Dr. Carla Pezzia
Assistant Professor, Population & Community Health
Education & Experience:
I earned a PhD in Anthropology, with a specialization in medical anthropology, from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and I earned a MPH from UNT Health. Prior to joining the faculty at UNT Health in 2025, I served as a tenured faculty member at the University of Dallas (UD) for 7 years in the Human and Social Sciences Department and 4 years in the Department of Biology. For 8 summer seasons before my time at UD, I co-directed an ethnographic field school in Guatemala through North Carolina State University.
Before serving in teaching faculty positions, I worked as a research coordinator for several federally funded research grants administered through UT Southwestern Medical Center (acute liver failure clinical trial), UT School of Public Health at Houston (brief interventions for alcohol use), UT Health San Antonio (hospital medicine and health services research), and the South Texas Veterans Health Care System in San Antonio (hospital medicine and health services research). I also held previous positions as a case manager for Healthy Start in Fort Worth (through Catholic Charities of Tarrant County), critical care technician at Denton Community Hospital, and residential counselor for the Nelson Center residential treatment center for children who have been abused.
Teaching Areas & Public Health Interests:
With over 20 years of teaching and research experience, my repertoire of classes is quite diverse and includes advanced undergraduate and graduate level courses, in-person and online modalities, covering public health and anthropological theory, methods, and topics. I have taught survey courses on public health and global health, chronic disease epidemiology, nutrition, medical anthropology, as well as internationally focused health and society related courses, such as Health and Religion in Latin America. At my previous institution, I developed a graduate program in Medical Humanities, and the majority of my classes incorporate topics related to public health, medical, and/or research ethics.
I have also taught and advised 100s of graduate and undergraduate students on mixed methods research design, data collection, and analysis (both qualitative data analysis and common statistical analyses). I am well-versed in guiding all levels of students in research from beginner to advanced qualitative and quantitative methodologies.
At UNT Health Fort Worth, one of my primary teaching responsibilities will be to help facilitate the practicum experience for MPH students. I will also teach the course on foundational theories for community and individual health, and other classes as necessary. My main public health interests focus on community health and global health, especially in regards to mental health and aging.
Professional Activities & Awards:
I am a member of and have served in various leadership positions for the American Anthropological Association, National Association for the Practice of Anthropology, and Society for Applied Anthropology. In 2022, I was selected by former students to join the Tri-Beta Biological Honor Society as an Honorary Faculty Member.
Scholarly Interests:
My research combines my anthropology and public health backgrounds to situate lived experience of illness and disease within a broader context of systemic factors. I take a community-based approach where my goal is to collaborate with community organizations and leaders to develop and enhance culturally-informed programs and policy to reduce health disparities and promote overall wellbeing. My previous research has focused on topics such as food insecurity in older adulthood in Dallas County, mental health care access and recovery from alcohol use disorders in highland Guatemala, and barriers to cancer trial participation in underserved populations in North Texas.
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