Deepthi S Varma
Director, PhD Program in Epidemiology; Assistant Professor
About Deepthi S Varma
Dr. Varma is a Psychiatric Epidemiologist with extensive research experience in HIV/AIDS prevention interventions, and mental health correlates of intimate partner violence, alcohol and other substance use. Dr. Varma has considerable field experience in rural India specifically working on the reproductive health of women. She previously worked as a Program Officer in the Reproductive Health division at Population Council, New Delhi. India, conducting a large epidemiological study on women, men and health care providers to assess the demand and practices to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health and nutrition outcomes in rural India funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Dr. Varma’s current research focus on women’s health, perinatal mental health, mHealth applications (use of mobile technology to deliver prevention interventions), and community engagement. She is the Director of Work Force Development at HealthStreet – the community engagement initiative at University of Florida and also serves on the Board of Directors at the Healthy Start of North Central Florida Coalition. Dr. Varma is a trained qualitative researcher and leads the biweekly Qualitative Research Colloquium at the College of Public Health and Health Professions. Dr. Varma teaches Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology, and Introduction to Mixed Methods Research.
Accomplishments
CTSI Mentor Academy
2018
·
University of Florida
Global mHealth Research Training Institute
2016
·
NIH Fogarty International Center, NIH Campus, Bethesda, MD
Nominated Member
2015
·
Academy Of Research Excellence (ARE), UF, Clinical and Translational Science Institute
International Research Travel Grant
2015
·
University of Florida International Center (UFIC)
Travel Award
2009
·
First International Conference on Alcohol and HIV, Mumbai, India 2008
Travel Award
2008
·
American Psychopathological Association Meeting, New York
Best Paper Award
2000
·
Scientific Sessions of the 19th Annual Conference of Indian Society of Professional Social Workers, Mysore, India
Dr. Govindaswami Award
1998
·
Best outgoing student in M.Phil in Psychiatric Social Work (1996-1998 batch), National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, India
MPhil Fellowship in Psychiatric Social Work
1996
·
National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, India
Certificate on Eligibility for Lectureship
1996
·
University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, India
Publications
2020
Correlates related to follow-up in a community engagement program in North Central Florida.
Journal of community psychology.
48(8):2723-2739
[DOI] 10.1002/jcop.22450.
[PMID] 32949042.
2020
Recruitment, experience, and retention among women with HIV and hazardous drinking participating in a clinical trial
BMC public health (Online).
20(1)
[DOI] 10.1186/s12889-020-09233-z.
View on:
Publisher’s Site
2020
Sex Differences in Willingness to Participate in Research Based on Study Risk Level Among a Community Sample of African Americans in North Central Florida.
Journal of immigrant and minority health.
[DOI] 10.1007/s10903-020-01015-4.
[PMID] 32328873.
2020
Improving community participation in clinical and translational research: CTSA Sentinel Network proof of concept study.
Journal of clinical and translational science.
4(4):323-330
[DOI] 10.1017/cts.2020.21.
[PMID] 33244413.
2019
Age at menarche and depression: results from the NHANES 2005-2016.
PeerJ.
7
[DOI] 10.7717/peerj.7150.
[PMID] 31223544.
2019
Response to letter.
Journal of psychiatric research.
116
[DOI] 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2018.12.011.
[PMID] 30558836.
2019
Willingness of individuals with eating disorders to participate in health research
International journal of eating disorders (Online).
52(8):914-923
[DOI] 10.1002/eat.23090.
[PMID] 31063267.
2018
A systematic review of the effectiveness of mobile apps for monitoring and management of mental health symptoms or disorders.
Journal of psychiatric research.
107:73-78
[DOI] 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2018.10.006.
[PMID] 30347316.
2018
Conceptualizing trust in community-academic research partnerships using concept mapping approach: A multi-CTSA study.
Evaluation and program planning.
66:70-78
[DOI] 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2017.10.007.
[PMID] 29053983.
2018
Dietary Balance Index-07 and the Risk of Anemia in Middle Aged and Elderly People in Southwest China: A Cross Sectional Study.
Nutrients.
10(2)
[DOI] 10.3390/nu10020162.
[PMID] 29385057.
2018
Interactions between Alcohol Consumption and Adjuvant Hormone Therapy in Relation to Breast Cancer-Free Survival.
Journal of breast cancer.
21(2):158-164
[DOI] 10.4048/jbc.2018.21.2.158.
[PMID] 29963111.
2018
Patterns of smoking initiation during adolescence and young adulthood in South-West China: findings of the National Nutrition and Health Survey (2010-2012).
BMJ open.
8(5)
[DOI] 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019424.
[PMID] 29858407.
2017
Diet diversity and nutritional status among adults in southwest China.
PloS one.
12(2)
[DOI] 10.1371/journal.pone.0172406.
[PMID] 28231308.
2017
Stakeholder Perspectives on Creating and Maintaining Trust in Community-Academic Research Partnerships.
Health education & behavior : the official publication of the Society for Public Health Education.
44(1):182-191
[DOI] 10.1177/1090198116648291.
[PMID] 27230272.
2016
A Research Protocol to Test the Effectiveness of Text Messaging and Reminder Calls to Increase Service Use Referrals in a Community Engagement Program.
JMIR research protocols.
5(2)
[DOI] 10.2196/resprot.5854.
[PMID] 27353040.
2016
Dietary Patterns in Relation to General and Central Obesity among Adults in Southwest China.
International journal of environmental research and public health.
13(11)
[PMID] 27827895.
View on:
PubMed
2016
Gender-Based Violence in Rural Uttar Pradesh, India: Prevalence and Association With Reproductive Health Behaviors.
Journal of interpersonal violence.
31(19):3111-3128
[DOI] 10.1177/0886260515584341.
[PMID] 25948646.
2015
Sustainability: The Critical Piece in a Successful Intervention.
American journal of public health.
105(7)
[DOI] 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302702.
[PMID] 25973814.
2013
Ethical issues in obtaining collateral information on alcohol and drug use: experience from Asia and Africa.
Current opinion in psychiatry.
26(4):330-4
[DOI] 10.1097/YCO.0b013e328361ebd7.
[PMID] 23689550.
2010
Perceptions of HIV risk among monogamous wives of alcoholic men in South India: a qualitative study.
Journal of women's health (2002).
19(4):815-21
[DOI] 10.1089/jwh.2008.0884.
[PMID] 20201705.
2008
Assessment of the effects of social support on adolescents with parents with HIV/AIDS.
American journal of public health.
98(6)
[DOI] 10.2105/AJPH.2007.133140.
[PMID] 18445787.
Grants
Aug 2020
ACTIVE
Training Promotoras/Community Health Workers using Culturally and Linguistically-Appropriate Research Best Practices
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding: UNIV OF MICHIGAN
via NATL INST OF HLTH NCATS
May 2020
ACTIVE
IPA VA Home Modifications for Rural Veterans with Disabilities
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: US DEPT OF VET AFF GAINESVILLE MED CTR
Nov 2019
ACTIVE
Improving Lactation Success in Mothers of Critically Infants Using Personalized Real-Time Biomarker Based Text Messages
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding: UF HEALTH SHANDS HOSPITAL
Sep 2019
ACTIVE
Florida Development in Early Childhood: Adversity and Drug Exposure (FL-DECADE) Study
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NIDA
Sep 2019
– Aug 2020
Autism Field-Initiated Innovative Research Studies Program
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding: US HLTH RESOURCES AND SERV ADMN
Jul 2019
– Sep 2019
Dr. Varma IPA
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: US DEPT OF VET AFF GAINESVILLE MED CTR
May 2019
– Dec 2019
Heath Promotion and Wellness Coalition and UF HealthStreet Deterra Project
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: HEALTH PROMOTION AND WELLNESS COALITION
Sep 2018
– Aug 2020
Identifying patterns of human polysubstance use to guidedevelopment of rodent models
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NIDA
Apr 2018
ACTIVE
Southern HIV and Alcohol Research Consortium (SHARC) Administrative and Research Support Core
Role: Project Manager
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NIAAA
Aug 2017
ACTIVE
Health outcomes and cognitive effects of marijuana use among persons living with HIV/AIDS
Role: Project Manager
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NIDA
Sep 2016
ACTIVE
Effects of experimentally-induced reductions in alcohol consumption on brain cognitive, and clinical outcomes and motivation for changing drinking in older persons with HIV infection
Role: Project Manager
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NIAAA
Aug 2015
– Dec 2020
CTSI Institutional Support
Role: Project Manager
Funding: UF DIV OF SPONSORED RES MATCHING FUNDS
Jul 2011
– May 2017
Transformative Approach To Reduce Research Disparities Towards Drug Abusers
Role: Project Manager
Funding: NATL INST OF HLTH NIDA
Jul 2007
– Aug 2016
Clinical and Translational Science Institute
Role: Project Manager
Funding: UF RESEARCH FOU
Education
Post-Doctoral Fellowship
2008
·
National Institutes of Health (NIH)-Fogarty International Center ICOHRTA training Program in Behavioral Disorders
PhD (Psychiatric Social Work)
2006
·
NIMHANS Deemed University, Bangalore, India
MPhil (Psychiatric Social Work)
1999
·
NIMHANS Deemed University, Bangalore, India
MSW (Master in Social Work)
1994
·
Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India
B.Sc (Bachelor of Science)
1992
·
Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India
Teaching Profile
Courses Taught
2017,2019-2021
PHC6937 Special Topics in Public Health
2020-2021
PHC7918 Independent Study
2014-2020
PHC6946 Public Health Internship
2014-2020
PHC6601 Seminar in Contemporary Public Health Issues
2014-2017
PHC4101 Public Health Concepts
2017
PHC7000 Epidemiology Seminar II: Critical Evaluation, Research Proposals, and Methods
2015
PHC7979 Advanced Research
2021
PHC6941 MPH Applied Practice Experience
Contact Details
Phones:
- Business:
- (352) 294-5941
Emails:
- Business:
- dvarma@ufl.edu