2022 New Faculty

Meg Bruening, Professor and Department Head

Nutritional Sciences

Meg Bruening is a public health nutrition researcher and dietitian and head of the Department of Nutritional Sciences. She is an alumnus of the Penn State Nutritional Sciences undergraduate program and returned to the University after a decade of service on the faculty of Arizona State University. She earned her doctorate in nutritional sciences, with a public health nutrition emphasis and epidemiology minor, from the University of Minnesota. Her research program focuses on nutrition equity for underserved and vulnerable youth and families. She develops, implements, and evaluates behavioral interventions to improve eating behaviors and advance health equity for low-income, diverse communities, with a focus on food insecurity and social determinants of health. She is also a leader in the field on college student food insecurity, most recently examining college student food insecurity measurement and the effect of food insecurity on brain function for college students. She is passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion, working to create systems and pathways for underrepresented students’ and faculties’ success.

Joanna Kalina Hodges, Assistant Teaching Professor

Nutritional Sciences

Kalina Hodges is an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences. Her teaching experience encompasses undergraduate nutrition courses and graduate lectures focusing on micronutrient metabolism and the application of mathematical modeling to nutrition research. Dr. Hodges earned her doctoral degree in nutritional sciences from Penn State under the mentorship of Dr. A. Catharine Ross and completed postdoctoral training at Purdue University. Dr. Hodges' current research focuses on the metabolism of micronutrients and phytochemicals in humans, which she studies using model-based compartmental analysis. She serves as the chair of the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) Early Career Mentoring Program, which fosters networking between early career ASN members and established nutrition professionals.

Michael Hunter, Assistant Professor

Human Development and Family Studies

Michael Hunter is an assistant professor of human development and family studies and is affiliated with the Quantitative Developmental Systems Methodology Core (QuantDev). Dr. Hunter earned his doctoral degree in psychology from the University of Oklahoma. He was formerly an assistant professor in the School of Psychology at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and an assistant professor of research at The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) in the Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (CCAN). Dr. Hunter's research interests center on the intersection between human development, mathematical modeling, and statistical computing. His research activities can be summarized into three broad areas: modeling change and dynamical systems, software development, and behavioral applications. The core of his research emphasizes dynamical systems models of human behavior, largely the development of novel methods in this area. While his primary focus has been on methodological advances, the bigger picture is always that these new methods will enable novel applications and the advancement of knowledge about human behavior.

Jeff Kukitz, Assistant Dean for Operations

Dean's Office

Jeff Kukitz joined the college as assistant dean for operations in January. Prior to his appointment, Jeff served as executive director of alumni operations for the Penn State Alumni Association. In addition to his experience as a practitioner in marketing, analytics, and business operations in both higher education and the private sector, Jeff has taught undergraduate courses in marketing, including marketing research and sports marketing. He earned his MBA from Penn State in 2002.

Harold Lee, Assistant Professor

Biobehavioral Health

Harold Lee is an assistant professor of biobehavioral health. He is a behavioral and social health scientist trained in genetics, obtaining his doctoral degree in behavioral and social health sciences from Brown University. Dr. Lee received postdoctoral training in social epidemiology from Harvard University and in genetic epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is interested in using behavioral science for health promotion, particularly among those who are socially and genetically predisposed to bad health.

Elizabeth Losin, Associate Professor

Biobehavioral Health

Elizabeth Losin will be joining the faculty of the Department of Biobehavioral Health in March of 2023 as the Bennett Pierce Associate Professor of Caring and Compassion in Adulthood. She is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and director of the Social and Cultural Neuroscience Lab at the University of Miami. Dr. Losin received her doctoral degree in neuroscience from UCLA in 2012. In her research, she combines her training in anthropology and neuroscience to explore the bidirectional relationship between culture and the brain using multimethod approach that includes behavioral analysis, functional neuroimaging, and psychophysiological measurements. Dr. Losin is also passionate about science communication and mentorship. She and her work have been featured in the popular and scientific press in outlets including The New York Times, STAT, and The American Psychological Association, and her mentorship has recently been recognized with the 2022 Graduate Mentor of the Year Award from the University of Miami Graduate School.

Carol Mills, Assistant Teaching Professor

Health Policy and Administration

Carol Mills is an assistant teaching professor of health policy and administration. She recently earned a doctoral degree in health policy and management at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, following a career in healthcare administration. Dr. Mills, who is a registered nurse, has an extensive background in healthcare administration, assuming leadership positions in multiple health care settings, including both provider and payor environments. Most recently, she worked as CEO at Select Health Network, a physician hospital organization in northern Indiana. Her research interests include healthcare operations, rural health, healthcare delivery systems, and the healthcare workforce.

Yogasudha Veturi, Assistant Professor

Biobehavioral Health and Statistics

Yogasudha Veturi is an assistant professor of biobehavioral health, with a secondary appointment in the the Eberly College of Science Department of Statistics. She holds a doctoral degree in biostatistics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests include integration of multi-omic, neuroimaging, and environmental data with electronic health records to understand the genetic etiology of complex human traits and diseases, pleiotropic relationships among traits and diseases, and putative causal trajectories, particularly in the context of neurodegeneration. Her goals are to address important data science and biological challenges by contributing novel methods and algorithms to the biomedical community that will be a step towards improving cognitive health of patients of advancing age, especially women and communities underrepresented in medicine.

Nicole Webster, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Faculty Affairs

Dean's Office

Professor

Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management

Nicole Webster is the associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and faculty affairs for the college. Dr. Webster joins Health and Human Development after nearly two decades of service as a faculty member in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Science, most recently as professor of youth and international development and director of the Youth Civic Lab in the College of Agricultural Sciences. Her scholarship and teaching incorporate facets of youth development, civic engagement, and equity in public spaces. In addition to her work in formal academic settings, she has designed, facilitated, and evaluated national and international training focused on equity and inclusion in educational spaces. Dr. Webster holds a doctoral degree in agricultural and extension education from Michigan State University.