Long-time Professor Misra departs School of Public Health

After 13 years with West Virginia University School of Public Health, Ranjita Misra, Ph.D., Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences professor, Ph.D. program director, and director of the Public Health Training Center, has announced she will be leaving the University. 

Misra is a national and international health disparities expert examining the prevalence of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease. She has conducted randomized clinical trials on disease prevention and management in community- and faith-based settings and clinics. Her research has been consistently funded by the National Institute of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute. She also has authored more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

In recognition of her outstanding activities, she has received multiple awards from WVU including the Women in Science and Health Excellence Award (2019), Mentoring Award (2016), and Outstanding Achievement in Community Engaged Research Award (2015). In addition, Misra received the Health Disparities Scholars Award from MD Anderson, Armstrong Scholar and Research Award from the Department of Health and Kinesiology at Texas A&M University, Research and Service Award from the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, Best Published Paper Award by API Caucus of the American Public Health Association, the GOPIO Research Award, and the Montague Scholar Award for Teaching Excellence at Texas A&M University.

Misra will be joining the University of South Florida as a joint professor in the College of Public Health and the College of Nursing in Tampa Bay, Florida. In her new position, she will collaborate with a team of clinical and basic science researchers across multiple departments, including the Colleges of Nursing and Public Health, Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology, Applied Lifestyle Medicine, and the Department of Ophthalmology. Along with her academic responsibilities, Misra will work to develop an Innovation Hub focused on chronic disease prevention and management.

Misra’s last day at the School of Public Health will be August 15, 2025.