Rank:

Associate Professor, Social and Behavioral Health

Director, Texas Healthy Aging Research Network (TxHAN)

Director, Program for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities

 Education:

• B.A. - Political Science, The University of Texas at Austin

• B.S. - Nutritional Sciences, Texas A&M University

• M.P.H. - Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School
  of Public Health

• Ph.D. - Nutrition Intervention & Policy, University of North Carolina at
  Chapel Hill, School of Public Health

 Research:

• Neighborhood food environment, including the objective and subjective
  measurement of food accessibility, availability, and affordability, and
  the influence of these indicators on health and quality of life.
• Nutritional and functional assessment, including the measurement of
  usual dietary intake, body composition, physical performance, food
  insufficiency, with an emphasis on the relationship between diet and
  health outcomes in vulnerable populations (e.g., frail, rural residents,
  areas of persistent poverty, and racial/ethnic minorities, especially
  African Americans and Mexican Americans).
• Lifestyle behaviors, including the influence of behavioral strategies on
  the management of chronic conditions, medication adherence, and
  food acquisition and preparation.
• Mixed research methods, including qualitative (e.g., focus groups,
  in-depth interviews) and quantitative (e.g., survey design and
  web-based application) methods, study design, and analytical
  approaches.
• Rural nutrition service delivery and the role of rural environments on
  health behavior change and maintenance and health disparities.
  

Dr. Sharkey's NIH bio-sketch