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 among perinatal persons and mothers, particularly how social media can be used for health promotion. 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 misinformation on social media funded. Dr. Waring’s research program also 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 and weight management. In addition to leading digital health research studies as PI, Dr. Waring is a collaborative methodologist, serving the role of statistical scientist on projects utilizing social media for participant recruitment, intervention delivery, or public health surveillance. Dr. Waring mentors graduate and undergraduate students.