Melissa Zullo, Ph.D, MPH

Melissa D. Zullo, Ph.D., M.P.H., is Associate Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs and Professor of Epidemiology in the College of Public Health and Health Sciences at Kent State University. Since joining the founding faculty of the College in 2009, she has played a central role in its growth and development, helping to establish academic programs, accreditation processes, faculty initiatives, and strategic partnerships that have strengthened the College’s impact on students, communities, and the public health workforce. As Associate Dean, she provides leadership for academic affairs, faculty affairs, enrollment management, accreditation & assessment, and student success initiatives. Throughout her tenure at Kent State, Dr. Zullo has championed innovation in public health education, leading the development of new degree programs, graduate certificates, STEM-designated curricula, and interdisciplinary partnerships that respond to evolving workforce needs. Her leadership has also extended beyond the College through university-wide service, including pandemic response planning, faculty governance, and major institutional transformation initiatives. Dr. Zullo serves as the Vice President of the Kent City Board of Health. She remains committed to advancing student success, supporting faculty excellence, and strengthening the role of higher education in improving the health and well-being of communities.

Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities

DR Mead, IP Rios, T Mallers, M Zullo, JJ Dong. Factors of Survival on Dialysis in SNF: Consideration for NPs. Geratric Nursing. Online early release, 2026. 

Lorriane Odhiambo, Peggy Stephens, Vinay Cheruvu, Melissa Zullo. Enhancing Disease and Management Knowledge Among Black Americans with Asthma or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). American Journal of Health Promotion, 36(4), 654-657. 2025

Juan Carlos Gutierrez, Melissa Zullo, Seth Sclair, Sidhartha Tavri. Predictors of Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt (TIPS) Procedure: A Retrospective Single-Center Study. Cureus 16(7). 2024 

AB Petrinec, C Wilk, JW Hughes, MD Zullo, RL George. Self-Care Mental Health App Intervention for Post–Intensive Care Syndrome–Family: A Randomized Pilot Study. American Journal of Critical Care. 2023

Katrina Terry, Mohamed Makhlouf, Salah E Altarabsheh, Melissa Zullo, Vaishali Deo, Fanny Petermann-Rocha, Yakov Elgudin, Khurram Nasir, Sanjay Rajagopalan, Sadeer Al-Kindi, Salil Deo. The Influence of Place-Based Social Determinants of Health on Temporal Changes in Cardiovascular Mortality. American Journal of Preventive Cardiology. 2023

Lorriane A Odhiambo, Alexander J Marion, Thomas R Callihan, Alison E Harmatz, Joy A Yala, Kristina Bundy, Melissa D Zullo. The Effectiveness of the DeskCycle in Reducing Sedentary Behavior among Female Office Workers. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health. 2023

LA Odhiambo, E Anaba, PC Stephens, VK Cheruvu, MD Zullo. Community-Based Approaches to Assess Obstructive Respiratory Diseases and Risk in Urban African American Churches. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. 2023

A Petrinec, C Wilk, JW Hughes, MD Zullo, YJ Chen, PA Palmieri. Delivering Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Post–Intensive Care Syndrome–Family via a Mobile Health App. American Journal of Critical Care. 2021

AB Petrinec, JW Hughes, MD Zullo, C Wilk, RL George. Smartphone delivery of cognitive behavioral therapy for post-intensive care syndrome-family: protocol for a pilot study. JMIR research protocols. 2021

Andrew J Patterson, Anuja Sarode, Sadeer Al-Kindi, Lauren Shaver, et al. Evaluation of Dyspnea of unknown Etiology in HIV Patients with Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing and Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance. Dec 2020. 22:1-12

Sadeer G Al-Kindi, Anuja Sarode, Melissa Zullo, Sanjay Rajagopalan, Mahboob Rahman, Thomas Hostetter, Mirela Dobre. Serum Bicarbonate Concentration and Cause-Specific Mortality: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2010. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Jan 2020 

Sadeer G Al-Kindi, Anuja Sarode, Melissa Zullo, Sanjay Rajagopalan, Rick Burnett, Huang Wei. Ambient Air Pollution and Mortality after Cardiac Transplantation. Journal of American College of Cardiology. Dec 2019. 

Aditya Khetan, Melissa Zullo, Anitha Rani, Rishab Gupta, Raghunandan Purushothaman, Navkaranbir S Bajaj, Sushil Agarwal, Sri Krishna Madan Mohan, Richard Josephson. Effect of a community health worker-based approach to integrated cardiovascular risk factor control in India: a cluster randomized controlled trial. Global Heart September 2019.