Biography:

Dr. Kim Coleman has the distinction of being the first joint appointed faculty member between the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health and the College of Health and Human Sciences. She sees this position as a privilege - to expose and usher undergraduate health education and promotion students to the “wonderful world of public health” and continuing to conduct rigorous health education and health behavior research. Her research interests include examining the relationship between religion, spirituality, and health; development of programs designed to eliminate health disparities and promote health equity; promoting HIV/AIDS prevention education; and working with the community collaboratively to develop health promotion programs (Community-based Participatory Research).

A native of Southeast Washington, D.C., Kim attended Spelman College, earning a B.A. in Psychology in 1994. She has worked in a number of diverse positions that ranged from Petty Officer 2nd Class in the U. S. Naval Reserve to a restaurant manager. It was, however, a 1997 position as a medical psychology research program administrator at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences that introduced her to public health and she was hooked. She entered the University of Michigan School of Public Health and was honored with a Dean’s Award in 2000 and 2001. While at Michigan, she analyzed focus group data on how African-American women use prayer as a coping mechanism. She earned the MPH in Health Behavior and Health Education in 2002 and immediately began doctoral studies in health education at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. While at SIUC, Kim worked on a number of health education and health behavior interventions and research projects, including assessing the perceived needs of African-American Christian women during pregnancy and childbirth, developing a smoking cessation intervention for pregnant adolescents, and evaluating the Southern Illinois Healthcare Parish Nursing Program. Her dissertation research focused on examining the behavioral factors that motivate African-American Christians to participate in HIV/AIDS ministries, earning the Ph.D. in 2006. Since joining the faculty of Georgia Southern University in 2006, she has been active in several departmental, college, and university committees/projects. As part of the JPHCOPH faculty, she has been actively involved with the development of the Center for Addiction Recovery.

Kim is an active member of several professional organizations, including the American Public Health Association, the American Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, and Eta Sigma Gamma (the National Health Education Honorary). She is currently the Chair of the Caucus on Public Health and the Faith Community (APHA) and serves on the AAHE Professional Development Committee. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, traveling, finding local eateries/restaurants, and spending time with her two cats, Chili and Mistletoe.