Health, Wellness & Society Research Network

Bibek Thapa is a strategic public health leader from Nepal with over 18 years of experience managing large-scale community health operations and infectious disease interventions. He holds a Master of Public Health from Tribhuvan University and advanced credentials from the University of Washington and the British HIV Association. Currently serving as President of the Safe Future Society, Bibek has extensive leadership experience guiding policy execution, cross-functional teams, and international stakeholder collaborations. His expertise spans clinical research management, monitoring and evaluation, and harm reduction programs. He is fluent in English and French.

Dr. Mary Lusk is an Assistant Professor of soil and water quality at the University of Florida Gulf Coast Research and Education Center. She studies the flux and transformations of nutrients (nitrogen, carbon, phosphorus) in the soils and waters of human-impacted landscapes, such as streams affected by urbanization and/or agricultural inputs; urban and turfgrass soils; and stormwater ponds or wetlands receiving urban and agricultural runoff. Other areas of focus include onsite wastewater treatment systems (septic systems) and reclaimed water use for urban and agricultural users. She has a 70/30 Research/Extension appointment, and her Extension work focuses on strategies for reducing nutrient loads in stormwater runoff and best practices for onsite wastewater treatment in sensitive watersheds such as coastal areas and karst landscapes.

Androniki Papathanasi is a PhD Researcher at the Institute for Energy Systems at the University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on fuel poverty, domestic energy demand, and energy efficiency, with particular emphasis on equitable heating decarbonisation and climate resilience. Her work combines engineering, socio-economic analysis, and policy perspectives to investigate how vulnerable households experience energy transitions and extreme weather events. She is involved in interdisciplinary research projects examining thermal vulnerability, behavioural adaptation, and just energy transitions in Scotland and internationally. Her broader research interests include energy poverty mitigation, energy justice, sustainable transitions, retrofit governance, and climate-responsive energy policy.

Christina Collins, Ed.D., is the founder and franchisor of NeverStopMoving365, a national youth kids personal training franchise dedicated to helping children develop confidence through movement. She is a boy mom of two, firefighter wife, vegetarian, ultra-endurance athlete, keynote speaker, and educator. Christina earned her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Manhattanville University and holds a Master of Sports Science degree from the United States Sports Academy. She serves as a professor in the MAT Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy program at Manhattanville University, is an ACE-certified group fitness instructor, and RRCA running coach, and serves on the board of The Race Collective Inc., a 501(c)(3) that organizes youth-only races to promote lifelong physical activity.

Aisha Bhimla is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences and Center for Asian Health at Temple University's Lewis Katz School of Medicine. With training in kinesiology, public health, and epidemiology, she is a health disparities researcher with a focus on studying cancer and chronic disease outcomes among underserved populations. Her work integrates behavioral frameworks and community-based participatory research to develop culturally tailored interventions promoting physical activity and chronic disease prevention in Asian American communities. She has particular expertise in how neighborhood and built environment characteristics influence physical activity behaviors and applies multilevel modeling approaches to capture contextually relevant determinants of health disparities.

Shruti Sharma is a PhD scholar in Psychology at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India. Her research focuses on conspiracy beliefs, intergroup relations, social identity, and leadership processes, with particular attention to Islamophobic conspiracy theories in India. She is a recipient of the Emerging Psychologist Award by IUPsyS (International Union of Psychological Science). Her work integrates mixed methods and interdisciplinary perspectives to examine how perceived inequality, social media use, and personality factors shape conspiracy thinking and intergroup outcomes. Beyond academia, she is committed to producing research that informs policy, promotes social cohesion, and advances psychologically grounded interventions for reducing prejudice and misinformation.

María Camacho García graduated in 2023 with a Double Degree in Sociology and Social Work from Pablo de Olavide University (UPO). She then continued her studies at the same institution, completing a Master’s Degree in Methodology Applied to Public Policy, while also collaborating as a research assistant at the Faculty of Social Sciences Laboratory during the 2023–2024 academic year.

Since July 2024, she has been working as Teaching and Research Staff (PDI) at the University of Cádiz (UCA), where she has begun her PhD in Social Sciences. She is currently part of the CS2 DataLab team at INDESS, participating as a researcher in their projects.

Mikayla Blackson is a Master of Public Health candidate at Columbia University, concentrating in Health Policy and Management with a certificate in Sexuality, Sexual and Reproductive Health. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Hampton University. Her academic and professional interests focus on health equity, reproductive justice, and the structural drivers of health disparities. Mikayla’s professional experience spans program development, legislative advocacy, and community engagement through roles with REPRO Rising Virginia, NextGen America, and the High School Voter Project. She currently serves as a Peer Sexual Health Advocate with Columbia Health and is a Mama Glow doula trainee, integrating policy analysis with community-centered care perspectives.

Mahsa Pashaeimeykola is a PhD student in Public Health (Social and Behavioral Health) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her work focuses on health behavior and preventive interventions, with experience in research design, data collection, and academic collaboration. She has contributed to cross-sectional and theory-based studies and has experience working in clinical and academic settings. Her interests include behavioral health, population health, and evidence-based interventions to improve health outcomes.

Rupam Mitra is a PhD researcher in Public Health at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, specializing in theory-driven behavioral health interventions and nutrition equity among vulnerable populations. He earned his Master of Science in Nutrition and Food Science from the University of Dhaka. He has extensive field experience in implementing and supervising community-based nutrition programs. His research focus on developing Multi-Theory Model (MTM)–based and AI-driven interventions to reduce recreational screen time among college students and addresses nutritional disparities in low- and middle-income countries. Rupam is Principal Investigator on a funded gambling behavior study, has published in international journals, presented at APHA, SOPHE, and NPHA, and serves as a Graduate Teaching Assistant.

Dr. Lindsay Luinstra, DAT, MS, LAT, ATC, is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of Clinical Education in the Master of Science in Athletic Training (MSAT) program at Wichita State University. She oversees clinical education, coordinates student placements, and contributes to curriculum development aligned with the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) standards. Her research focuses on exertional heat illness, psychological responses to injury, and evidence-based practice in athletic training, with an emphasis on improving patient care and preparing future clinicians.

Maria Alejandra Rivas Carrero holds a degree in Philosophy from the University of Oviedo (2023) and a Master’s degree in Science, Technology and Innovation Studies from the University of Oviedo, the University of Salamanca and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (2024). From 2023 to 2024, she enjoyed a Collaboration Scholarship, thanks to Spain’s Ministry of Education and Vocational Training. During this academic year, she worked with the University’s STS Research Group and its Engineering and Philosophy Group in various activities and projects related to science culture, technological risk communication and bioethics. Since September 2024, she is a PhD candidate and ”la Caixa” INPhINIT fellow at the University of Salamanca. Her PhD research project is titled “Patient Engagement and Risk Management in the Field of Mental Health”

Refat Rasul is a public health practitioner and Social and Behavioral Health PhD candidate at UNLV. Combining clinical and population health expertise, he holds an MBBS from Bangladesh and an MPH from New Mexico State University. His research targets health disparities in marginalized populations through evidence-based interventions. Refat contributes to federally funded quantitative and mixed-methods research, program evaluation, and peer reviews for academic journals. A UNLV Graduate Ambassador and member of APHA and SOPHE, he belongs to the Phi Kappa Phi and Delta Omega honor societies. His background as a physician and charitable worker drives his global health equity dedication