Dr. Y. Alicia Hong joined the CHHS full time faculty on June 1 as a tenured professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy. Prior to coming to Mason, Dr. Hong was an associate professor and co-director in the Department of Health Promotion and Community Health Sciences at Texas A&M University, where she taught graduate courses on program planning, research methods, mobile health (mHealth), seminar of public health intervention, and comparative global health systems in study abroad programs.
“I am delighted to announce that Dr. Y. Alicia Hong has joined the CHHS faculty,” says Dr. PJ Maddox, professor and chair of HAP. “She brings a wealth of experience in public health, particularly in mHealth, which has an increasingly important role in this digital era. Alicia will be an asset to our college with the enthusiasm she brings to her work, and we look forward to her joining us.”
Hong’s research background is in HIV-affected populations, cancer survivors, older adults with chronic conditions, and immigrants. She has worked with at risk populations in Texas and China. Her current research interests include mHealth behavior and policy, behavior intervention of HIV/sexually transmitted infections, gender-based violence, medication adherence, and culturally appropriate measurement of psychosocial and health outcomes.
Hong received her MAA in Medical Anthropology from the University of Maryland at College Park, and a PhD in Health Behavior and Society from Bloomberg School of Public Health at John Hopkins University.
Hong has served as principal investigator, co-investigator, and sub-investigator in over 20 research projects funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), as well as international and private foundations. In addition, she served in grant review panels for NIH, National Science Foundation, HRSA, and international organizations. Her work has been published in over 90 peer-reviewed journal articles.