10/16/2026
Congratulations Dr. Vernon!!!
We're pleased to announce that Marlo Vernon, PhD, associate professor at SPH, has been named director of the School of Public Health's Center for Rural Health.
The center's mission is to improve health in rural Georgia by bringing together research, community partnerships and practical solutions that can be implemented, evaluated and sustained in the communities they are intended to serve.
It will build upon existing work in five interconnected areas: maternal and child health; Food is Medicine initiatives; behavioral health and recovery; women’s health across the life course; and cancer prevention, screening and survivorship.
Re-energization of the center creates an opportunity to connect work that has often been organized around individual investigators, projects and grant cycles.
Under Vernon's leadership, it will serve as an infrastructure blending faculty expertise, rural community partnerships, evaluation resources and grant development. The first step is to establish a network of affiliated faculty and rural partners, develop a Community Advisory Board and build a targeted grant pipeline. Following that, the aim is to expand collaborative research and community engagement before growing into multi-site initiatives and pursuing sustainable external and philanthropic support.
We know she'll be a tremendous asset and look forward to seeing all she'll accomplish in this role!
