Department of Social Work and Social Ecology

   ▪   Professor, Department of Social Work and Social Ecology

   ▪   Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine

   ▪   Director of Research, Behavioral Health Institute

   ▪   Director, Community Outreach and Partnership Core, Loma Linda University, School of Medicine, Center for Health Disparities Research and Molecular Medicine

 Dr. Montgomery is a social/behavioral epidemiologist whose work and research focuses on hard-to-access underserved populations on issues of health disparities from a behavioral health and prevention research perspective.  She considers herself a “translational”, applied researcher, and received her doctoral and Master’s degrees in health behavior with an emphasis in social epidemiology from the University of Michigan. She also has a German graduate degree in Oecotrophologie (nutritional science) from the Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen. Prior to joining the School of Behavioral Health in 2011, she was a faculty member in the LLU School of Public Health (SPH) from 1995-2011 and continues to hold a secondary appointment in SPH, Global Health. Dr. Montgomery held faculty appointments at the University of Southern California and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has taught classes in domestic violence, HIV and AIDS, epidemiology, evaluation research, qualitative and quantitative research methods, and a yearlong practice-based lab focusing on program development issues. 

 As Director of Research at the Behavioral Health Institute (BHI) in conjunction with her work on the School of Behavioral Health, Dr. Montgomery mentors faculty and students in identifying research opportunities, publishing, and developing grant applications; and she leads a translational research team as Director of the Community Outreach and Partnership Core for the Center for Health Disparities Research and Molecular Medicine. Dr Montgomery has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles concerning cancer prevention, teen pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and alcohol and tobacco use, and regularly serves as a reviewer of several national peer-review journals. After many years on several study sections of National Institutes of health (NIH) she is now a member of the “College of Reviewers” for NIH.

 Dr. Montgomery has been a principal investigator or co-investigator of NIH- and CDC-funded research projects since 1990. She consults with the CDC, the State of California, and numerous private foundations on evaluation issues, and conducts trainings and workshops on issues of evaluation/research capacity building and diversity in the United States and abroad.  Dr. Montgomery was the lead evaluator of policy setting national demonstration projects in the fields of teen pregnancy prevention and maternal child health. She has extensive experience in conducting community-based translational participatory research (CBPR) and evaluation —advocating for translating and applying research findings to the community level. She is a participating member of numerous local and regional community coalitions, planning groups, and advisory boards, and was a recipient of the Public Health Person of the Year Award from the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors for her outstanding contribution to the local and regional community.

 The following is a sampling of her currently funded research topics:

-       Southern California Air Quality Management District (AQMD): Responding to a Community’s Call for Action: Studying the Health Effects of an Intermodal Railyard in San Bernardino. Aim: To assess health effects of living and working near the BNSF railyard in San Bernardino, CA. 1/11-12/13. Role Co-PI.

-       PERRC; CDC. Using CBPR to Develop Environmental Health Emergency Resilience (CDC). Aim: To use CBPR to address environmental health/emergency response issues for linguistically and geographically isolated poor communities.  LLU is acting as subcontractor on UCLA application, Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center.  Project period: 9/09-8/12.  Role:  PI

-       NIMH K01 MH077732-01A1 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award. Title: “Treating EBD       Children in Foster Care—the Role of Residential Group Care; (James, PI); 06/08-05/13; Aim: To mentor a promising junior faculty toward establishing herself as a funded outcomes researcher in the field of foster care research. Role: Primary mentor LLU

-       5 P20 MD001632-03; Centers of Excellence for Health Disparity Research: Loma Linda University Center for Health Disparities Research and Molecular Medicine (DeLeon, M.); 11/01/05-9/30/10; current 5 year continuation award approved – funding pending—project period 2012- 2017. NIH.  Role: Co-PI and Director, Community Outreach Core.

-       Nestle Foundation. Testing the Efficacy of and Audio Program and Discussion Guide to Promote Exclusive Breastfeeding in Cameroon, Africa. 12-10/12/12. Role: PI

-       DHHS, Family and Youth Services Bureau, Tribal Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP): Native Challenge Project; 10/11-9/14. Role: Lead Evaluator