Leadership
Bettina M. Beech, DrPH, MPH, FAHA
Bettina M. Beech, DrPH, MPH, FAHA is the Chief of Population Health and Translational Science and Clinical Professor of Clinical Sciences at the University of Houston. She is a public and population health scientist whose work centers on the interplay between chronic diseases, neuroinflammation, and cognitive functioning within population health frameworks. Her research investigates how long-term conditions such as obesity, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes contribute to cognitive decline and neurological vulnerability across at-risk populations.
Dr. Beech employs interdisciplinary approaches that integrate epidemiology and biomarker discovery to uncover mechanisms linking cardiometabolic dysfunction to brain health outcomes. Through longitudinal cohort studies and population health interventions, she seeks to identify predictive indicators and mitigate the burden of chronic disease on obesity-induced cognitive aging and quality of life.
She has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for over two decades and she has provided leadership on important studies such as the Jackson Heart KIDS Study (an ancillary offspring study to the Jackson Heart Study), Girl’s Health Enrichment Multi-site Studies (GEMS), the Healthy Families Study (a childhood obesity cluster RCT with Hispanic families), and Parents and Children Together Preventing Diabetes (PACT-PD) (one of the first studies translating the Diabetes Prevention Study for African American parents and children). Dr. Beech has been committed to scaling interventions to improve health outcomes and overall quality-of-life among a wide range of populations.
Dr. Beech is currently Multiple Principal Investigator (MPI) of the Consortium of Precision Health (CTPH), the new CTSA at Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Houston. In addition, she is the Principal Investigator (PI) of the HEALTH-RCMI, a center grant in the Research Centers in Minority Institutions consortium; MPI of AIM-AHEAD – an NIH-funded consortium grant tasked with workforce development in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML), and Contact PI of the NHLBI-funded Obesity Health Disparities, a research training and mentoring program for early career faculty and transitioning postdoctoral fellows. Her current research also leverages multi-sector partnerships to conduct late-stage translational research examining the impact of loneliness and social isolation on obesity-induced hypertension, cognitive impairment, and cardiovascular disease reversal interventions using defined plant-based diets among African Americans. Dr. Beech has published over 150 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and reports focusing on the full range of determinants impacting the cardiovascular health and well-being of African Americans. She is currently an associate editor of Ethnicity and Disease, an editorial board member of Population Health Management, and co-editor of the first (2004) and soon to be released second edition of Race and Research: Perspectives on Minority Participation in Health Studies (2024).
Dr. Beech is involved in several national population-health related activities. She is a member of several national boards including the Humana Foundation Board of Directors, National Board of Health and Wellness Coaches, Qualtrics Higher Education Advisory Council, Geisinger Medical School, and the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Sciences (IAPHS).
A native of Los Angeles, California, Dr. Beech holds a B.A. from Temple University, Master of Public Health from Temple University, and a Dr.P.H. in Community Health from University of Texas Health Science Center, School of Public Health. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in behavioral science at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and was 2011-2012 Fellow in the Hedwig van Amerigen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Program for Women (Drexel University). In addition, she completed the American Council on Education (ACE) Fellows Program (2016-2017). In 2024, she was elected as a Fellow in the American Heart Association and recipient of the J. Michael McGinnis Leadership Excellence Award from IAPHS.
External Advisory Board
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Tamara Baer, MD, MPH
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Sarvi Bajwa, MBA
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Reena Evers-Everette
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Elena Marks, JD
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Omar Matuk-Villazon , MD, MBA
Team
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Marino A. Bruce, PhD, MSRC, MDiv
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Nomita Bajwa, PharmD, EdD
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Jeronimo Cortina, PhD
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Adam Martinez, EdD, NBC-HWC
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Kiara Spooner, DrPH, MPH
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HK Quinn Valier, PhD
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Cori C. Grant, PhD,MBA
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Susie Gronseth, PhD
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Ankita Siddhanta, PhD, MS
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Latricia Vaughns, MBA