Dr. Pappadis Appointed Vice Chair, Department of Population Health and Health Disparities

Monique R. Pappadis, PhD, MEd, FACRM, has been appointed as Vice Chair for the Department of Population Health and Health Disparities in the School of Public and Population Health at UTMB. As the Vice Chair, Dr. Pappadis will be responsible for the initial development of the research strategic plan for the Department of Population Health and Health Disparities, facilitate grant writing workshops for faculty development, and build relationships with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to initiate and/or renew contracts and subcontracts.

Dr. Pappadis earned her master's degree in education with a specialization in Health Education and a doctoral degree in social work from the University of Houston. Dr. Pappadis joined UTMB in 2015 as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Rehabilitation Sciences within the School of Health Professions. In 2022, she was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure and moved her primary appointment to the Department of Population Health and Health Disparities. She is also a faculty member within the Center for Violence Prevention. Prior to joining UTMB, Dr. Pappadis worked 12 years at the Brain Injury Research Center at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, TX, where she currently serves as the Director of Dissemination and Cultural Humility.

Her research, funded by the National Institute Aging (NIA), National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), and the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), includes health literacy after traumatic brain injury (TBI), disparities in care and outcomes among older adults with TBI, and improving screening for elder mistreatment among vulnerable, older adults with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias in primary care settings. Dr. Pappadis has been nationally recognized for her professional service, contributions to the medical rehabilitation field, and mentorship of scholars in the US and abroad. She also serves on a number of national committees and working groups, including the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, the Academy of Certified Brain Injury Specialists (ACBIS) of the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA), Pink Concussions, the National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke (NINDS), and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM).

Dr. Pappadis is a Scholar and Leader in Training for the Pilot / Exploratory Studies Core at the UTMB Pepper Center.

Welcome Dr. Pappadis!