Belinda Reininger

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About

Belinda Reininger, DrPH, serves as Brownsville Regional Dean and Professor of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences at UTHealth School of Public Health in Brownsville. She teaches graduate students about individual- and community-level strategies to achieve wellness. She also directs the Rio Grande Valley Summer Science Internship program that places high school students with mentors from UTHealth and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Additionally, she serves as a trustee on the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District's school board. Dr. Reininger is an intervention researcher, focused on Hispanic populations and evidence-based, participatory approaches to improving health. Her research has demonstrated the important role community health workers play in contributing to positive health outcomes. Her award-winning community health work, conducted in collaboration with numerous partners, encompasses policy and environmental changes that focus on promoting healthy eating, physical activity, tobacco-free ordinances, walking and bike trail systems, community gardens, farmers’ markets, and chronic care management programs. Dr. Reininger earned a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Texas at Austin. She received her MPH and DrPH from UTHealth Houston School of Public Health and also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the school before becoming one of the first educators to join the faculty when its Brownsville campus opened in 2001. In 2016, she was the recipient of a Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, the premier teaching award honoring outstanding teachers from across the UT System. Two years later, she was elected to the University of Texas System Kenneth Shine Academy of Health Science Education.

Center Affiliation

• Hispanic Health Research Center
• Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research
• Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living

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Research Interests

• Border Health
• Community Health
• Implementation Science
• Nutrition
• Physical Activity
• Population Health