Scientists at TORC

Rebecca E. Lee, PhD - TORC Director

Professor
Health & Human Performance
Phone: (713) 743-9335
Fax: (713) 743-9860
Email: releephd@yahoo.com
Office: 141 MEL
Home Page
Area of Interest:

Environmental, social & policy determinants of physical activity and dietary habits
Obesity prevention
Minority/underserved populations

Sharon Bode, PhD

Clinical Associate Professor
Health & Human Performance
Phone: (713) 743-4112
Fax: (713) 743-9860
Email: sbode@uh.edu
Office: 217 CAM
Home Page
Area of Interest:

Nutritional Sciences
Dietetics Education

Mark S. Clarke, PhD

Associate Professor
Health & Human Performance
Phone: (713) 743-9854
Fax: (713) 743-9860
Email: mclarke@uh.edu
Office: 104D GAR
Home Page
Area of Interest:

Muscle physiology
Muscle adaptation to mechanical loading
Cellular basis of muscle function in health

Allison G. Dempsey, PhD

Assistant Professor
Educational Psychology
Phone: (713) 743-8636
Fax: (713) 743-4996
Email: adempsey@mail.coe.uh.edu
Office: 472 FH
Home Page
Area of Interest:

Pediatric Psychology
Peer Victimization
Influences of Social Experience on Adjustment and Health Behaviors

Donald A. Fox, PhD, FATS, FARVO

Professor
Optometry
Phone: (713)743-1964
Email: dafox@uh.edu
Office: JDA 2156
Home Page
Area of Interest:

Retinal development, aging and degeneration
Developmental origins of adult disease
Drug- and toxicant-induced obesity and metabolic sayndrome
Nutrition, pharmacology and toxicology

Romi Ghose, PhD

Assistant Professor
Pharmacy
Phone: (713)795-8343,
Fax: (713) 795-8305
Email: rghose@uh.edu
Office: Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical
Sciences, Texas Medical Center Room 517
Home Page

Area of Interest:

Drug metabolizing enzymes
Drug metabolism and toxicity
Cell-signaling and innate immunity
Nuclear receptors

Stacey Gorniak, PhD

Assistant Professor
Health and Human Performance
Phone/Fax: (713)743-4802
Email: sgorniak@uh.edu
Office: 104U Garrison
Home Page
Area of Interest:

Understanding healthy and pathological neuromuscular control
Sensori-motor challenges in hand function
Effect of neural changes due to aging, traumatic brain injury, and neuropathy on functional hand use

Dennis Kao, PhD

Assistant Professor
Graduate College of Social Work
Phone: (713)743-6392
Email: dtkao@uh.edu
Office: 402 SW
Home Page
Area of Interest:

Health and health care disparities
Immigration
Health and social policy
Geographic Information Systems, mapping, and spatial analysis

Charles S. Layne, PhD

Professor & Department Chair
Health & Human Performance
Phone: (713) 743-9868
Fax: (713) 743-9860
Email: clayne2@uh.edu
Office: 104C GAR
Home Page
Area of Interest:

Human coordination
Neuromuscular perspective

Tracey Ledoux, PhD

Assistant Professor
Health & Human Performance
Phone: (713) 743-1870
Fax: (713) 743-9860
Email: taledoux@uh.edu
Office: 104B GAR
Home Page

Areas of Interest:

Overeating and obesity
Mediators to overeating
Effective behavior change strategies

Thomas Lowder, PhD

Assistant Professor
Health & Human Performance
Phone: (713) 743-9858
Fax: (713) 743-9860
Email: twlowder@uh.edu
Office: 104U GAR
Home Page
Area of Interest:

Exercise /stress affects the immune system in young and aged subject

Daniel P. O’Connor, PhD

Assistant Professor
Health & Human Performance
Phone: (713) 743-2377
Fax: (713) 743-9860
Email: doconnor2@uh.edu
Office: 104Q GAR
Home Page
Area of Interest:

Bio-statistical models
The effectiveness of clinical interventions
Evaluate subject-level changes in health measures

Monica Perales, PhD

Associate Professor
Department of History
Phone: (713) 743-3103
Email: mperales3@uh.edu
Office: 564 Agnes Arnold Hall
Home Page
Area of Interest:

Chicana/o labor and social history
Immigration
American West, Borderlands, and oral history

Richard Simpson, PhD

Assistant Professor
Health & Human Performance
Phone/ Fax: (713) 743-9270,
Fax: (713) 743-9860
Email: rjsimpson@uh.edu
Office: 104S GAR
Home Page
Area of Interests:

Effects of exercise on immune function
Effects of age on immune function
Effects disease has on immune function