I am a Professor of Public Health in the Department of Nutrition and Health Science, located within the College of Health at Ball State University. I earned my doctorate in lifestyle medicine and public health education from Indiana University. My research focuses on the prevention, arrest and reversal of the most common chronic diseases facing Americans today. I have authored and co-authored multiple textbooks on the steps to building healthy habits to enhance the multidimensional components of human health. I am deeply grateful to those who continue to teach me daily: my students.   
 
Most recently, I am privileged to have Maurita Greene and Ava Monroe on my research team. The way in which they embrace learning – by being intellectually curious and inquisitive – provides a feedback loop that helps keep me focused on my research that seeks to produce more meaningful, applicable results that directly benefit human health. The goal of our current research is to translate (move) our discoveries more quickly and efficiently into clinical and community practice.