Debra L. Murphy, Ph.D., M.P.H. is a Professor of Psychology.  She is also the project director and principal investigator (PI) for the HT Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department’s Chronic Disease Prevention and Control Putting Prevention to Work Subrecipient Grant  Award.  Dr. Murphy has taught all of the courses in the psychology major area including statistics, research methods, and program evaluation.  She presently serves as editor of HT’s first research journal.  She is a member of the American Psychological Association, the International Society on AIDS, and the American Public Health Association, for which she serves as a reviewer of HIV/AIDS abstracts submitted to the annual convention.

Dr. Murphy received a B.S. in psychology from the University of New Mexico, a M.A. and Ph.D. in social psychology from Texas Christian University (TCU) and a postdoctoral M.P.H. in socio-medical sciences from the Columbia University School of Public Health’s Social Stress and Mental Health Training Program where she taught graduate school.  Prior to relocating from New York City to Austin, she was engaged in teaching, research, and program evaluation, at the Columbia University School of Public Health, the New York State Division of Substance Abuse Services/Narcotics Drug Research, Inc., and other agencies.   She has brought in millions of dollars in federal grants, serving as PI for innumerable initiatives focused on research, prevention/intervention, health promotion and education, advocacy, mentoring, and program evaluation in Harlem and other underserved communities.  The grants have targeted the eradication of racial health and mental health disparities (HIV/AIDS, substance use, tobacco use, violence prevention, eHealth, stress, youth, women’s health, and other areas).  At HT, she has continued this work, with several of her grant projects being considered models for emulation (eHealth; student peer HIV/AIDS educators; and the tobacco free initiative).  The eHealth initiative workshops have been CEU accredited for nurses, social workers, counselors, and psychologists.

Invited addresses on her research have been presented at scholarly venues throughout the United States, Canada and Europe including Amsterdam and Spain.  Dr. Murphy has authored or coauthored chapters and articles with publishing houses and journals, including: John Wiley and Sons, Sage Press, Salem Press, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Journal of the National Medical Association (JNMA), Advances in Alcohol and Substance Abuse (AASA), the National Institute on Drug Abuse Research Monograph, and others.  She is a recent past recipient of the Texas State Representative Garnet F. Coleman Eternal Flame Award for her campus-community collaborative work in underserved neighborhoods.  She was recognized by Who’s Who Among American Teachers.