Biography

Dr. Molly Waring is an epidemiologist, Associate Professor in the Department of Allied Health Sciences, Graduate Program Director of the Health Promotion Sciences MS/PhD programs, and Director of the Methodology Core of the UConn Center for mHealth and Social Media. Dr. Waring’s research focuses health promotion during pregnancy, the post-partum period, and motherhood. Dr. Waring has led multiple grant-funded projects in the areas of post-partum weight loss, gestational weight gain, perinatal/maternal mental health, and health information seeking. Dr. Waring’s research program includes public health surveillance studies using data from nationally-representative public health surveys (e.g., the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey [NHANES], National Health Information Trends Survey [HINTS]) and social media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X) to improve our understanding of the national and international landscape of health behavior and healthcare utilization, particularly related to women’s health, weight management, and healthy eating. In addition to serving as the PI of research studies, Dr. Waring is a collaborative methodologist and serves as the lead statistical scientist on projects, particularly studies utilizing social media or other digital platforms for participant recruitment, intervention delivery, or public health surveillance. Dr. Waring mentors graduate and undergraduate students.