Chronic Diseases and Conditions

Gabriel A. Benavidez, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health in Baylor University’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, has received a two-year, $168,839, R03 award from the National Institutes of Health for his project, “Refining Small-Area Cancer Surveillance Through AI-Driven Spatial Clustering.”

Researchers in Baylor University’s Robbins College are celebrating a number of recent, significant external funding awards. Totaling more than $7.4 million, the awards stretch across departments and disciplines, but share a common theme of seeking to enhance health, quality of life, and human flourishing for individuals and communities.

When Peyton Gill was 14 years old, she never imagined she would begin a fight to survive Stage 4 ovarian cancer. She was scheduled for immediate abdominal surgery, and then had her first encounter with a spirited physical therapist—today, Gill is a second-year Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) student at Baylor University. 

When designing her Occupational Therapy doctoral capstone, recent graduate Shandy Simpson, OTD, OTR, had wanted to explore a topic both personally meaningful to her and underrepresented in occupational therapy research. She chose to partner with Project Healing Waters, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting American veterans through the therapeutic practice of fly fishing. 

Communication Sciences and Disorders alumna Katherine A. Hutcheson, PhD, BCS-S, SLP-CCC, is a nationally known expert in head and neck cancer dysphagia. Through her current research at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, she focuses on two core survivorship areas: communication abilities and eating abilities. 

In Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, faculty are pursuing innovative research aimed at making a positive impact across the cancer journey—from prevention to treatment to survivorship. Driven by a calling to make a difference through their skills and expertise, these researchers are transforming lives, one study at a time. 

In the heart of Dallas, Texas, Master of Public Health in Epidemiology alumna Natalie Noreen, MPH, works directly with individuals who are currently living at the edges of America’s healthcare system. She says Baylor professors helped to shape how she sees people—not as diagnoses or datasets, but as whole human beings.

In 2025, Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences researchers published more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals and publications. View examples from across the College, as well as a selection of grant-funded projects.