Melissa A Valerio, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Melissa Valerio, Ph.D., MPH, is an Associate Professor of Health Promotion and Behavioral Science at the UT School of Public Health, San Antonio Regional Campus. Prior to returning to Texas, she spent five years as Assistant Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

She obtained her Master’s degree in Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and her PhD in health behavior and health education from the University of Michigan. Dr. Valerio's interests include chronic disease management and prevention, the design and evaluation of effective health education messages and materials, and survey methods. She is particularly interested in health literacy and cultural competence issues related to health education and communication in minority underserved communities. Dr. Valerio has been involved in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of community-based coalitions and partnerships. Most recently I have served as PI on studies focused on the design and evaluation of innovative functional health literacy related interventions and strategies to promote disease management (type 2 diabetes, asthma, and oral health) and prevention (type 2 diabetes). She serves as PI on a NINR funded R21 study to develop a measure of verbal functional health literacy. Dr. Valerio also serve as Co-I on several studies including an NIDDK funded R01 examining the use and influence of genetic explanations in prevention of type 2 diabetes, an AHRQ funded R18 examining comparative effectiveness research practices in diabetes management and on a P60 funded center initiative addressing health disparities in cardiovascular risk.

Research Interests: 

Health literacy and disease management intervention design and evaluation, with a focus on marginalized and vulnerable populations.

• Publications

  Valerio MA, George M, Liu J, Osakwe ZT, Bruzzese JM. Health literacy and asthma among Hispanic and African-American urban adolescents with undiagnosed asthma. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2018 Oct;121(4):499-500. doi: 10.1016/j.anai.2018.06.022. Epub 2018 Jun 30. PMID: 29964228 


  Highfield L, Valerio MA, Fernandez ME., Eldridge-Bartholomew K. Development of an implementation intervention using intervention mapping to increase mammography among low income women. 10.3389/fpubh2018.00300. 


  Thomas DL, Caldwell CH, Panapasa S, Valerio MA. Lessons Learned from a Structured Mentoring Program Engaging Practitioners and Undergraduate Students. Health Promotion Practice August 2018 DOI: 10.1177/1524839918771958. 


  Zelle BA, Singh G, Kitchen DL, Fajardo RJ, Bhandari M, Valerio MA. Ethnic differences in patients' perceptions towards isolated orthopedic injuries: a pilot study. Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2017 Nov 7;3:39. doi: 10.1186/s40814-017-0188-x. eCollection 2017. PMID: 29142758 


  Santos IC, Martin MS, Reyes ML, Carlton DD Jr, Stigler-Granados P, Valerio MA, Whitworth KW, Hildenbrand ZL, Schug KA. Exploring the links between groundwater quality and bacterial communities near oil and gas extraction activities. Sci Total Environ. 2018 Mar 15;618:165-173. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.264. Epub 2017 Nov 9. PMID: 29128765 


  Turner BJ, Rodriguez N*, Valerio MA, Liang Y, Winkler P, Jackson L. Less exercise and 


  more drugs: How a low income population manages chronic pain.. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2017 Mar 21. pii: S0003-9993(17)30161-2. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2017.02.016. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 28341586 

  Turner BJ, Liang Y, Rodriguez N*, Valerio MA, Rochat A, Potter JS, Winkler P. Gaps in the Public's Knowledge About Chronic Pain: Representative Sample of Hispanic Residents From 5 States. J Pain. 2017 Jan 12. pii: S1526-5900(17)30003-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2016.12.019. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 28088505. 

  Valerio MA, Rodriguez N*, Winkler P, Lopez J, Dennison M, Liang Y, Turner BJ. Comparing two sampling methods to engage hard-to-reach communities in research priority setting. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2016 Oct 28;16(1):146. PMID: 27793191.