Ranjita Misra, PhD

Professor

Organization:

West Virginia University School of Public Health

Department:

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Classification:

Faculty

Dr. Ranjita Misra, PhD, CHES, FASHA, FESG, is a tenured Full Professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Director of the Public Health Training Center at WVU School of Public Health.  She earned her Ph.D. in Health Services from Old Dominion University in Virginia.

Dr. Misra teaches graduate courses, including Grant Writing, Community Engagement and Advocacy and Implementing and Managing Public Health Programs. She is a national and international health disparities expert for examining prevalence of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and CVD and conducting randomized clinical trials (RCTs) on disease prevention and management in community- and faith-based settings and clinics. She uses low-cost models such as the community health workers and health coaches approach. Dr. Misra has a consistent record of external funding as Principal Investigator, including funding from the National Institute of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute. She has explored behavioral, psychosocial and clinical risk factors to examine diabetes disparities in multi-ethnic populations in India, Mexico and the United States using a transdisciplinary team approach. She has led several national and international multi-center epidemiological studies to examine the Indian and Mexican Diasporas in rural/urban Indians/immigrant Asian Indians in the US & native Mexicans in Mexico and Mexican Americans in the border & interior areas of Texas. She has translated evidence-based research to community settings using Community Based Participatory Approach (CBPR) and tailored culturally-appropriate strategies in the US, India and Mexico. To date, she has authored more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals.  In recognition of her outstanding activities, she has received several research, teaching, mentoring and community engagement awards such as the Women in Science and Health (WISH) Excellence Award (2019), Mentoring Award (2016), Outstanding Achievement in Community Engaged Research Award (2015) from WVU. In addition, she received the Health Disparities Scholars Award from MD Anderson, Armstrong Scholar and Research Award from the Department of Health and Kinesiology at Texas A&M University, Research & Service Award from the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), Best Published Paper Award by API Caucus of the American Public Health Association, the GOPIO Research Award, and the Montague Scholar Award for teaching excellence at Texas A&M University. She served as the President of Eta Sigma Gamma, the National Health Education Honorary from 2009 to 2012, and President of the US South Asian Public Health Association (SAPHA) 2006-2010. In recognition of her outstanding services she has received the Distinguished Service Awards from the American School Health Association, South Asian Public Health Association, and the National Health Science Honor society of Eta Sigma Gamma, and Distinguished Service and Research Award from the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin.