Rita Debate, Ph. D.
College of Public Health · Community and Family Health






Came to USF: 2006

Contact Information:
    Academic Office:
    13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. (MDC 56),
    Tampa, FL 33612-3805
    Phone: 813-974-4867; Fax: 813-974-5172
    E-Mail: rdebate@hsc.usf.edu  

Degrees:
    B.S. Psychology SUNY Geneseo
    M.P.H. University of South Carolina 1991
    Ph.D. University of South Carolina 1995

Associate Professor

Discipline: 
    Health Education and Behavior
    

Specialization: 
     Program Planning 
     Evaluate Obesity 
     Eating Disorder
 

Other Information:
 Curriculum Vitae

Dr. DeBate received her Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1995. She joined the Department of Community and Family Health faculty in the summer of 2006, leaving a position at Old Dominion University where she was an Associate Professor and the Assistant Program Director of the MPH program.  A CHES certified health educator, Dr. DeBate teaches the Case Studies in Public Health Education course and a new one-credit introductory course called the Professional Foundations of Health Education.

 

For over ten years, Dr. DeBate has focused on eating disorders prevention, nutrition, and obesity.  She has secured multiple grants to fund projects such as Computer-Assisted Assessment of the Intra-Individual Variability and Level of Real-Life Body Image Experiences, and Increasing Behavioral Capacity Among Dental Practitioners via a Web-based Secondary Prevention Tool Kit.  Her current research includes Dental Practitioners and Eating Disorders Prevention, a NIH funded project, and Assessment of Self-esteem, Eating Behaviors, Body Image and Physical Activity Attitudes and Behaviors among 3-5th Grade Girls.

 

Dr. DeBate is very active in professional societies and community service. In 2005, she was elected to the American Academy of Health Behavior (AAHB) Board and serves as the Co-Editor of the AAHB Newsletter. 

 

CFH