New Health and Human Sciences faculty introduced by Mitch Daniels

President Mitch Daniels held a reception for new faculty members on Aug. 13 at the Spurgeon Club in Mackey Arena. The College of Health and Human Sciences welcomes 12 new faculty, profiled below.

The Office of the Provost presented brief profiles of new faculty members at the West Lafayette campus, and a full list of new faculty is available in a downloadable Microsoft Word document. 

Marie Allsopp

Clinical Assistant Professor
Nutrition Science
mallsopp@purdue.edu

From where are you coming? Mississippi State University

Teaching interests: Nutrition and dietetics courses.

Research interests: Food insecurity, faith-based interventions, scholarship of teaching and learning.

Why choose Purdue? Excellent reputation and great fit!

Karen Byrd

Assistant Professor
Hospitality and Tourism Management
ksbyrd@purdue.edu

From where are you coming? Murray State University

Teaching interests: Food service management, procurement, food safety.

Research interests: Consumer nutrition and health in commercial and on-site food service operations.

Why choose Purdue? Purdue University offers a supportive environment to help faculty be successful in teaching and discovery, as well as contribute to the success of the university. I will be able to pursue my research interests, as well as educate future food service professionals at a prestigious university in a highly ranked hospitality program with well-respected faculty.

Kristofer Chang Alexander

Clinical Assistant Professor
Consumer Science
kristofer@purdue.edu

From where are you coming? Purdue University (promotion from continuing lecturer position)

Teaching interests: Apparel design, study abroad, intercultural development.

Research interests: Apparel design, study abroad and intercultural development.

Why choose Purdue? I had really great mentors at Purdue University and so it was a natural fit for me to want to join the faculty here at Purdue! And of course, my husband was a big influence too!

Sarah Eason

Assistant Professor
Human Development and Family Studies
season@purdue.edu

From where are you coming? University of Chicago

Teaching interests: Early child development and education, the social and cultural contexts of development.

Research interests: Early learning in formal and informal settings, parent-child interactions that support children’s early learning in math and other domains.

Why choose Purdue? When I visited for my interview, I was impressed by the supports and resources available for junior faculty, and the opportunities for collaborations both within and beyond the HDFS department. I was also excited about working with both graduate and undergraduate students through teaching and mentorship.

Greg Henderson

Assistant Professor
Nutrition Science
gchender@purdue.edu

From where are you coming? Agilent Technologies

Teaching interests: Macronutrient metabolism, physiology, human health.

Research interests: Lipid metabolism; metabolic responses to diet and exercise.

Why choose Purdue? Excellence in metabolism and health science research at Purdue; very strong environment for performing translational research; many highly impactful scientists in the area of Nutrition Science.

Nasreen Lalani

Assistant Professor
Nursing
nasreensulaiman@gmail.com

From where are you coming? University of Alberta

Teaching interests: Chronic care, community mental health, ethics.

Research interests: Spirituality, family caregiving, end of life care, resilience, mental health.

Why choose Purdue? Purdue is a research-intensive, highly ranked university.

Kelly LeMaire

Clinical Assistant Professor
Psychological Sciences
klemaire@purdue.edu

From where are you coming? Duke University Medical Center

Teaching interests: Cognitive behavioral therapies, evidence-based psychotherapy, multicultural and diversity related topics, prejudice and discrimination, and social and abnormal psychology.

Research interests: Cognitive behavioral therapies, multiculturally conscious care, trauma, prejudice and discrimination, allyship.

Why choose Purdue? I am excited to join the clinical psychology faculty in training clinical scientists, especially with regard to evidence-based and multiculturally conscious treatments.

Kameron Moding

Assistant Professor
Human Development and Family Studies
kmoding@purdue.edu

From where are you coming? University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Teaching interests: Child development, research in child obesity.

Research interests: Development of food preferences and obesity risk in early childhood.

Why choose Purdue? The precedent for interdisciplinary research and cross-departmental collaborations.

Natalia Rodriguez

Assistant Professor
Public Health
rodignm@purdue.edu

From where are you coming? University of Miami

Teaching interests: Global health, health systems, case study methods for analysis of health disparities and interventions.

Research interests: Community-based participatory research (CBPR) methodologies applied to health technology design to address cancer disparities; intersection of biomedical engineering and public health; community health initiatives for the prevention and early detection of women’s cancers.

Why choose Purdue? Exciting timing/opportunity to join brand-new public health department; culture of innovation and interdisciplinarity, opportunities for strong collaborative research with both social scientists and engineers.

Anne Sereno

Professor
Psychological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering
asereno@purdue.edu

From where are you coming? University of Texas McGovern Medical School

Teaching interests: Cognitive and computational neuroscience.

Research interests: Cognitive and computational neuroscience.

Why choose Purdue? New research and translational opportunities.

Anne Sommer

Clinical Assistant Professor
Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
sommera@purdue.edu

From where are you coming? I previously worked for Indiana University Health before becoming part of the Purdue family. 

Teaching interests: My teaching interests include clinical education, advocacy and hearing loss prevention.

Research interests: My current research interests include 1) assessing the need for hearing loss prevention education in agriculture-based organizations and 2) studying misophonia to develop additional evidence-based treatment protocols and management strategies.

Why choose Purdue? I was excited for the opportunity to join the Purdue SLHS faculty. Our AuD and MS-SLP clinical graduate training programs provide rigorous education, outstanding research opportunities, and clinical experiences for our students locally as well as across the nation. Our undergraduate SLHS education prepares students to be successful as they explore a wide variety of career options in speech, language and hearing sciences. The academic and clinical faculty are outstanding. I am thankful to be surrounded by brilliant researchers and highly skilled clinical faculty as we work together to improve communication for our patients. 

Colin William

Clinical Professor
Psychological Sciences
will2188@purdue.edu

From where are you coming? Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana

Teaching interests: Introductory psychology, abnormal psychology, social psychology.

Why choose Purdue? Purdue presents me the opportunity to teach an engaged, high-quality and diverse body of students.