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Leigh F. Callahan, PhD - Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology

Leigh F. Callahan, PhD

Mary Link Briggs Distinguished Professor of Medicine

Associate Director, Thurston Arthritis Research Center

Director, Osteoarthritis Action Alliance

leigh-callahan

Contact Information

Address

Office:
3300 Thurston Bldg
CB#7280
Chapel Hill, NC 27599

Resources

Leigh F. Callahan, PhD

Mary Link Briggs Distinguished Professor of Medicine

Associate Director, Thurston Arthritis Research Center

Director, Osteoarthritis Action Alliance

Areas of Interest

Physical activity and behavioral interventions, health disparities and social determinants of health, health literacy, arthritis mortality and outcomes research.

About

Dr. Callahan’s areas of expertise are in four major areas: 1) outcomes and epidemiological research; 2) establishing collaborations across the UNC campus and in communities across the State of North Carolina; 3) leadership roles in professional and nonprofit arthritis organization; and 4) setting arthritis public health agendas. Her research has focused on physical activity and arthritis, predictors of outcomes, quality of life and mortality in individuals with osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), patient reported outcomes and measurement, social determinants and health outcomes, health literacy, and complementary and alternative medicine use in rheumatic diseases. Currently, she is the Associate Director of Thurston Arthritis Research Center, as well as Principal Investigator (PI) and Director of its NIAMS-funded UNC Core Center for Clinical Research. She is also the Director of the Osteoarthritis Action Alliance (OAAA), a coalition of over 140 organizations focused on moving forward the Public Health Agenda for OA. Over the past 30 years, she has conducted seven large intervention trials of physical activity or behavioral lifestyle programs for participants with arthritis and joint pain. These trials have enrolled over 3400 participants in 41 counties in North Carolina.

  • Undergraduate

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  • PhD

    Vanderbilt University