neurodevelopmental disabilities, infant motor and sensory development
Steven Barger, PhD
Professor, Psychological Sciences
Social relationships and health, health disparities, social connections.
Samantha Callahan, DDS
Assistant Clinical Professor, Dental Hygiene
Dawn Clifford, PhD, RD
Director of the Master of Public Health program Associate Professor, Health Sciences
Motivational interviewing, non-dietary approaches to health and wellness, Behavior Change Counseling; Dietetics Education
Eck Doerry, PhD
Professor, School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems
Research informatics, mobile and cloud computing, groupware systems, data-driven portals, international engineering education, interdisciplinary design
Emery Eaves, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology
Chronic pain and drug use, health of people who are incarcerated, maternal drug use, medication-assisted treatment
Kristan Elwell, PhD, MPH
Assistant Clinical Professor, Health Sciences
Health equity, maternal and child health, gender inequities and HIV/AIDS, social determinants of health and barriers to care
Jani Ingram, PhD
Regents’ Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Lead PI, Partnership for Native American Cancer Prevention (NAU)
Program PI, Bridges to Baccalaureate Program
Environmental contaminants and health; chronic uranium exposure and cancer risk to the Navajo.
Amit Kumar, PhD
Assistant Professor, Physical Therapy
Health care disparities in patients with multimorbidities, with particular emphasis on patient status, socioeconomic status, and provider level factors on patients’ health outcomes

Nanette Virginia Lopez, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Health Sciences
Assistant Professor, School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems
George Pro, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Heather Thomas, RDH, MEd
Assistant Clinical Professor, Dental Hygiene
Interdisciplinary Health/Education/Collaboration, General and Oral Health Equity, Creative Interventions to Address inequity, Community-based research/intervention design, Systemic Health Disparities, Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health
Robert T. Trotter, II, PhD
Regents’ Professor, Anthropology
Medical anthropology, alcohol and drug addiction, corporate anthropology