Markham Appointed Chair of the Department Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences
As of March 16th, 2022, Christine Markham, PhD, has officially been appointed as Chair of the Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences at UTHealth School of Public Health. After serving as interim chair since 2019, Dean Eric Boerwinkle, PhD has identified Markham as the most qualified candidate to take on the leadership role.
"Dr. Markham is an invaluable asset to our school and UTHealth, more generally. Through her leadership, I'm confident the Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences will grow and continue to succeed in educating future public health leaders and making important steps to improve the population’s health and promoting health equity for all. I congratulate and applaud Dr. Markham for her hard work and dedication to the UTHealth School of Public Health and look forward to her and the Departments continued success." says Boerwinkle.
With over 30 years of experience in the development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of child and adolescent health promotion interventions, Markham brings to her newest leadership appointment extensive experience in all aspects of promoting and building upon the University’s mission.
“I am delighted to have the opportunity to continue to grow our department and support the outstanding accomplishments of our faculty, students, and staff.” said Markham.
Markham’s research and academic work has focused on child and adolescent health promotion, developing and evaluating multilevel interventions in adolescent sexual health, childhood obesity prevention, and chronic disease management. Her studies have been conducted in multiple urban and rural settings with diverse populations, including Hispanic, African-American, American Indian and Alaska Native, and HIV-positive youth. Much of her research focuses on the use of technology to increase the reach and implementation of evidence-based interventions, including her work with the research initiative “It’s Your Game, Keep It Real”.
She is co-author of the textbook, “Planning Health Promotion Programs: An Intervention Mapping Approach, 4th edition”, and teaches graduate-level courses and workshops in intervention mapping. She received her undergraduate degree in Anthropology from Temple University, a Master’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania, followed by her Ph.D. in Behavioral Sciences from UTHealth School of Public Health.
Markham has also recently been selected to serve on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Health Resources and Services Administration Advisory Committee (CHAC) on HIV, Viral Hepatitis and STD Prevention and Treatment.