Joseph Sharkey, Ph.D., MPH

Joseph R. Sharkey, Ph.D., M.P.H. is a Professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Community Health Sciences at Texas A&M School of Public Health in College Station, Texas; and Founding Director of the Program for Research and Outreach-Engagement on Nutrition and Health Disparities Solutions. He received his Masters of Public Health and Doctoral degrees from the Department of Nutrition at UNC-Chapel Hill School of Public Health. Dr. Sharkey continues to lead efforts to develop innovative solutions to access and utilization of healthy foods by low-income and vulnerable children, adults, and seniors in rural and underserved areas. His current work focuses in two geographic areas: 1) developing and implementing a family-based program to improve nutrition and increase physical activity among the growing Mexican American and Mexican immigrant population along the United States border with Mexico; and 2) developing and implementing a program in rural Washington State that integrates experiential nutrition education with access to fresh produce from local, small scale farmers. Dr. Sharkey actively works with promotoras de salud (community health workers) and three community coalitions in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas and two coalitions (Peninsula Food Coalition and Olympic Peninsula Healthy Community Coalition) and the Sequim (WA) Food Bank in rural Washington. In addition to this work, Dr. Sharkey is involved in community collaborations to improve population health. Dr. Sharkey serves on the Advisory Council for Olympic Area Agency on Aging, the Washington State Council on Aging, and Leadership Team of the Olympic Peninsula Healthy Community Coalition. His work has been supported by the AARP Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and USDA. He has published more than 120 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.