The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing is proud to announce the appointment of Karen Glanz, PhD, MPH as the first Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) Professor in the School of Nursing, effective July 1, 2009. Her appointment will be shared between the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing, and she will lead a new center focused on research and training in health behaviors.

With this appointment, Dr. Glanz now joins 8 other PIK professors in the University. The PIK is an initiative conceived to recruit scholars who hold Professorships and joint appointments between Penn Schools and whose research and teaching exemplifies the integration of knowledge. This prestigious group made up of diverse membership is aimed at having integrated knowledge from different discipline and professional perspective in teaching and research.

Dr. Glanz specializes in the impact of behavior on health, especially the modification of risks for cancer and obesity. Dr Glanz is also a senior author and editor of Health Education (1995), now in its third edition, the definitive book in its field. Additionally, she has published over 270 journal articles and book chapters. She has also developed, implemented, and evaluated interventions to reduce incidence, morbidity and mortality of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

Dr Glanz has received several honors among which are the Prestigious Elizabeth Fries Health Education Award from James and Sara Fries Foundation (2007) and Fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine (2008). She has also been honored severally by the American Public Health Association for her research and theory contributions. She is currently Charles Howard Candler Professor and Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Research Scholar in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.  She taught previously at the University of Hawaii and Temple University and earned a PhD (1979), MPh (1977), and BA (1974) from the University of Michigan.