Department of Psychological, Health & Learning Sciences (PHLS) Associate Professor, Nathan Smith was honored at the 15th Annual American Academy of Health Behavior (AAHB) Scientific Meeting in San Antonio, Texas in March 2015, for his participation as a mentee for the AAHB Research Scholars Mentoring Program.

Smith was competitively selected to participate in this program in February 2015 and has been working with Dr. David Seal of Tulane University, his assigned mentor until February 2016.

"I am honored to be selected as a mentee in the AAHB Research Scholars Mentoring Program," said Smith. "My collaboration with Dr. David Seal will increase my skill set and advance my program of research in HIV prevention, ultimately serving to better the health of marginalized populations in Houston and the U.S."

Smith will soon submit a work plan with his mentor that will facilitate academic scholarship and result in work products that will contribute to his success at the UH College of Education.

PHLS Department Chair, Ezemenari Obasi added, "This is a good opportunity for Dr. Smith to advance his science and promote the work he is doing in PHLS."

Smith is an Associate Professor in Counseling Psychology here at the UH College of Education.  His research interests focus on stress and coping, with emphases on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans persons and persons living with or at risk of contracting HIV.

The Mission of the AAHB is to serve as the "research home for health behavior scholars and researchers whose primary commitment is to excellence in research and the application of research to practice to improve the public's health."  The purpose of the 12-month Research Scholars Mentoring Program is to pair early career investigators with senior AAHB members in order to facilitate the productions of high-quality scholarly research-based products that address any area of health behavior-related research.