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Faculty Spotlights October 2020

Dr. Kathy Hosig and Dr. Sophie Wenzel

 Center for Public Health Practice and Research

For the past several years, VTIPG has been partnering closely on several research projects with the Center for Public Health Practice and Research (CPHPR). CPHPR is housed in the Department of Population Health Sciences, in the College of Veterinary Medicine and is supported by the Institute for Society, Culture and Environment at Virginia Tech.   CPHPR’s mission is to foster interdisciplinary, collaborative public health practice and research activities at Virginia Tech and among external public health agencies, organizations, practitioners and researchers. CPHPR’s research portfolio can be found here: www.cphpr.publichealth.vt.edu.  As part of this enduring partnership between CPHPR and VTIPG, we here highlight Dr. Kathy Hosig, CPHPR Director, and Dr. Sophie Wenzel, CPHPR Associate Director.

Dr. Hosig is an Associate Professor of Population Health Sciences at Virginia Tech.  She is a registered dietitian with a BS degree in nutrition and dietetics from Virginia Tech, a doctorate in human nutrition from Purdue University and a master of public health degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  She teaches health education/health behavior and social epidemiology and health inequities in the Virginia Tech master of public health program.  Her research and practice projects, which have been funded by NIH, USDA, CDC and SAMHSA, focus on implementation and evaluation of evidence-based interventions to prevent and manage lifestyle-related chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and substance misuse/addiction.  She has extensive experience with developing collaborative partnerships at the local and state levels.

Dr. Wenzel has been working in the field of Public Health since 1999. She holds a doctorate in Public Health Leadership from the University of Illinois at Chicago, a master of public health in International Health and Population Studies from Emory University, and a BS degree in Linguistics and Spanish from Georgetown University. In her role as Center Associate Director, she promotes collaboration between faculty, students and community partners to enhance public health in Southwest Virginia and beyond. She oversees multiple evaluation and research projects across the region and state. Dr. Wenzel's research and professional interests include maternal child and adolescent health, youth risk behaviors, international health, sexual and reproductive health, healthy eating/active living, community engaged research and participatory methods, and evaluation of public health programs.

Dr. Wenzel is an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of Population Health Sciences. She teaches public health leadership and professional preparation classes and coordinates the culminating integrative learning experience for Virginia Tech master of public health program students. Her position is partially supported by the New River Health District of the Virginia Department of Health, for which Dr. Wenzel serves as a health educator, grant writer and evaluator and coordinates the New River Academic Health Department.

Dr. Wenzel is currently collaborating with VTIPG on several public health-related projects including serving as process evaluator for the formation of the new CCBHCs for New River and Mount Rogers Community Services Boards, serving as process evaluator for the Connection to Care Project and serving as a co-investigator on the evaluation the New River Valley’s Drug COurts. Dr. Hosig is currently collaborating with VTIPG through the Virginia Higher Education Opioid Consortium (VHEOC), a five-university collaboration to support local community services boards across Virginia. VHEOC is funded by the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.

Drs. Wenzel and Hosig are both thrilled to have formed this strong partnership with VTIPG faculty and staff and hope to continue collaborating on similar projects at the intersection of public health and public policy.