Faculty Research Spotlight

What brought you to the UAB School of Public Health?

A job offer and the chance to work face-to-face with UAB investigators that I'd collaborated for years with while I was at Johns Hopkins.

What is the broad focus of your research?

Obesity; Effects of different diets on metabolism and health; Effects of the use of non-deceptive placebos on cancer-related fatigue.

Where did you receive your training and degrees? 

BA in Psychology from UMASS North Dartmouth; MA in Counseling Psychology from Assumption College; PhD in Social & Experimental Psychology from University of Manchester, UK, Post-Doctoral Training in Obesity Treatment from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and an MA in Science Writing from Johns Hopkins University.

What is the most exciting project you are currently working on?

I've shifted more toward an administrative position in Honors College but we are wrapping up a trial which evaluates the effects of daily self-weighing on weight among older adults with obesity.

What is your favorite self-authored manuscript?

I don't really have any favorite self-authored publications because I love being part of a team. This is my favorite paper: Fontaine KR, Redden D, Wang C, Westfall A, Allison DB. Years of life lost due to obesity. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2003; 289: 187-193.

What professional accomplishment are you most proud of so far in your career?

I've managed to stay in academia for nearly 35 years, including 10 years as a department chair, and still look young and vibrant.

What is the coolest training or program you've been a part of, or your favorite conference you've attended?

It hasn't happened yet, but I will be speaking at the Cold Plunge Research Institute (CPRI) Symposium in June.

What kind of research would you like to be doing that you haven't yet had the opportunity to do?

I am obsessed with studying the effects of cold plunging (ice baths) on a variety of hard-to-treat conditions, including diabetes, opioid use disorder, and autism. Unfortunately, grant reviewers do not share my passion for testing unorthodox interventions.

If you had the funding to answer any one research question, what would that question be?

Can brief, daily sessions of cold plunging cure type 2 diabetes?

If you weren't in academia, what would your career be? 

Apart from academia, I have no marketable skills, so I would probably be a politician.