Dr. Melinda Villagran
Executive Director
Dr. Melinda Villagran leads health and community resilience research programs as the Executive Director of Texas State's Translational Health Research Center.
Dr. Villagran is also a tenured health communication professor and an active health services researcher. She is currently the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on four large federally-funded research programs seeking to develop and test novel data analytics and decision support tools to improve health outcomes.
At Texas State since 2012, Dr. Villagran has served in various administrative roles, including chair of the Department of Communication Studies, chair of the university’s Council on Funded Research, chair of the University Strategic Planning Committee for Innovation, and co-chair of the LBJ Distinguished Lecture Series. She is the author of over 65 peer-reviewed publications and two scholarly books, and the author or co-author of funding proposals that have generated over 18 million dollars from state, federal, and foundation sources for her research programs since 2012.
Dr. Villagran is a regular speaker and an active participant in state workforce and economic development programs on topics related to digital healthcare transformation and life sciences entrepreneurship. Most recently, Dr. Villagran is a member of a newly created Texas Healthcare Workforce Task Force to help address workforce shortages in the state through policy recommendations before the upcoming legislative session.
Dr. Villagran was previously a faculty member and graduate program director at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, where she also led military health research partnerships with healthcare professionals at Walter Reed Army Hospital and Ft. Belvoir Family Medicine clinic. She has also served as a faculty researcher at UT-Health San Antonio, Uniformed Services University, and University of Texas at San Antonio.
As the spouse of a former US Air Force officer and current veteran, Dr. Villagran is committed to various research and service programs that address ongoing health issues among military members and their families. She has served as a member of the Military Officers Association of America Spouse Council, a scientific reviewer for the Veteran's Administration Health Services Research and Development programs, and a member of a federal task force created by First Lady Michelle Obama to address physical and mental health issues among the children of deployed military personnel.
Education:
BA in Political Science from UT Dallas (1995)
MA in Organizational Communication from the University of Oklahoma (1997)
PhD in Health Communication from the University of Oklahoma (2001)