About Our Team

The Promote UP project is led by Principal Investigators Drs. Jesse Dallery and Ramzi Salloum located at the University of Florida. Joining them are a diverse team of Co-Investigators and study staff working to ensure the success of the project. Learn more about our team below.

Principal Investigators | Co-Investigators | Study Staff | Study Interns

Principal Investigators

Jesse Dallery, PhD

Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Florida

Dr. Jesse Dallery is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Florida, and a Licensed Psychologist in the state of Florida.  Jesse received his PhD in Clinical Psychology at Emory University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Behavioral Pharmacology.  Jesse’s research focuses on integrating information technologies with behavioral interventions for cigarette smoking and other health-related behavior (e.g., physical activity, and medication adherence).

Jesse also conducts translational research on choice and decision-making in the human laboratory, with a special emphasis on quantitative models of operant behavior.  He has published over 120 articles, and he has received grant support from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.  He is co-editor of the book Behavioral Health Care and Technology: Using Science-Based Innovations to Transform Practice.  In 2014, Jesse was named a Teacher of the Year in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.  He is a fellow in Division 25 of the American Psychological Association, and the Association for Behavior Analysis International.  In his free time, he enjoys reading, watching movies and shows, exercising, cooking, and adventuring with his wife and two kids.

Ramzi Salloum, PhD

Associate Professor And Director, UF CTSI Learning Health System, Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics, University of Florida

Dr. Ramzi Salloum is an associate professor in the Department of Health Outcomes & Biomedical Informatics at the University of Florida College of Medicine and the director of the Learning Health System Initiative at the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute. He is a member of the UF Health Cancer Center and the Institute for Child Health Policy.

Dr. Salloum’s research focuses on the implementation and dissemination of evidence-based practices, especially in cancer prevention and control. He has a demonstrated research record in the area of health services research across diverse health system and policy settings, with a particular focus on the implementation of evidence-based programs. This work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the Florida Department of Health, the International Development Research Centre, Cancer Research UK, and the CVS Foundation.

Dr. Salloum is well-versed in implementation science methods and frameworks and has served as faculty for the National Cancer Institute (NCI)’s Training Institute for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Cancer (TIDIRC). He is the recipient of two NCI-supported fellowships from the Health Care Systems Research Network (HCSRN)’s Cancer Research Network (CRN) Scholars Program (2015-2017); and the Mentored Training for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Cancer (MT-DIRC) Program (2016-2018).

Dr. Salloum teaches Fundamentals of Dissemination and Implementation Research (GMS 6851).

Co-Investigators

Jonathan Bricker, PhD

Professor, Cancer Prevention Program
Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutch

Dr. Jonathan Bricker develops and tests innovative ways to help people change behaviors that affect health, such as smoking. He’s particularly interested in the delivery of interventions via platforms such as the web, smartphone apps and telephone counseling. His team conducts randomized clinical trials that compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy, or ACT, with traditional cognitive behavioral therapy for smoking cessation. (ACT encourages people to notice and accept their urges to smoke with the understanding that those urges will subside.) Dr. Bricker plans to expand this ACT approach to treat obesity and alcohol addiction.

Ji-Hyun Lee, DrPH

Director, Division of Quantitative Sciences
Director, Biostatistics and Computational Biology Shared Resource (BCB-SR)
University of Florida Health Cancer Center

Dr. Ji-Hyun Lee is a Professor in the Department of Biostatistics at the University of Florida and Director of the Biostatistics and Quantitative Sciences Shared Resource (BQS-SR) at the University of Florida Health Cancer Center (UFHCC). Her responsibility at the UHFCC is to provide strategic leadership, administrative direction, and biostatistical/quantitative support for the integrated and rigorous research at the Cancer Center.

For this PCORI project, she will be the senior biostatistician who oversees the study design, data management and analysis, and result interpretations.

Christopher R Cogle, MD

Chief Medical Officer, Florida Medicaid
Professor, University of Florida

Christopher R. Cogle, M.D. is the Chief Medical Officer for Florida Medicaid and a tenured professor at the University of Florida. He is a practicing oncologist, distinguished as a Clinical Research Scholar and a National Academy of Medicine Emerging Leader in Health and Medicine. Dr. Cogle founded and directs the Florida Health Policy Leadership Academy at the Bob Graham Center for Public Service, which train community leaders in health policy. As Chief Medical Officer for Florida Medicaid, Dr. Cogle leads the health and health care of over 5 million mothers, infants, disabled people, and seniors in Florida. He is fully engaged with government agencies, health insurance companies, physicians and other health care providers, health systems, hospitals, and patient advocacy groups to improve population health, including tobacco prevention and cessation. In addition, Dr. Cogle co-leads the state’s Chronic Disease workgroup for Florida’s State Health Improvement Plan. As Chairperson of the Promote UP Stakeholder Advisory Committee, Dr. Cogle leads thought-leaders from multiple disciplines in discussions on how to implement mHealth technology. Dr. Cogle combines his experience in biomedical research, clinical care in a center of excellence, health services research, and health policy leadership to improve the health of all Floridians.

Ryan Theis, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics, University of Florida

Dr. Theis’s training is in medical anthropology, and he has practical experience in numerous qualitative approaches and methods, including ethnographic research, participant observation, in depth interviewing, and focus groups, as well as quantitative field and analytic techniques used in anthropology such as cultural domain analysis. Dr. Theis has significant experience in program evaluation of health services, including extensive work with state Medicaid health plans. As co-investigator and qualitative research methods expert, Dr. Theis will contribute to the final design of the interview moderator guides, conducting interviews, and to the coordination of stakeholder meetings. He will also participate in regular meetings of the research team and in various dissemination activities.

Maribeth Williams, MD

Associate Professor and Program Director, Department of Community Health and Family Medicine

Dr. Maribeth Williams is a family medicine physician and a co-investigator in this study. She also trains family medicine residents and tries to model the importance of engaging in research that seeks to improve health outcomes that matter to patients. Dr. Williams initially became involved in tobacco cessation in college while working as a tobacco cessation counselor. She now continues her passion as a physician through research and continued cessation efforts. She is hopeful this study will provide new or improved strategies.

Shirley Bloodworth, RN, MN

OneFlorida+ Citizen Scientist

Shirley has lived in Gainesville, Florida since 1951, eventually receiving a master’s degree in Psychiatric Nursing from UF. She went on to serve in the UF College of Nursing in an adjunct position as Nursing Director of the Shand’s/UF Clinical Research Center until retiring in 1980. She then went on to provide Alzheimer’s Disease education and develop advanced care planning seminars and end-of-life education programs with Haven Hospice for 11 years before retiring a second time. Shirley is very active in the community and became a OneFlorida+ Citizen Scientist in 2015. She loves staying abreast of new and cutting-edge developments in science, medicine, and community engagement efforts. As a former smoker, she is excited to provide advice and support as a member of the Patient and Community User Group.

Study Staff

Magda Knight

Clinical Research Manager

Magda Knight serves as the Clinical Research Manager for the Salloum Lab. She has been with the UF Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics for 9 years.

Early in her career, Magda spearheaded the “Evaluating Quality of Care for Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services Program” contract. Focused on elevating the standard of care and enhancing the quality of life for residents in the State Supported Living Centers (SSLCs), she traveled across Texas, conducting qualitative interviews and chart reviews. This comprehensive approach allowed her to track both physical and behavioral health quality and outcomes of care.

Transitioning from the Texas project, Magda managed multiple grants centered around perinatal health. In this capacity, she provided oversight to projects that delved into the intricate relationship between breastfeeding and the prevention of chronic health conditions in infants.

Currently, Magda provides clinical oversight on studies that concentrate on the implementation and dissemination of evidence-based practices in cancer prevention and control in the Salloum Lab.

Ashley Dwarka, MPH 

Research Coordinator

Ashley serves as the primary research coordinator and project manager on the Promote UP study, coordinating communication between the research team and key stakeholders, engagement activities, and project reports. After earning her MPH degree with a concentration in health policy and management from the University of Florida, she worked with various research and quality improvement projects for Texas Medicaid within the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics.

Ashley is excited to work with this innovative study and hopes to provide meaningful interventions to improve the overall wellness for the community.

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Cassie  O’Hara

Graduate Research Fellow

Prior to coming to UF, Cassie received her master’s degree in applied behavior analysis at Aurora University and her bachelor’s degree in psychology at Indiana University. Cassie is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and has extensive clinical experience working with individuals with developmental disabilities. Cassie is now pursuing her doctoral degree in psychology with an emphasis in behavior analysis to pursue her passion for expanding the reach of behavior science. She is a member of the Behavioral Health and Technology Lab under the advisement of Jesse Dallery and a research assistant for the Promote Up Study. Cassie is excited to grow her research skills as it relates to health behavior and work amongst such an incredible interdisciplinary team.

Mario El Hayek, MD

Research Scholar

Dr. Mario El Hayek, MD is a recent graduate from the American University of Beirut. He has always been proactively engaged in public health awareness campaigns. Dr. El Hayek was born and raised in Lebanon, a country where smoking prevalence is around 38%, more than two times that of the United States or Europe. During his medical training, he witnessed the deadly complications of tobacco use, which triggered his interest in smoking cessation studies and health campaigns. He hopes the Promote-Up trial will help people who smoke support their efforts to achieve smoking abstinence and improve health outcomes.

Melissa Bou Malham, MD

Research Scholar

Dr. Melissa Bou Malham received her medical degree from the Lebanese American University in Lebanon in June 2022. During her medical training, she developed a great interest in pulmonary medicine and witnessed the detrimental complications tobacco has on one’s health. Since then, she realized there is a need for new or improved smoking cessation plans.

Sofia Anrecio

Research Assistant

Sofia graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida in May 2023 with a Bachelor’s degree in Health Science and a minor in Nutritional Sciences. During undergrad, she interned with Dr. Ramzi Salloum on two studies involving tobacco cessation and sepsis survivorship outcomes. Dr. Salloum served as her mentor for her honors thesis on screening for social determinants of health across UF Health pediatric clinics. Prior to joining the Promote UP team, she worked as a community health worker at HealthStreet. Sofia will continue to cultivate her clinical experience during her gap year before applying to medical school.

Kiah Kramer

Graduate Research Fellow

Kiah is a graduate research fellow in the Behavioral Health and Technology Research Clinic at UF. Kiah completed her undergraduate education at the University of Florida and earned her B.S. in Psychology with a specialization in Behavior Analysis and her B.A. in Women’s Studies with a concentration in Theories and Politics of Sexuality and a minor in Mass Communication. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Psychology (Behavior Analysis) with a concentration in Gender Studies at UF under the supervision of Dr. Jesse Dallery. Her general research interests include quantitative modeling, behavioral economics, and contingency management; more specifically, applying these approaches to sexual behaviors and social inequities.

Hailey Donohue

Research Assistant

Hailey is a research assistant on the Promote UP team, responsible for patient recruitment in primary care settings.

Hailey received her B.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis with a minor in Human Services from Northern Michigan University, followed by an M.A. in Behavioral Psychology from the University of the Pacific in 2021. Hailey is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with experience with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, consulting in public preschools, and with adolescents in group home settings.

Hailey is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Behavior Analysis at the University of Florida under the advisement of Dr. Jesse Dallery in the Behavioral Health and Technology (BHaT) research lab. Hailey’s research interests include technology-based treatments to promote health behaviors, and she is thrilled to pursue that interest on the Promote UP team.

Derek Li

Biostatistician, Division of Quantitative Sciences, UFHCC

Derek Li earned his master’s degree in data science from the University of Florida and works full-time as a biostatistician for UFHCC Biostatistics and Quantitative Sciences Shared Resource (BQS-SR). Prior, Mr. Li worked a year as a first-grade math teacher public school math teacher for Chicago Public Schools near Humboldt Park.

Mr. Li is an integral member of the research team serving as the study biostatistician, developing the R Shiny dissemination portal, performing quality checks on REDCap collected data, and advising the study team on data management. His primary goal as a partner on the study is to provide statistical analyses and consultation for the project.

Sara Tohme

Research Assistant

Sara Tohme is currently a Graduate Research Assistant, pursuing her PhD in Medical Sciences and Health Outcomes and Implementation Science at UF. She completed her MS in Targeted Cancer Therapeutics. Her research interest revolves around Cancer Control and Translational Drug Discovery and Development.

Promote UP Interns

Former Interns

Johanna Lucas, MPH | Spring 2023

Johanna joined us as a second year Masters of Public Health student with a Concentration in Social and Behavioral Sciences. She graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor’s in Public Health and a Minor in Music Performance in Spring 2021.

Ryan Hossain | Spring 2023

Ryan joined us as a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Florida (UF) studying Applied Physiology and Kinesiology.