Dr. Sonia Alemagno Named Interim Vice President for Research

On July 1, 2010, Dr. Sonia Alemagno, professor of health policy and management and interim associate dean for the College of Public Health at Kent State University, will assume the role of interim vice president for research. She will succeed Dr. John West, who will return to a faculty position.

Under the direction of the vice president for research, Kent State’s Division of Research and Sponsored Programs helps faculty and staff secure external funding to support their research and instructional and public service projects. Major institutes that operate under the auspices of Research and Sponsored Programs include the Liquid Crystal Institute and the Institute for the Study and Prevention of Violence. In her new role, Alemagno also will oversee the university’s Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development and Office of Research Safety and Compliance.

Alemagno joined Kent State in 2009 to assist in the development of the new College of Public Health. She was previously the chair of the Department of Public Administration and Urban Studies and director of the Institute for Health and Social Policy at the University of Akron. Prior to her faculty positions, Alemagno served as the associate director in the Office of Research Administration at Case Western Reserve University, responsible for medical school grants and biotechnology transfer.

Alemagno’s honors include a National Institutes on Health Career Development Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the University of Akron Outstanding Researcher Award in 2005. In addition, she has been the principal investigator on research projects and Small Business Innovation Research funded by the National Institutes on Health, the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institute of Justice and the SAMSHA Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.

Alemagno earned a master of arts in sociology from Kent State in 1984 and a doctor of philosophy degree in medical sociology from Case Western Reserve University in 1991.

She resides in Russell, Ohio.

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Media Contact:
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595