The Office of Research Development encourages collaboration between JMU researchers. Starting in Fall 2025, we convened groups of researchers from across campus on selected topics to develop collaborations.
What is wellness? How is it connected to health? To the arts? Health and wellness research is inherently collaborative, drawing on expertise from health sciences, psychology, technology, and social sciences as well as the humanities and arts.
JMU has an active research program in health and wellness that crosses campus lines to engage every college. These researchers work in these areas and are open to building new collaborations. They shared the information below regarding their work and consented to placing it on our website. If you are a JMU researcher working on health and wellness and would like to have your information added, please reach out to researchdevelopment@jmu.edu.
Modjadji Choshi, Associate Professor, Nursing, CHBS
Research Interests: Global Health and Health Equity, Cardiovascular health (CVH) in rural and underserved populations, AI and cyber intelligence for health security, Design thinking and interdisciplinary innovation
Area of focus on health and well-being: CVH in rural Black women, Self-care strategies for women in remote communities, Global health initiatives
Research Question: What self-care strategies are more acceptable/appropriate and effective to reduce cardiovascular disease risk among rural Black women? How can design thinking accelerate health equity innovations globally? How can AI cyber intelligence improve health security in rural communities?
Interdisciplinary Research Interest: Interdisciplinary partnership in AI, public health, higher education; Experts in global health policy, rural health systems, and community engagements; Innovators in digital health tools and participatory research methods, particularly quantitative methods
Research Interests: Software systems, mobile apps, big data, AI,
Area of focus on health and well-being: Data-related health tracking systems; AI-based food recognition system; Hospital nurse dashboard/information system apps
Interdisciplinary Research Interest: Aggregate public health data from Virginia to generate heat map to be displayed in real-time; Elementary school AI-automated plate scanner to evaluate eaten foot nutritional and wasted food; Nice to collaborate with health/nurse
Suzanne Grossman, Associate Director Research and Public Health, IIHHS, CHBS
Research Interests: How public libraries promote health; Immigrant health (especially within communities)
Interdisciplinary Research Interest: Program evaluation of existing programs; Collaborating on grant writing to develop existing community health programs or start new community health programs; Evaluation Initiative; Potential for faculty to connect directly with programs/clinics
Alan Levinovitz, Professor, Philosophy and Religion, CAL
Research Interests: Classical Chinese thought, comparative religion, the intersection of religion, philosophy, culture, science, and medicine
Interdisciplinary Research Interest: The role of rituals and language in clinical contexts; Cross-cultural approaches to conceptualizing and treating chronic illness
Looking for: People in anthropology, sociology, and medical science
Ayasakanta Rout, Professor of Audiology and AUH, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, CHBS; Director, Hearing Aid Research Laboratory
Research Interests: Hearing aid benefit and satisfaction; Digital signal processing algorithms in hearing aids; Affordability and accessibility of hearing healthcare
Research Question: Assessing the benefit from advanced signal processing hearing aids.
Interdisciplinary Research Interest: Affordable and accessible hearing healthcare; Rural health; Role of AI in healthcare; Digital health
Looking for: Computer programmingMegan Tracy, Professor, Sociology and Anthropology, CAL
Research Interests: Gendered health science, the microbiome, FemTech industry, Food safety regulation
Area of focus on health and well-being: Translation of bench science into reproductive health on the gendered microbiome into consumer products
Research Question: How do people try to use new technologies and scientific developments to effect social change?
Interdisciplinary Research Interest: Health science communication, history of science, STS-adjacent
Looking for: Growing the Gender & Science Ethnography Lab