WVPRC Welcomes New Faculty & Staff

The WVPRC is delighted to welcome new faculty and staff to our team!

Dr. Peter Giacobbi: Giacobbi is the WVPRC’s new Deputy Director. Giacobbi’s research focuses on theory-based interventions to address physical activity and multiple health behaviors. He has expertise in qualitative and quantitative research approaches as well as mHealth. His work involves the use of randomized controlled trials to test multi-behavior interventions targeting diet, exercise and psychosocial stress. Giacobbi has published 57 peer-reviewed journals, and his work is regularly cited by researchers from around the world. Giacobbi will be a critical part of the WVPRC leadership. His responsibilities include strategic planning, faculty engagement, sharing research oversight with the Director, evaluation and social media and marketing.

Dr. Megan Smith: Smith is the WVPRC’s new Leader for Child and Adolescent Health Initiatives. Her work blends education, human development and public health research to support the best possible outcomes for young people. Previously a K-12 teacher, her work often focuses on the school environment as a context for risk and protective factors in the adolescent population. She is a Teaching Scholar for WVU Health Sciences, and she serves on the evaluation team for the SAMHSA/WVDE’s Project AWARE, promoting emotional health and safety in West Virginia public schools. Smith will help the WVPRC increase research efforts and knowledge in child and adolescent health.

Sue Workman: Workman is the new Project Operations Specialist for the Prevention Research Center’s CDC-funded Applied Research Project, Activate!. She has years of experience in project management from working as a Program Coordinator for Choose to Change and more recently as a Research Coordinator and Facilitator for the WVCTSI Community Engagement and Outreach Core’s WV CAIPEC program. She will be working to provide day-to-day oversight for Activate!. Workman has many job duties under this role. One of the main tasks is to work closely with the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department to ensure the implementation of Activate! in elementary schools runs smoothly.

Heather Hazucha has joined the WV Prevention Research Center as a Project Coordinator. Heather will be working on the evaluation contract with the WVBPH's Division of Tobacco Prevention. In this role, Heather will manage the development of evaluation summaries and will provide technical assistance to the WV Division of Tobacco Prevention. Heather earned her MPH from WVU in 2016. Her office is 3829 if you would like to stop in and say hello.