Janice Krieger, PhD, Principal Investigator (PI)
Dr. Krieger is trained as a communication scientist, with expertise in precision messaging. She is currently a Professor of Advertising and Health Outcomes & Biomedical Informatics at the University of Florida (UF). She has published over 70 peer-reviewed articles and collaborates on a number of federally-funded projects. Dr. Krieger is also Director of the STEM Translational Communication Center (STCC), the only center of its kind dedicated to the development and dissemination of theory- and evidenced-based communication intervention.
University of Florida
François Modave, PhD, Co-Investigator
Dr. Modave is an associate professor in the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics and director of the Artificial Intelligence And Decision-Making Lab at the University of Florida. Dr. Modave focuses on the development of methods and tools to improve the management of chronic conditions and cancer control and prevention, and to facilitate shared and informed decision-making. Dr. Modave has been the recipient of awards from the National Center for Advancing Translation Sciences, the National Cancer Institute, the National Science Foundation, and the industry (IBM, Boeing, and NASA).
University of Florida
Folakemi Odedina, PhD, Co-investigator
Dr. Odedina is a professor in the Colleges of Pharmacy and Medicine (Quantitative Health Science (QHS) and Hematology/Oncology); and Associate Director at the Center for Health Equity and Community Engagement Research (CHCR) and Director at CHCR Global Health Equity Initiatives. Dr. Odedina also works at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL. In addition, she is the PI and Program Director for the NCI-funded (P20 award) Florida Minority Cancer Research & Training (MiCaRT) Center. Dr. Odedina is also the PI of the NCI-EGRP supported Prostate Cancer Transatlantic Consortium (CaPTC) and the Research Core Director for the Florida Health Equity Research Institute. Her research program (funded by NIH and Department of Defense) focuses on the predictors of health disparities and cost-effective, community-based behavioral interventions to improve the health of minority populations, especially Black men.
Peter J. Carek, MD, MS, CAQSM, Co-investigator
Dr. Carek has authored/co-authored over 70 articles for peer-reviewed journals as well as numerous chapters, monographs and articles for non-peered reviewed journals and has presented over 100 invited presentations and over 50 submitted presentations during meetings of national and international medical organizations. He is the Chair of the ACGME Review Committee for Family Medicine. Dr. Carek was the recipient of the ACGME Parker J. Palmer “Courage to Teach” Award in 2009 and AAFP Nikitas J. Zervanos Outstanding Program Director Award in 2010. His areas of interest include graduate medical education, quality improvement in patient care and medical education, and sports medicine.
University of Florida
Thomas J. George Jr., MD, FAC, Co-investigator
Dr. George is an associate professor of medicine in the division of hematology & oncology, director of the UF Health Gastrointestinal Oncology Program, director of the Experimental Therapeutics Incubator, and associate director of Clinical Investigation. The clinical and research areas of interest for Dr. George are restricted to gastrointestinal malignancies where he serves as an active principle investigator of pancreatic and colorectal cancer clinical trials through investigator initiated and/or industry supported means with NCI, NRG Oncology (NCI NCTN), the NSABP Foundation and the University of Florida.
University of Florida
Ben Lok, PhD, Co-investigator
Dr. Lok is a professor in the Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering Department at the University of Florida and cofounder of Shadow Health, Inc., an educational software company. His research focuses on virtual humans and mixed reality in the areas of virtual environments, human-computer interaction, and computer graphics. Professor Lok received a UF Term Professorship (2017-2020), the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering Faculty Mentoring Award (2016), a NSF Career Award (2007-2012), and the UF ACM CISE Teacher of the Year Award in 2005-2006.
University of Florida
Eric Laber, PhD, Co-investigator
Dr. Laber currently works at the Department of Statistics, Duke University. His research focuses on statistical methods in non-regular asymptotics, dynamic treatment regimes, and machine learning. Dr. Laber research interests also include data-driven decision making, causal inference, statistical computing, optimization, bootstrap, and empirical processes. His most recent publication is titled, ‘Estimating dynamic treatment regimes in mobile health using V-learning’.
Duke University
Marie Davidian, PhD, Co-investigator
Dr. Davidian is an American biostatistician known for her work in longitudinal data analysis and precision medicine. She is the J. Stuart Hunter Distinguished Professor of Statistics at North Carolina State University. Her interests include statistical methods for estimating optimal treatment regimens from data; methods for analysis of clinical trials and observational studies, including approaches for drawing causal inferences; statistical models and methods for analysis of longitudinal data, especially nonlinear mixed effects models and pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics analysis.
North Carolina State University
Electra Paskett, PhD
Dr. Paskett is a professor and director of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control in the Department of Internal Medicine at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and currently holds the Marion N. Rowley Designated Chair in Cancer Research. She serves as the associate director for Population Sciences and Community Outreach, co-leader of the Cancer Control Program and director of the Diversity Enhancement Program at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC) – James. Dr. Paskett’s research program studying cancer health disparities is nationally recognized and focuses on energy balance and cancer prevention, promoting the use of early-detection exams, improving access to diagnostic and treatment services, and lymphedema prevention.
Ohio State University
Nick Carcioppolo, PhD
Dr. Carcioppolo received his PhD in Health Communication from Purdue University in 2012 and currently is an assistant professor at Miami University. His research focuses on the development and assessment of persuasive messages for health communication campaigns and interventions, with an emphasis on cancer prevention and screening behaviors. Additionally, Dr. Carcioppolo is interested in the persuasive effects of entertainment media on health-related attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. In particular, his research explores how media consumed for the explicit purpose of entertainment can nevertheless result in persuasive outcomes that can affect people’s health. Nick also received the NCA Golden Anniversary Monograph Award (2015).
University of Miami
Glenn Price, BFA, 3D Modeler/Animator
Glenn Price was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He received a BFA in Advertising Design in 1985 from the University of North Texas. He has spent much of his professional life in the computer game industry as a character artist and animator, and has credits on several best-selling games such as Neverwinter Nights II, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. In 2014 he worked with the Virtual Experiences Research Group (VERG) on a virtual grocery store for veterans with PTSD, and several other VERG projects.
Christopher Stokes, Community
Bishop Christopher C. Stokes is the founder of New Beginning Christian Worship Center (NBCWC) in Micanopy, Florida. He is a cancer survivor and has more than twenty (20) years counseling, preaching and teaching, which enables him to reach others with humor, warmth, transparency and strength. Pastor Stokes vision is to advance the Kingdom of God by reaching the brokenhearted and reviving the body of Christ, thus changing the way we do church. His mission is to train and equip the people of God, to build an army of God, and evangelize the city of God.
Rita J. Cianfrocco, Expert
Rita is a Regional Coordinator/Program Manager, for the Florida Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection. The Florida Colorectal Cancer program, originally was organized to mirror the Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program and based out of her office. She receives calls, from patients and physicians, regularly regarding what is available to assist colorectal screenings and treatment, if diagnosed.
Jennifer McKathan, Advocate
Jennifer has been with the American Cancer Society (ACS) for over 8 years, serving in many roles including Community Manager, Unit Executive Director and most recent position as Health Systems Manager, Hospitals. Jennifer provides cancer control consultation and implements evidence based strategies and ACS cancer control programs designed to have broad population impact on reducing cancer incidence and decreasing mortality rates.
Dewey Painter, PhD, Advocate
Dr. Painter is an Elder with the White Bear Village West Florida and former Elder with the Oak Hill Muskogee Creek Tribe as an American Indian. He serves as part of the Board of Advisers for the Mayo Clinic Rochester Spirit of Eagles American Indian Program, Executive Elder for the South East American Indian Council, Inc. recruiting and training Community Health Workers (CHW) to serve in Tribal Villages. He has conducted twelve sole source contracts for the State Boards of Health for Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina health for initiatives among American Indians for cancer, diabetes, and tobacco cessation.
Lisa Shelar, Community
Lisa currently holds a RHIT cerification and her degree is in Health Information Management. She has been active with our Region: Northeast Florida Health Information Management Association (NEFHIMA), as Past President and Treasurer and State level: Florida Health Information Management Association (FHIMA) as State Delegate. Lisa currently volunteers with the North Florida Uninsured Work Group, LLS and North Florida Cancer Collaborative. Lisa has been employed with 21st Century Oncology, which now is Genesis Care, since August 2013 as a Physician Liaison for 9 offices and 14 providers and from August 2010-August 2013 served as their Office Manager overseeing 4 offices.
Sol Wynter, Community
Sol worked as a Community Development Manager for United Health care’s Government Programs division for various regions while providing statewide support . Sol is fluent in the Spanish language and has basic language skills in American Sign Language, French, and Italian. She has a combined 32 years of experience in business, social services and advocacy acquired in the US and in her country of birth, Panama, Republic. Sol also worked as a Florida Medicaid Managed Care bilingual Choice Counselor and is certified in General Industry Occupational Safety & Health and as a Community Health Worker.
Travis Rockey, Advocate
Travis retired in 2013 after 30 years with Evening Post Industries (EPI), a privately held company with holdings in newspaper, television, interactive, marketing services, forestry, real estate and hospice. For the last 20 years Travis served as Executive Vice President, President, and COO. Travis is a cancer survivor who was diagnosed with two different types of cancer. He underwent successful chemo, radiation and surgical treatment. Travis and his bride of 43 years, Gail, split their time between homes in Gainesville, FL and Flat Rock, NC.
Shelly McIntosh, Advocate
Shelly obtained an assistant living license and founded International Tendered Services (ITS) to assist individuals with daily living needs in their own homes or in her facility. Since 2003, she has volunteered with the Mission Harvest America’s warehouse, founded by Dr. Dewey Painter, assisting with inventory of food, water, and clothing to ship to other countries. In 2005, she obtained a school bus driver license and transported children with challenges.
Victoria Cavil, Community
Victoria is a graduate of the University of Florida’s Health Education and Behavior program. Her interest in colorectal cancer developed in early 2018 when a dear friend was diagnosed with this disease. Currently, she works as a clinical service representative in the Pediatric Gastroenterology division at UF Health Shands. Victoria’s interests include community health outreach and shifting the current patient care culture.
Daylin Barroso, Community
Daylin is enrolled in the Health Education and Behavior online program at the University of Florida. For the past 6 years, she has been working as a technician for Animal Care Services at the University of Florida. She has worked in the Animal Biosafety level 2 and 3 facilities and is trained in medical research that uses mice and dogs. She recently transferred to work at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. Daylin aspires to be a clinical researcher because she has seen firsthand the impact that science can have in people’s lives.
Jeri Francoeur, Community
Jeri is a breast cancer survivor, and is committed to cancer research as well as to the patient community. Following her initial diagnosis in 2003, she worked with patients and scientists in all areas of cancer, at the local, state and national levels. Her training and expertise in the medical field and as a Florida Breast Cancer Foundation-Advocacy Chair prepared her to serve as an expert and liaison between the community, patients, healthcare providers, and scientists.
Davina Butler, Community
Davina was a Research Assistant in the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy at Florida State University. She interned with the Florida Department of Health, Office of Legislative Planning. She worked with lobbyist and politicians on House/Senate bills and conducted education sessions for citizens on infant mortality and health disparities. Davina also worked as a Community Health Advocate serving Florida citizens. She currently works as a research coordinator at the STEM Translational Communication Center.
Eric Cooks, PhD
Dr. Eric Cooks is a communication scientist and a postdoctoral fellow whose research strives to answer questions of how technology-mediated communication can be leveraged to deliver culturally appropriate cancer prevention messaging and address cancer health disparities. His research largely takes a social identity and information-processing lens to explore how diverse patient groups engage with virtual interventions design to communicate the importance of cancer screening using virtual clinicians. Dr. Cooks’ current research is supported by a NCI, National Cancer Institute, T32 grant and is focused on informing evidence-based adaptation of the Meet ALEX intervention.
Katie McAlindon, PhD
Dr. McAlindon is a systems researcher, evaluator, and communication designer who specializes in the integration of multi-disciplinary service systems dedicated to complex problems with vulnerable communities. Within these systems, Dr. McAlindon’s research specifically targets the promotion of interdisciplinary coordination to help aid the translation and implementation of innovations by community organizations, and the support of more effective and targeted synthesis and dissemination of organizational outcomes, services, and missions for change throughout the system.
Rashi Ghosh, PhD Student
Rashi Ghosh is a PhD student studying Human-Centered Computing in the Computer and Information Science and Engineering department at the University of Florida. She is a member of Dr. Benjamin Lok’s Virtual Experiences Research Group (VERG) lab, where she works to advance and expand virtual reality and the use of virtual humans in healthcare. Her research interests include what positive roles virtual reality can play in mental health, accessibility of healthcare resources, preventative care, and social health.
Andrew Maxim, PhD Student
Andrew Maxim is a Ph.D. student in Human-Centered Computing with the Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering at the University of Florida. He is a member of the Virtual Experiences Research Group (VERG) lab under Dr. Benjamin Lok where he works to advance the field of virtual humans as a means for informing, training, and educating people. His research interests focus on conveying confidence in virtual humans through paralinguistics.
Emma Bryan, MA Student
Emma Bryan is a Master’s student as part of the STEM Translational Communication Center at the University of Florida. Emma served as an STCC undergraduate research immersion intern. She was a coding validator. Emma has worked with many communication theories and research techniques such as the Communication Accommodation Theory, Critical Incident Theory, and Thematic Analysis. Emma’s appreciation for history shines through her travels. Her most memorable travel location was France which included a moving trip to the D-Day Beaches of the Normandy Invasion.
Xiaobei Chen, Ph.D. Student
Xiaobei Chen is a Ph.D. student at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communication. Her research focuses on ehealth, patient-doctor communication, and communication skills training.
Kyle Duke, PhD Student
Kyle Duke is a PhD student studying statistics at North Carolina State University under Drs. Eric Laber and Marie Davidian. His work combines precision medicine and reinforcement learning to derive decision-making methods which improve medical outcomes. Kyle’s research areas are non-regular asymptotics, causal inference, and reinforcement learning.
Palani Te, PhD Student
Palani Te is a PhD student working with Dr. Janice Krieger and pursuing research focused on interpersonal health communication as well as Arts in Medicine. More specifically, his interests center on how use of art interventions and therapies (poetry/written word, music, visuals, and dance) can work to improve communication quality as well as be forms of communication themselves between patients, providers, and clinicians. He aims to gain experience in intervention designs and implementation within the cancer context.
Alexis Davis, PhD Student
Alexis Davis is a PhD student in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Florida, working as a member of the Speech, Lexicon, and Modeling (SLaM) Lab under Drs. Ratree Wayland and Kevin Tang. Alexis engages in qualitative research about patient choice for Meet ALEX. Her research interests center on African American Language (AAL) sociophonetics.
Melissa Vilaro, PhD, MPH, CPH
Dr. Viaro is a social and behavioral scientist with a Ph.D. in Public Health and Master of Public Health from the University of Florida. She worked as a postdoctoral associate in the STEM Translational Communication Center in the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida. Dr. Vilaro currently integrates her knowledge of nutritional risk factors and health behavior change strategies for cancer prevention.
Danyell Wilson, PhD
Dr. Wilson’s interests are in translational research with an emphasis on health communication and science literacy that will decrease cancer health disparities. Her work to date has primarily focused on three research areas: public health (cancer health disparities and evidence based medicine through the development of systematic reviews), science education (STEM and emerging technology research training programs for underrepresented populations), and basic science (protein assays and electrophysiology).
Gillian Mertens, PhD
Dr. Mertens is an interdisciplinary literacy researcher and educator whose current research explores the practices, dispositions, and skills information-seekers use while navigating complex information landscapes. Specifically, she examines the cognitive cues that users respond to while evaluating unfamiliar sources of high-impact information (e.g., medical websites). Her current research centers user credibility assessment, educational material development, and the role of identity in media and information literacy practices.
Mohan Zalake, PhD
Dr. Mohan Zalake earned his doctorate degree while enrolled in the Human-Centered Computing program at the University of Florida. He worked with Dr. Benjamin Lok as a member of the Virtual Experiences Research Group. His research involves creating interactive virtual human systems to assist healthcare professionals. Mohan has developed several virtual reality experiences. His interests include virtual reality, natural language processing, machine learning, computer graphics and human computer interaction.
Fatemah Tavassoli, PhD
Dr. Tavassoli, a native from Tehran, Iran, earned her PhD in Human Centered Computing (HCC) from the Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering at University of Florida. She was a member of the Virtual Experiences Research Group (VERG) lab at UF where she worked on virtual reality research with Dr. Benjamin Lok. Her research interests are virtual reality for training pediatric doctors and behavioral modeling of toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Aantaki Raisa, PhD
Dr. Aantaki Raisa worked as a research assistant at the STCC. She has conducted research on the influence of culture on cancer screening and prevention behaviors among underserved populations in the United States and around the globe. Currently, Dr. Raisa is working on adapting the virtual human technology (VHT) to increase colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, developed at the University of Florida, for first-generation immigrants from South Asian origins (e.g., Bangladesh, India, Pakistan). Dr. Raisa aims to identify the cultural beliefs and values relevant to CRC and its screening (e.g., fatalistic beliefs about cancer, fear about positive diagnosis, lack of preventive measures pertaining health) for first-generation Bangladeshi Americans.
Miriam Buhr, MS, Research Coordinator
Miriam has worked as a research coordinator, programs manager and workshop facilitator. She conducted health plan quality improvement program evaluations to identify and ensure compliance with state and federal regulations. She has also served as project liaison for a quality improvement team and outside agencies. Miriam is a research coordinator at the STEM Translational Communication Center. She is certified as a physician-patient medical interpreter in Spanish. Miriam has also traveled overseas and lived in France, Cuba, and Iceland.
Taylor Ashley, Postbaccalaureate Research Assistant
Taylor Ashley, a graduate of Bethune-Cookman University, who earned a Bachelor’s of Science in biology. Her research focuses on the use of VH technology to help men understand the differences between prostate and colorectal cancer. As part of her senior thesis, she created her own VH ALEX (Agent Leveraging Empathy for eXams) character. Taylor worked with the STCC team as part of the UF Health Cancer Education Research Post Baccalaureate Program. Her other research focused on the effects that Community Health Workers have on cancer health disparities. Taylor will have a pending publication titled, “The development of a Credible Virtual Clinician (VC) Promoting Colorectal Cancer Screening via Telehealth Applications for and by Black Men: A Qualitative Study.”
Aubrey Marie Mys, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Aubrey Marie Mys was a Fall 2020 to Spring 2022 graduate of the STCC’s undergraduate research immersion internship. As part of her STCC undergraduate research immersion internship, Aubrey worked on a research thesis project that focused on the gender differences in cancer prevention with Dr. Krieger and Dr. Vilaro. Aubrey has expressed great joy to be able to work as part of the STCC research team. She graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Florida. Aubrey was accepted at the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law and is pursuing her law degree with a specialization in health law.
Jacob Pasternack, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Jacob Pasternack was a Spring 2022 graduate of the STCC’s undergraduate research immersion internship. He is from Delray Beach, Florida, and is a third-year student at the University of Florida. He is majoring in public relations and is on a pre-law track. As part of his STCC undergraduate research immersion internship, Jacob will conduct in-clinic recruitment and data collection for the colorectal cancer screening National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant and the National Institute on Aging (NIA) grant focused on promoting clinical trial participation among older adult minorities. He hopes to use his experience as a research assistant at the STCC to further his career in policy, and work in political communication or as a legal policy analyst. Jacob is also an avid hiker and traveler with visits to 43 of the 50 states in the US.
Tracy Lin, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Tracy Lin was a Fall 2019 graduate of the STCC’s undergraduate research immersion internship. As part of the internship at the STCC center, she was involved with research in colorectal cancer and translational communication. She stated that the STCC equipped her with the skills and knowledge to use in the healthcare marketing world. Tracy is currently working as part of an internship in healthcare product marketing with Elekta, a global company specialized in precision radiation medicine. She expressed excitement to be able to work as part of a company that will impact the healthcare industry by connecting and empowering physicians and their patients around the world.
Michaela Price, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Michaela was a 2019 UF graduate of the STCC’s undergraduate research immersion internship. She also earned a BA degree in telecommunications media and society at UF. Michaela is currently working in the legal field in Philadelphia while studying for the LSAT and keeping on track with her pre-law goals. During the Summer 2019 semester Michaela worked as an undergraduate research assistant at the STCC and kept working throughout the Fall 2019 semester as a volunteer to assist with the Center related events. Michaela is passionate about helping others and has been on over 6 mission trips in the United States and overseas where she helped build roofs, fix houses, and feed the hungry. Her most memorable trip was to Ponce, Puerto Rico.