Deanna Hoelscher
John P. McGovern Professorship in Health Promotion and Regional Campus Dean
Health Promotion & Behavioral Sciences
512/391-2510
University of Texas Administration Building
1616 Guadalupe, Suite 6.300, Austin, TX 78701
About
Dr. Hoelscher’s research interests focus on teaching children and their families to engage in healthier behaviors to avoid the development of chronic diseases, with an emphasis on low-income, diverse populations. She has received multiple federal and foundation grants, and has over 170 peer-reviewed publications, as well as numerous awards for research and teaching, including the Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award. She is principal investigator of the Texas School Physical Activity and Nutrition (Texas SPAN) survey funded by the Texas Department of State Health Services to monitor the prevalence of obesity and related behaviors in school-aged children in Texas, and the STREETS project, a NIH-funded natural experiment to determine the effects of Safe Routes to School policies on child physical activity. She also directs the Texas Research-to-Policy Collaborative (Texas RPC) project, which seeks to provide data to decision makers at the state and local levels. Dr. Hoelscher was President of the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) from 2012 to 2013 and elected a Fellow of ISBNPA in 2015. She served as a Member-at-Large for The Obesity Society, and has held positions at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Dr. Hoelscher was a member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee on Evaluating Progress of Obesity Prevention Efforts (2013) and a reviewer on several other consensus reports. She is Founding Director of the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, and is the Regional Dean for the Austin campus of the UTHealth School of Public Health. Dr. Hoelscher attended Texas A&M University and received a Bachelor of Science degree in food science and technology. She obtained a Masters of Art in Nutrition and a PhD in biological sciences from The University of Texas at Austin. She is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and is a Licensed Dietitian in Texas.
Center Affiliation
Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living
Research Interests
- Adolescent Health
- Community Health Practice
- Health Education/Behavioral Sciences
- Health Equity
- Maternal and Child Health
- Physical Activity and Nutrition
- Program Evaluation
- Social Determinants of Health