Faculty Spotlight – Dr. Nicole Marlow

Nicole Marlow, PhD, MSPH, speaks to her experience teaching and researching within the Department of Health Services Research, Management and Policy for the last nine and a half years.

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Nicole Marlow, PhD, MSPH

Dr. Nicole Marlow began her Gator career nearly ten years ago when she joined the Department of Health Services Research, Management and Policy to further research as well as instruct within the Master of Health Administration and Master of Public Health graduate programs.

Her educational role as Research Assistant Professor involves teaching courses such as Healthcare Data Analytics I & II and Evidence Based Management of Public Health Programs to students – courses which teach future health care administrators and public health managers how to make data-driven and evidence-based decisions.

Marlow’s research endeavors focus on the mental health care needs of individuals with disabilities, especially those with severe mental illness – including those who suffer from suicidality. As a researcher, she most appreciates the opportunity to engage with the community to make her research most applicable to individuals with mental health care needs.

Most recently, Marlow was invited to participate as a member of the 988 Formative Research People with Disabilities Guidance Panel as a part of the 988 Formative Research Project, a combined effort of several allied groups including Action Alliance. (For more about the efforts see the Action Alliance 988 Messaging Task Force website.)

While her passion for research extends to the community she studies, it also motivates her toward the students whom she teaches and mentors.

Mentoring future researchers and watching them become fruitful in their own careers is what draws her to work, Marlow states. These students, in turn, also have “taught” her.

“I have learned quite a bit on how to engage students in class from the [UF MHA] students I teach,” Marlow says. “They are so creative at finding ways to involve their audience other than your standard Kahoot!”

To current students, aspiring faculty, hopeful researchers and future healthcare leaders, Marlow encourages that there is no point of arrival, “but rather a path that leads to further growth and change.”

Outside of work, Dr. Marlow enjoys cooking HelloFresh meals and feeling like a gourmet chef. She also listens to audiobooks while walking her golden retriever and loves to visit family in Georgia and the Carolinas.