Gia Merlo is a clinical professor of nursing and Senior Advisor on Wellness, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and a fellow of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Merlo recently published a textbook Lifestyle Nursing (Taylor & Francis/CRC Press, August 2022) that expands Lifestyle Medicine (an evidence-based approach in preventing, treating, and oftentimes, reversing chronic diseases) to Nursing. Her first book, Principles of Medical Professionalism (Oxford University Press, 2021), stresses the importance of physician wellness, the need to address the social determinants of health, as well as the need to address chronic diseases with prevention. Merlo is the Associate Editor of the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. She is a contributing author of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) curriculum Lifestyle Medicine 101 and of the board review course, Foundations to Lifestyle Medicine. Merlo's current book projects include Medical Professionalism: Theory, Education, and Practice (Oxford University Press, expected 2023), and Lifestyle Psychiatry: Through the Lens of Behavioral Medicine (Taylor & Francis/CRC Press, expected 2023). Merlo is a part of the Psychiatry Faculty Group Practice at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and sees patients at NYULangone Health Psychiatry, 1 Park Avenue, New York, NY. She completed her Master of Education in Health Professions at Johns Hopkins University School of Education in August 2022 and is currently an Adjunct Faculty at Johns Hopkins helping students in the program complete their capstone projects. Merlo has served on the board of directors of many nonprofits over the years and is currently on the board of directors of Plant-Powered Metro of New York (PPMNY) and the advisory board of the Global Positive Health Institute (GPHI). She is chair of the Mental and Behavioral Health Member Interest Group of the ACLM. She has been involved in clinician care and medical education for nearly 30 years in professional development and mental health, particularly for healthcare professionals. Before joining NYU, Merlo was an associate dean of health professions at Rice University. She also taught medical students, residents, and fellows at Baylor College of Medicine, where she was a 2017-19 Master Teacher Fellow. She has served on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University, Texas Children’s Hospital, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.Christopher P. Fagundes, PhDDr. Christopher Fagundes is a health psychologist and tenured professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Rice University. He uses theories and methods from clinical, social, and developmental psychology to examine how interpersonal relationships, loss, and trauma impact the molecular and cellular processes associated with diseases of older adulthood in diverse populations (e.g., cardiovascular disease, stroke, age-related cognitive decline, Alzheimer's disease & related dementias). He also develops and tests mechanism-focused interventions that target behavioral, psychological, and interpersonal processes underlying quality of life, age-related cognitive decline, and diseases of older adulthood. His grant portfolio includes longitudinal studies and clinical trials, which aim to improve the health and well-being of dementia family caregivers, cognitively impaired older adults, and recent widow(er)s. Over the last half-decade, he has been awarded over 10 million dollars in funding for his research (mainly from the National Institutes of Health). He has authored over 130 publications and is on the editorial board for Psychological Science and Psychoneuroendocrinology. He has been the primary mentor for numerous National Institutes of Health training fellowships for graduate students (F31), post-doctoral fellows (F32), and assistant professors (K awards). Dr. Fagundes is an elected fellow of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, the leading honorary organization for scientists working at the interface of behavior and medicine.
