Grantee: Sara M. St. George, PhD

Sara M. St. George, PhD

• University Of Miami School Of Medicine

Current Title
Associate Professor of Public Health Sciences

Describe your scientific identity.
I am a Cuban American clinical-community psychologist and behavioral scientist with a strong commitment to research aimed at preventing and managing obesity and reducing mortality due to its associated chronic diseases (cancer, cardiovascular disease) in multigenerational Hispanic families.

What are your research interests?
I love developing theory-based, culturally relevant lifestyle interventions for Hispanic families and conducting randomized controlled trials to evaluate if they work, why they work, and for whom they work best.

What is the significance of your current research project?
There is an urgent need for scalable, preventive interventions among US Hispanics that slow weight gain and promote healthy lifestyles throughout the life course. To address this need, my team developed and is evaluating the efficacy of a digital lifestyle intervention known as "Healthy Juntos" (Healthy Together) for promoting a healthy weight trajectory and improving physical activity, healthy dietary intake, and body composition among Hispanic adolescents and their parents. This study will be among the first to evaluate a large-scale family-based digital lifestyle intervention in Hispanic parent-adolescent dyads, specifically targeting improvements in family constructs (e.g., communication, positive parenting).

What motivated you to work in health behaviors research?
My family, and their health and wellbeing, are among the most important "things" in my life. I operate on the belief that the family unit is the foundation of society. Strong and healthy families make our communities, our countries, and our world stronger and healthier. My family and other families like mine are the "why" of my work.

Describe something that had a profound influence on your program of research or scientific interests (an "ah-ha!" moment).
Early in my career, I learned that children had lower expected life expectancy than their parents due to lifestyle-related chronic diseases. Unfortunately, racial and ethnic minority youth have disproportionately poorer outcomes. But there is still hope! Maintaining a healthy weight, engaging in physical activity and consuming a healthy diet are among the best “medicines” we have at our disposal.

Selected training, awards, and honors:

• Mid-Career Leadership Institute Fellow, Society of Behavioral Medicine (2023-2024)
• Rising Star Award from the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida (2024)