Melissa Peskin

Melissa Peskin is a Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health. Her research focuses on adolescent health risk behaviors, particularly sexual risk-taking and violence, alongside program evaluation for youth health promotion.

• Adolescent Health
• Behavioral/Mental Health
• Program Evaluation
• Maternal and Child Health
• Injury and Violence
• Health Education/Behavioral Sciences
• Epidemiology

She has led the development of impactful programs such as It’s Your Game... Keep it Real (and its digital adaptation), Me and You: Building Healthy Relationships, and iCHAMPSS, a web-based decision support system for schools. Current projects include:

• Code of Respect (X-CoRe): Sexual harassment/assault prevention for Airmen
• Cluster Randomized Trial of Fourth R: Dating violence prevention in middle schools
• Evaluation of DSHS Re-Entry Project: Peer support in jails
• Native It's Your Game: Sexual health education for AI/AN youth

Contact: Melissa.F.Peskin@uth.tmc.edu | Phone: +1 (713) 500-9759