Grantee: Lisa M. Quintiliani, PhD

Lisa M. Quintiliani

Lisa M. Quintiliani, PhD

Behavioral Scientist/Researcher
HBRB FEATURED GRANTEE
Organization:
  • Boston Medical Center

Dr. Quintiliani's expertise is behavioral science intervention research, particularly in the areas of nutrition, physical activity, and weight management. Her goal is to effectively design (often using qualitative methods), implement, and evaluate eHealth/mHealth approaches for behavioral risk reduction for cancer prevention in populations who face health disparities, in particular low-income groups. In her current NCI R01 research project, she is conducting a behavioral intervention trial based in Boston's public housing developments in which community health workers deliver a weight management motivational counseling intervention using an eHealth website and mHealth text messaging. In preparation for that study, she conducted qualitative focus group sessions using the photovoice technique among adult residents of public housing to identify barriers and facilitators to weight management, which was then used to guide intervention development. Findings from this project will help us understand whether a stand-alone mHealth text messaging program shows promise for weight management compared to support from a health program plus community health worker counseling. This has implications for the design of future programming in public housing developments nationwide. This field of research was motivated by her desire to combine community health worker-led approaches with the potential of mHealth technology, often used in low- to middle-income countries, to extend the reach of these efficacious programs.


My "ah-ha" moment came as a first year PhD student, when my mentor Dr. Marci Campbell invited me to eastern North Carolina to attend my first community-based research meeting. That was my first time seeing community-based research in action; lessons I have been applying to my research ever since.”