Texas A&M HSC School of Rural Public Health
Social & Behavioral Health
TAMU MS 1266
College Station
TXUSA
77843-1266
Biographical Sketch: Marcia G. Ory, Ph.D., M.P.H., is Regent Professor, Department of Social and Behavioral Health, School of Rural Public Health (SRPH) at The Texas A&M Health Science Center in College Station, Texas. She is committed to research and practice that enhances the health and well-being of persons across the life-course. In her role as Director of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) sponsored Active for Life ® National Program Office, she has examined how evidence-based programs can be translated to community settings, expanding program research and sustainability. Under this RWJF initiative, she has been also been working with a panel of national experts to develop the EASY, a new Screening Tool for helping identify a safe and effective physical activity program. With colleagues, she has established a Learning Network to serve as the communications hub for a Building Healthy Communities Initiative. Finally, she is exploring intergenerational approaches to obesity prevention through co-leadership of the RWJF Texas Childhood Obesity Prevention Policy Evaluation. Locally, she is involved in the Brazos Valley Obesity Prevention Network, and a member of Live Smart Texas, a statewide Coalition of over 80 organizations dedicated to reversing the obesity epidemic in Texas. As a primary Investigator in the Texas Healthy Aging Research Network, she serves as a liaison to the Administration on Aging’s Evidence-Based Program Initiative, helping to guide state-wide efforts funded by the Division of Aging and Disability Services to implement and evaluate evidence-based health promotion programs throughout Texas. Additionally, she is the Principal Investigator on a five-year NIH Health Maintenance Resource Center charged with serving as the coordinating hub for a twenty-one grant consortium designed to improve research on long-term behavioral change associated with healthy living.