About
Dr. Jody Nicholson is a Full Professor and the Graduate Program Coordinator for the health psychology program within the Department of Psychology in the College of Behavioral, Social, and Health Sciences at Clemson University. She received her doctorate from the University of Notre Dame in developmental psychology and gained postdoctoral training in pediatric psychology from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Her research focuses on health promotion across the lifespan with a focus on systematically evaluating health-promoting interventions and psychological contributors to increasing the likelihood of positive health behavior. She has applied her lens within the fields of developmental and health psychology to topics such as the prevention of lead exposure, second-hand smoke exposure, and obesity for children. Her current work focuses on to the prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) and is site-PI for a study funded by the National Institutes of Aging, Preventing Alzheimer’s with Cognitive Training (PACT; PACTstudy.org; Nicholson, Hudak, Phillips…Edwards, 2021). Within this study she is focusing on participant motivation and intervention acceptability to better understand predictors of adherence, retention, and inclusion of underrepresented individuals. She is an affiliate faculty of Clemson University’s Institute of Engaged Aging.
Visit Dr. Nicholson's Faculty Profile.
How their research is transforming health care
Dr. Nicholson strives to engage in a community-based approach to her research, which ensures that interventions developed to support healthy aging are taking into account the needs, hopes, and contexts of the community. Inherent in this goal of her work is that underrepresented groups are included in research so results can be better generalized and adapted to policy and programming. While her research has examined health in the context of lead and second-hand smoke exposure for children, as well as childhood obesity prevention, she is currently focused on healthy cognitive aging, specifically in the context of preventing ADRD. In summary, Dr. Nicholson’s commitment to community-based and translational research is transforming health care by ensuring that her work is applicable to improving healthy aging for people from a variety of backgrounds, lived experiences, and communities.
Health research keywords
Health promotion, lifespan development, health behavior change, recruitment and retention, healthy aging, ADRD
News and related media
What's Health Got to Do With It? WJCT Public Media Episode: How to keep your brain healthy with Dr. Jody Nicholson, January 14, 2023
The Fight Against Alzheimer's Disease with Jody Nicholson, PhD Neurocareers Podcast, The Institute of Neuroapproaches, LLC Thoughts on healthy aging from an Alzheimer's researcher. Florida Times Union, October 2022
UNF's Forms of Knowing Exhibit Opening. First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross, June 2022 UNF's Lufrano Gallery Art Exhibit. First Coast News, June 2022
