Tracey E. Barnett, PhD, founding chair of the Department of Quantitative and Qualitative Health Sciences at the new UT School of Public Health San Antonio at UT Health San Antonio, in collaboration with UTSA, received a $250,000 UT System Faculty STARs (Science and Technology Acquisition and Retention) award to allow the new school of public health to obtain and utilize advanced technologies for combining, analyzing and incorporating machine learning to enhance science.
Barnett, whose research portfolio includes health risk behaviors for both adolescent and adult populations focusing on tobacco use, smoking cessation for adults and prevention strategies related to emerging trends among youth populations. She is currently a co-investigator for a project to improve educational guidelines in substance use disorders among persons with developmental disabilities.
“UT Health San Antonio and the region are growing rapidly. The launch of the new UT School of Public Health San Antonio this fall is very timely and an exciting endeavor,” Barnett said. “Being able to build a new school that will train the much-needed public health workforce over the coming decades is a great opportunity. I am hopeful and excited at the opportunity to contribute.”
Before joining the UT School of Public Health San Antonio, Barnett held positions at the University of Florida as an assistant professor in the Department of Behavioral Science and Community Health and associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology. Barnett’s most recent academic appointments were to the University of North Texas Health Science Center’s School of Public Health, where she served as both the associate dean for academic affairs and associate professor and chair for the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology.