Manoj Sharma, MBBS, Ph.D., MCHES® is a public health physician and educator with a medical degree from the University of Delhi and a doctorate in Preventive Medicine from The Ohio State University. He is also a Master Certified Health Education Specialist certified by the National Commission on Health Education Credentialing. He is currently a tenured Full Professor of Public Health and Adjunct Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He served as the past Founding Chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Health at UNLV. In his career, spanning over 40 years, he has trained/taught over 6,000 health professionals. He has designed and taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in health behavior, health education, and health promotion at 13 national and international universities working full-time or part-time. He has worked and provided leadership for local health departments, state health departments/agencies, federal government agencies, non-profit agencies, professional organizations, and international agencies including governments of other nations. He has been invited as a keynote presenter at several universities. He is a prolific researcher and as of March 2025 has published 17 books, over 425 peer-reviewed research articles, and over 500 other publications (h-index 60, i-10 index over 250, and over 20,000 citations) and secured funding for over $10 million. He has been awarded several prestigious honors including the American Public Health Association’s Lyndon Haviland Mentoring Award, PHEHP Distinguished Career Award, ICTHP Impact Award, J. Mayhew Derryberry Award, ATOD Lifetime Achievement Award, Cancer Forum’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award and William R. Gemma Distinguished Alumnus Award from the College of Public Health Alumni Society and Alumni Achievement Award from the College of Medicine at the Ohio State University among others. His research interests are in developing and evaluating theory-based (evidence-based) health behavior change interventions, obesity prevention, mental health, stress-coping, community-based participatory research/evaluation, and integrative mind-body-spirit interventions. Dr. Ram Lakhan, BMR, MS, Dr.PH, is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance at Berea College in Kentucky. He has a therapeutic degree in Intellectual Disabilities from India. Dr. Lakhan started his career in Asia and has brought his medical, behavioral, political, sociological, and cultural perspectives through this work. He has planned and implemented large-scale community health projects that revolved around addressing health targets and indicators of Millennium Developmental Goals (MDGs). Dr. Lakhan has extensive experience working with World Health Organization professionals. Later in the United States, he systematized his knowledge in epidemiological approaches attaining the highest degree in this field, and has shared his acumen from this perspective. He has worked extensively in public health for people with intellectual disabilities, mental illness, and their family members in the remotest areas of central India. He has implemented large-scale community-based mental health programs, obtained several grants, and conducted research. He has published numerous data-based, peer-reviewed papers in academic journals and six book chapters in the textbooks of prestigious publishers including Springer and Oxford University Press. His scholarly work revolves around global health and mental health issues in people with intellectual disabilities. His application of behavior change theories in improving health outcomes for special populations is highly acknowledged among academicians and researchers.
