NEMS Faculty and Staff

Karen Glanz, PhD, MPH

Karen Glanz is a Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) Professor in the schools of Medicine and Nursing and Director of a new Center for Health Behavior Research at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Glanz's current research emphasizes understanding and preventing health risk behaviors related to nutrition and obesity, skin cancer prevention, cancer screening, and tobacco control. She has been continuously funded for the past 15 years with more than $25 million in grants as Principal Investigator. Karen Glanz's scholarly contributions consist of more than 300 journal articles and book chapters. She is senior editor of Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research, and Practice (Jossey-Bass Inc.), a widely used text now in its fourth edition. Dr. Glanz is the 2007 recipient of the Elizabeth Fries Health Education Award from the James and Sarah Fries Foundation.

Dr. Glanz was formerly a Professor of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education and Epidemiology, Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Research Scholar, and Director of the Emory Prevention Research Center at the Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) at Emory University, where she is currently adjunct faculty. She is a member of the federally appointed Task Force on Community Preventive Services and was recognized in 2006 as a Highly Cited Author by ISIHighlyCited.com, in the top 0.5% of authors in her field over a 20-year period. To read more about Dr. Karen Glanz, visit her University of Pennsylvania home page.

Margaret Clawson, MPH

Margaret Clawson is a NEMS Master Trainer and the Project Coordinator for NEMS. She received her Master's degree in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a concentration in Health Behavior and Health Education. Before attending graduate school, Margaret was a Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea, West Africa. Her interests include training, participatory research, minority health and nutrition. Some of her previous work areas include HIV care, HIV prevention, youth empowerment, lay health advisors and Latino health. Margaret works part-time and telecommutes from Georgia. In her spare time, she is out chasing after her three sons.

Erica Davis

Erica Davis is a NEMS Master Trainer and Senior Research Coordinator with the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey (NEMS). In addition to NEMS, Erica coordinates the Built Environment Assessment Training (BEAT) Institute, Neighborhood Influences on Kids (NIK), and the new Center for Health Behavior Research at UPenn. Erica graduated from Emory University in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion with a concentration in Chemistry and a minor in Studio Arts, and is pursuing her Masters degree in Public Health. In her free time, Erica enjoys swimming, running, experimenting in the kitchen, and creating mixed media art.

Collaborators

Brian Saelens, PhD

Dr. Saelens is a health psychologist and Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Seattle's Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center and the University of Washington. Dr. Saelens conducts research in environmental influences on physical activity and eating and on the psycho-social factors that influence individual choice for weight-related behaviors. He is also interested in evaluating and improving behavioral treatment for pediatric overweight. His work has been supported by grant funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, USDA, and the National Institutes of Health.

Jim Sallis, PhD

Dr. Sallis is Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University and Director of Active Living Research, a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. His primary research interests are promoting physical activity and understanding policy and environmental influences on physical activity and nutrition. He is the author of over 375 scientific publications, on the editorial boards of several journals, and was identified as one of the world's most cited authors in the social sciences. He served on the editorial committee for the 1996 U.S. Surgeon General's Report, Physical Activity and Health. Dr. Sallis is co-author (with Neville Owen) of Physical Activity and Behavioral Medicine (Sage, 1999). In 2004, Time Magazine identified him as an "obesity warrior".