The John P. McGovern Award Lecture Series
The John P. McGovern Award Lecture Series in Health Promotion was established in 1996 by Dr. McGovern to acknowledge the important role that health promotion programs play in public health to improve health and prevent disease. Dr. McGovern had a long-standing involvement in programs that help individuals and communities to prevent lifestyle-related illnesses and cope with chronic disease and disabilities. His generous gift to The Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research provides an opportunity to recognize distinguished researchers who have made outstanding contributions to the development, implementation and evaluation of health promotion programs.
2024 McGovern Lecture Series
Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH
Shining a Light on the Latino Population to Build Health Equity
November 4, 2024
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
The Annual John P. McGovern Award Lecture Series in Health Promotion is sponsored by the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research. Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH is one of our 2024 recipients of the John P. McGovern Lectureship Award in Health Promotion.
Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH
Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH, an internationally recognized cancer and chronic disease health disparities and health promotion researcher, is chair and professor of Population Health Sciences at UT Health San Antonio, where she also is founding director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research and associate director of cancer outreach and engagement at the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio.
Over the past 30 years, Dr. Ramirez has directed over 100 research programs focused on human and organizational communication to reduce chronic disease and cancer health disparities affecting Latinos and other minority and underserved populations, including cancer risk factors, clinical trial recruitment, patient navigation, tobacco prevention, obesity prevention, and more.
Dr. Ramirez has authored many peer-reviewed articles, is an editorial board member on several prestigious journals, and is frequently invited to speak at scientific meetings. She has been widely recognized for her work to improve Latino health and advance Latinos in medicine, public health, and behavioral sciences across the U.S. Dr. Ramirez is on the San Antonio Mayor’s Fitness Council and former Board President of The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas. Dr. Ramirez is a native of Laredo, Texas. She received her MPH and DrPH degrees from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
A recording of Dr. Ramirez's lecture, Shining a Light on the Latino Population to Build Health Equity, can be viewed online here.
Camara Phyllis Jones, MD, MPH, PhD
Confronting Racism Denial: From Naming Racism to Anti-Racism Action
October 25, 2024
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
The Annual John P. McGovern Award Lecture Series in Health Promotion is sponsored by the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research. Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones is one of our 2024 recipients of the John P. McGovern Lectureship Award in Health Promotion.
Camara Phyllis Jones, MD, MPH, PhD
Camara Phyllis Jones, MD, MPH, PhD is a family physician, epidemiologist, and Past President of the American Public Health Association whose work focuses on naming, measuring, and addressing the impacts of racism on the health and well-being of our nation and the world. Her allegories on "race” and racism illuminate topics that are otherwise difficult for many Americans to understand or discuss: that racism exists, racism is a system, racism saps the strength of the whole society, and we can act to dismantle racism.
Dr. Jones is currently a Commissioner on the three-year O’Neill-Lancet Commission on Racism, Structural Discrimination, and Global Health, as well as an Adjunct Professor at the Rollins School of Public Health, Senior Fellow at the Morehouse School of Medicine, and Visiting Professor at King’s College London. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
2023 McGovern Lecture Series
Grace L. Butler, PhD
I Smiled Before I Cried – Cancer, a Destination or Transition
August 19, 2024
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
The Annual John P. McGovern Award Lecture Series in Health Promotion is sponsored by the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research. The 2024 recipient of the John P. McGovern Community Leader in Health Promotion Lectureship Award is Dr. Grace L. Butler.
Grace L. Butler, PhDDr. Butler is the founder of Hope Through Grace, Inc., a non-profit organization devoted to the prevention of colorectal cancer through awareness raising, education, and linkage to early detection services. As a colorectal cancer survivor herself, Dr. Butler has been a longtime advocate for cancer screening and prevention, particularly among the medically underserved, through education, fundraising, and policy change.
Dr. Butler is a leader and a passionate champion for colorectal cancer prevention in Houston and across the country. She has held faculty appointments at Ohio State University, The University of North Texas, Texas A&M University, and the University of Houston, where she now holds the honor of Professor Emerita. She has served on boards at The Texas Children’s Hospital Cancer Center, the San Jacinto Girl Scout Council Board of Directors, Camp for All - Founding Board of Directors, the American Leadership Forum, Gulf Coast Chapter, and as an advisor to the Director of the National Cancer Institute. She was invited to speak with then President George Bush about the importance of colorectal cancer prevention, and served on the Texas Board of Occupational Therapy Examiners. And these are just a few of her many roles and accomplishments.
A recording of Dr. Butler's lecture, I Smiled Before I Cried – Cancer, a Destination or Transition, can be viewed online here.
2022 McGovern Lecture Series
Sandro Galea, MD, MPH, DRPH
Re-Imagining Prevention, Aspiring To Global Health Equity In A Post-COVID-19 World
May 10, 2023
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
The Annual John P. McGovern Award Lecture Series in Health Promotion is sponsored by the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research. The 2022 Award Recipient is Sandro Galea, MD, MPH, DRPH.
Sandro Galea, MD, MPH, DrPH is Dean and Robert A. Knox Professor at the Boston University School of Public Health.
He has been named an epidemiology innovator by Time, a top voice in healthcare by LinkedIn, and is one of the most cited social scientists in the world. His writing and work are featured regularly in national and global public media. A native of Malta, he has served as a field physician for Doctors Without Borders and has held academic positions at Columbia University, University of Michigan, and the New York Academy of Medicine.
Dr. Galea's lecture, Re-Imagining Prevention, Aspiring To Global Health Equity In A Post-COVID-19 World, can be viewed online here.
2021 McGovern Lecture Series
Laura Damschroder, MPH, MS
Evidence-Based Practices Meet Practice-Based Evidence for Population Health and Well-Being
November 10, 2021
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
The Annual John P. McGovern Award Lecture Series in Health Promotion is sponsored by the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research. The 2021 Award Recipient is Laura Damschroder. This year's lecture, Evidence-based Practices Meet Practice-based Evidence for Population Health and Well-being, will be conducted virtually via Webex.
Laura Damschroder is a Research Investigator with the Veterans Affairs (VA) Ann Arbor Center for Clinical Management Research and project principle investigator with the PrOVE (PeRsonalizing Options through Veteran Engagement) Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI). She is a researcher embedded within the VA’s healthcare system focusing on translating evidence-based practices into routine clinical care. Ms. Damschroder is an international leader in advancing the science of implementation and is lead author of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), one of the most widely cited papers in implementation science.
She has been a visiting scholar at many institutions around the world, has led national workshops, and actively mentors young researchers. She is also a recognized leader in evaluating and implementing lifestyle change and other prevention programs to prevent chronic disease and improve health and well-being.
2020 McGovern Lecture Series
Marc A. Zimmerman, PhD
Translating Theory to Action: A Story of Youth Violence Prevention
November 30, 2020
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
The Annual John P. McGovern Award Lecture Series in Health Promotion is sponsored by the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research. The 2020 Award Recipient is Dr. Marc A. Zimmerman.
Marc A. Zimmerman, Ph.D. is the Marshall H. Becker Collegiate Professor (and former Chair) in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education in the School of Public Health, and a Professor of Psychology and the Combined Program in Education and Psychology all at the University of Michigan. He received his Ph.D. in Psychology from University of Illinois.
Dr. Zimmerman is the Director of the Centers for Disease Control funded Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center (yvpc.sph.umich.edu) and Prevention Research Center (prc.sph.umich.edu). He led the development of Youth Empowerment Solutions program (yes.sph.umich.edu) and public health applications of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) for community improvement. He is Co-Principal Investigator (PI) of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development funded initiative on Firearm Safety among Children and Adolescents (FACTS; childfirearmsafety.org). He is also the Co-PI of the Bureau of Justice Assistance funded National Center for School Safety (nc2s.org).
Dr. Zimmerman is the Editor of Youth & Society and editor emeritus of Health Education & Behavior. He has published over 300 articles and book chapters, and co-edited two books on a wide variety of topics on adolescent development including violence, mental health, substance abuse, evaluation methods, and empowerment. His research focuses on adolescent health and resiliency and the application of empowerment theory.
2019 McGovern Lecture Series
Victor J. Strecher, PhD, MPH
Life on Purpose: How Living for What Matters Most Changes Everything
June 6, 2019
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Fayez S. Sarofim Research Building, Institute of Molecular Medicine Auditorium, 1825 Pressler Street
The Annual John P. McGovern Award Lecture Series in Health Promotion is sponsored by the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research. The 2019 Award Recipient is Dr. Victor Strecher.
See video link here.
Dr. Victor Strecher, PhD, MPH is the 2019 recipient of the Award. Dr. Strecher is a behavioral scientist, professor, author, speaker, and expert on the science of purpose. He is also the founder and CEO of Kumanu (kumanu.com), a company that builds stronger organizations and better lives through greater alignment with purpose. Kumanu fuses advanced machine learning, leading behavior change science, elegant digital experience design, and real-time predictive decision support to create positive change that’s both scalable and enduring.
Dr. Strecher has been at the epicenter of modern behavior change and technology from early in his career. In 1995, Dr. Strecher founded the University of Michigan Center for Health Communications Research (www.chcr.umich.edu) , a pioneering organization in the research of digitally-tailored health communications. In 1998, Victor founded HealthMedia Inc., a digital health coaching company that enhanced the lives of over 50 million individuals and was purchased in 2008 by Johnson & Johnson.
Dr. Strecher’s latest research and books are related to the importance of developing and maintaining a strong purpose in life. His most recent book, Life on Purpose: How Living for What Matters Most Changes Everything (HarperOne), examines the science and philosophy of purpose in life and ways to develop and align with one’s purpose. His previous book, On Purpose: Lessons in Life and Health From the Frog, the Dung Beetle, and Julia (Dungbeetle Press), is written as a graphic novel with a professional comic illustrator. Dr. Strecher’s personal goal is to inspire over a billion people to find greater meaning and connection through purpose.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Science and Math from Michigan State University, an MPH in Health Behavior and Health Education from University of Michigan, and a PhD in Health Behavior and Health Education from University of Michigan.
Esteve Fernández, MD, MPH, PhD
The TackSHS Project: Tackling Secondhand Tobacco Smoke and E-cigarette Emissions: Exposure Assessment, Novel Interventions, Impact on Lung Diseases and Economic Burden in Diverse European Populations
January 23, 2019
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Reuel A. Stallones (RAS) 102A
The Annual John P. McGovern Award Lecture Series in Health Promotion is sponsored by the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research.
Esteve Fernández, MD, MPH, PhD, is the Director of the Department of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention at the Catalan Institute of Oncology, Director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Tobacco Control and Associate Professor of epidemiology and public health at the School of Medicine of the University of Barcelona. His main areas of research include tobacco control, the epidemiology of cancer including other risk factors, and the monitoring of cancer incidence and mortality trends. He has also worked in socioeconomic and gender determinants of health, with focus on cancer and smoking, in methodological issues and the teaching of epidemiologic methods and scientific writing. Dr. Fernández has been Principal or Associate Investigator in more than 40 research projects funded by Spanish and Catalan agencies as well as SANCO, FP7 and H2020 European Union’s programs. He has published more than 300 papers in peer reviewed journals (H-index of 38, Web of Science). Dr. Fernández has provided advice on tobacco control to WHO (EURO region and Geneva HQ) and regional and national governments in Europe. He is member of the Advisory Board of Public Health of the Government of Catalonia. He was the Editor-in-Chief of Gaceta Sanitaria (2004-2010), the Journal of the Spanish Society of Public Health, is a member of the Advisory Board of Tobacco Control and serves as reviewer for several general medicine (The Lancet, BMJ, PLoS Medicine…) and public health journals (AJPH, EHP, IJE, Prev Med, JECH, AJE, N&TR…).
2018 McGovern Lecture Series
Joanne Csete, PhD, MPH
Not Just Junkies: An International Perspective on Health Promotion Challenges in the Face of High Opioid Overdose Mortality
April 9, 2018
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Reuel A. Stallones (RAS) Auditorium
The Annual John P. McGovern Award Lecture Series in Health Promotion is sponsored by the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research. The 2018 Award Recipient is Dr. Joanne Csete.
Dr. Joanne Csete teaches health and human rights at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, where she previously was a full-time associate professor. In addition to teaching, she works part-time for the Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria on a five-year initiative in low-income countries aiming to improve access to HIV and TB services for criminalized persons, including sex workers, LGBT persons, prisoners, and people who use drugs. She worked on HIV and other health programs for more than ten years in Africa, including as program coordinator for the UNICEF regional office in Nairobi. She was the founding director of the HIV Program and Human Rights Watch and the executive director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and was previously on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dr. Csete is a member of the UN Expert Group on HIV and Human Rights and is an associate editor of the journal BMC International Health and Human Rights.
She holds a bachelor's degree from Princeton University, an MPH from Columbia, and a PhD from Cornell University.
ITV connection will be made available for the regional campuses. For additional information, please contact Peggy Tate at 713-500-9606 or [email protected].
Boxed lunch will be provided to the first 100 lecture attendees.
Parking is available at Texas Medical Garage 2.
2017 McGovern Lecture Series
Matthew W. Kreuter, PhD, MPH
Lessons Learned From 25 Years of Health Communication Research to Eliminate Health Disparities
Thursday, March 9, 2017
11:15 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Reuel A. Stallones (RAS) Auditorium
The Annual John P. McGovern Award Lecture Series in Health Promotion is sponsored by the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research. The 2017 Award Recipient is Dr. Matthew W. Kreuter.
Dr. Kreuter is the Kahn Family Professor and Associate Dean for Public Health at the Brown School of Washington University in St. Louis. He is founder of the Health Communication Research Library (HCRL), a leading center nationally that is now in its 22nd year of continuous funding.
Dr. Kreuter's research seeks to identify and apply communication-based strategies to eliminate health disparities. In particular, finding ways to increase the reach and effectiveness of health information to low-income and minority populations, and using information and technology to connect them to needed health services.
Kreuter served for six years on the Institute of Medicine's Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice, and in 2014 was named by Thompson Reuters as one of the most influential scientists in the world, ranking in the top 1 percent in his field based on the number of highly cited papers.
He received his PhD and MPH in health behavior and health education form the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Everyone is invited to come hear Dr. Kreuter speak on "Lessons Learned From 25 Years of Health Communication Research to Eliminate Health Disparities", Thursday, March 9, 2017 at 11:15 a.m. in the RAS Auditorium, 1200 Pressler Street, Houston, TX 77030.
Boxed lunch will be provided to the first 100 lecture attendees.
Parking is available at Texas Medical Garage 2.
2016 McGovern Lecture Series
Brian S. Mittman, PhD
The “State of the Science” of Implementation Science: Challenges, Advances and Opportunities
August 23, 2016
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
UTHealth School of Public Health 102A & B
The Annual John P. McGovern Award Lecture Series in Health Promotion is sponsored by the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research. The 2016 Award Recipient is Dr. Brian S. Mittman.
Brian S. Mittman, PhD is a Senior Research Scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research and Evaluation and a Senior Scientist at the VA Center for Healthcare Innovation, Implementation and Policy, supporting the US Department of Veterans Affairs Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI). He has additional
affiliations at RAND and at UCLA, where he co?leads the UCLA CTSI Implementation and Improvement Science Initiative. Dr. Mittman convened the planning committee that launched the journal Implementation Science and served as co?editor in chief from 2005?2012. He was a member of the IoM Forum on the Science of Quality Improvement and Implementation and chaired the NIH Special Emphasis Panel on Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health in 2007 and 2010.
He directed VA’s Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) from 2002?2004 and currently serves on the Methodology Committee for the Patient?Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), the AAMC Advisory Panel on Research, the AcademyHealth Methods Council and on advisory boards for several additional research programs in implementation science within the US and abroad.
L. Kay Bartholomew Eldredge Student Poster Competition Winners
As part of this year's McGovern Award Lecture Series in Health Promotion, the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research (CHPPR) and the Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences (HPBS) hosted The 2017 L. Kay Bartholomew Eldredge Student Poster Competition. Students from across the six campuses of UTHealth School of Public Health gathered in the lobby outside of the RAS Building auditorium in Houston where the lecture took place. Judges and lecture attendees spoke to the students about their research, and the winners were announced during the lecture.
In first place was Natalia Heredia (Ph.D. student) with her poster titled, "Family social and cultural influences on Mexican-American adolescents' body mass index." In second place was Mariana Arevalo Chavez (Ph.D. student) with her poster titled, "Using a social networks approach to explore the types and sources of social support related to post-traumatic stress disorder after a traumatic experience." In third place was Lizette Rangel (Dr.P.H. student), with her poster titled, "Education for Hispanics about biobanking and clinical trials: A pilot study."
Thanks to all participants, faculty sponsors, judges, visitors, and congratulations to the student poster competition award recipients. View full poster photos here on Flickr.
Student Poster Competition
March 9, 2017
9:45-11:00 a.m.
RAS Auditorium
The Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research and the Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences are hosting the L. Kay Bartholomew Eldredge Student Poster Competition. The poster competition will take place on Thursday, March 9, 2017 in the RAS lobby before the Annual John P. McGovern Award Lecture.
The posters and the students presenting them will be available for visitors from 9:45 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Everyone is encouraged to come view the quality research being conducted by public health students and to meet the people behind the research. It is a tremendous opportunity to support our colleagues and members of the public health community. It is also a wonderful professional development experience for students who wish to see examples of research posters, observe how fellow students present, and practice asking questions in these settings.
Awards will be presented at the John P. McGovern Award Lecture immediately following the competition.
2016 first place recipient Pooja Chaudhary
Recipients of the Annual John P. McGovern Award in Health Promotion
2019 Victor J. Strecher, PhD, MPH
University of Michigan School of Public Health
Life on Purpose: How Living for What Matters Most Changes Everything
2018 Joanne Csete, PhD, MPH
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
Not Just Junkies: An International Perspective on Health Promotion Challenges in the Face of High Opioid Overdose Mortality
2017 Matthew W. Kreuter, PhD, MPH
Brown School of Washington University in St. Louis
Lessons Learned from 25 Years of Health Communication Research to Eliminate Health Disparities
2016 L. Kay Bartholomew Eldredge, EdD, MPH
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth)
Intervention Mapping: Developed in the Real World, Used in the Real World
2015 Marlon "Marley" Lizama
Artist/Poet/Author/Dancer
The Art of Storytelling: Working with At-Risk Youth to Find Their Voice through Writing and Performance Poetry
2015 Abraham W. Wandersman, PhD
University of South Carolina
Bridging Research and Practice: Organization Readiness, Capacity, Motivation, 100 Million Healthier Lives and a Culture of Health
2014 Marilyn Gambrell, BS
Founder and CEO, No More Victims, Inc.
The Ultimate At-Risk Child: Understanding and Working with Children of Incarcerated Parents
2014 Kate Lorig, DrPH
Stanford Patient Education Research Center
Stanford University Medical School
Chronic Disease Self-Management: From Dissertation to Return on Investment
2012 Douglas Kirby, PhD
ETR Associates
Applying Theory and Research to a Public Health Problem: The Success of Sex and STI/HIV Education in Reducing Adolescent Sexual Risk Behavior
2012 Robert S. Gold, PhD, DrPH, FASHA, FAAHB
University of Maryland, College Park
Extending our Reach in Public Health through the Appropriate Application of Technology
2011 Cornelius Baker, BA
Center on AIDS and Community Health
Protest and Progress - How AIDS Has Transformed Health Care in American (and What's Next!)
2011 Meredith Minkler, DrPH, MPH
University of California, Berkeley
Community-Engaged Research: What's the Value Added for Health Promotion Research and Practice?
2010 Maria Jimenez, BA
Community Activist Organizer
Community Action and the Struggle for Human Rights
2009 Russell E. Glasgow, PhD
Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Research
Interactive Media for Diabetes Self-Management: Issues in Maximizing Public Health Impact
2009 Meryl Cohen, MEd, LCSW
Planned Parenthood of Texas
Houston and Southwest
Promoting Adolescent Sexual Health
2008 Raymond W. Hill
Founder of the Prison Show
When Public Health Issues Escape Prison
2008 Gina M. Wingood, ScD, MPH
Emory University
The Dissemination of Evidence-Based HIV Prevention Education to Women: Local and National Approaches
2007 James F. Sallis, PhD
San Diego State University
Trends in the Use of Ecological Models for Public Health Promotion
2006 George A. Kaplan, PhD
University of Michigan
School of Public Health
Do We Know Enough to Improve Population Health?
2005 Martin Fishbein, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
A Reasoned Action Approach to Health Promotion
2004 Albert Bandura,PhD
Stanford University
Health Promotion the Social Cognitive Way
2003 Carlo C. DiClemente, PhD
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Measuring Health Behavior Change: Problems and Promise
2002 Gerjo Kok, PhD
Maastricht University
Making Behavioral Science Theory Practical for Public Health
2001 Noreen M. Clark, PhD
University of Michigan
Achieving Individual and Community Health through School of Public Health Self-Regulation
2000 Brian R. Flay, DPhil
University of Illinois at Chicago
Advances in Adolescent Prevention Theory and Research
1999 Barbara K. Rimer, DrPh
National Cancer Institute
Cancer Control 2001
1998 Cheryl L. Perry, PhD
Project Northland: Community Action to Reduce Adolescent Alcohol Use
1997 Lawrence W. Green, DrPH
University of British Columbia
Building Healthy Sustainable Communities and Social Capital through Participatory Research