Lorenzo N. Hopper is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Community Health. The common theme across his degree programs, service, and scholarly interests is health equity for all. This theme connects his passions for public health with a specific interest in improving maternal, child, and family health (MCH) outcomes and student wellness.
He received his PhD in Maternal and Child Health from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Gilling’s School of Global Public Health in 2020 and his Master of Public Health degree from East Carolina University in 2013.
Dr. Hopper has served as a part-time adjunct, Lecturer, and MPH Program Director. Dr. Hopper teaches both undergraduate and Master of Public Health graduate courses. Lorenzo’s areas of research interest include fatherhood, men’s health, and the pursuit of health equity. Special populations include children and first-generation students. In 2024, Dr. Hopper was selected as elected as one of 10 early and mid-career public health faculty members to the National Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Workforce Development Center Faculty Development Fellowship Program at Diverse Institutions. He is also a research fellow at The Moynihan Institute for Fatherhood Research and Policy
Dr. Hopper established and co-leads a faculty and student-led Charlotte MCH Workgroup. Our group aims to foster pathways for intersectional collaborations in order to strengthen effective and comprehensive MCH work that benefits the community. He also co-advises the SHAPE (Students Helping Advance Preconception Education) program at UNC Charlotte. Email him for more information.
Education
- PhD – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Maternal and Child
Health - MPH – East Carolina University, Epidemiology
- B.A. – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chemistry
Teaching
- HLTH 6471 – MPH Internship
- HLTH 6280 – Epidemiology Capstone
- HLTH 6225 – Health Education and Health Promotion
- HLTH 6220 – Applied Health Behavior Change
- HLTH 6211 – Evidence-Based Methods
- HLTH 6000: Interprofessional Approaches to MCH
- HLTH 4215: Health Disparities HLTH 2101 – Healthy Lifestyles
- HLTH 3104 – Research and Statistics in Health
- HLTH 3106 – Determinants of Health
Research Interests/Areas of Expertise
- Community-based Participatory Research
- Maternal and Child Health: Father Engagement
- Men’s Health
- Student Wellness
Honors/Awards
- MCH Faculty Fellowship Awardee, 2024
- 2022 Community Voice Award, presented by Carolina Youth Coalition
- Faculty Research Grant Awardee, 2022
- Delta Omega – Beta Phi Chapter Honorary Society in Public Health, 2021
- Presidential Service Volunteer Award, Bronze, 2020
Selected Publications
- Hopper, L.N., Yada, F.N., Lacci-Reilly, K., Butts, S., Abdulkareem, O. (2024) A Picture of Perfect Mental Health: Exploring barriers and facilitators to first-generation college student wellness through photovoice. Journal for First-Generation Student Success, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/26906015.2024.2415091
- Shears, J. Bolar, C.; Hopper, L.N., Wilbon, M., Miller, D., Rudd, C., Smith, A. (2024) Barriers to and Facilitators of paternal engagement for Black fathers in Fulton County, Georgia. Families in Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/10443894241270255
- Baxter, S, Hopper, L.N., & Spinner, C. (2024) Correlates of sexual behavior across fatherhood
status: Finding from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescents to Adult Health (Add
Health), 2016-2018. American Journal of Men’s Health. 18(2).
http://doi.org/10.1177/15579883241239770 - Lacci-Reilly, KR, Brunner Huber, LR, Quinlan, MM, Hutchison, CB, & Hopper, LN. (2023). A review of miscarriage and healthcare communication in the United States. Health communication, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2023.2245205
- Hopper, LN, Shanahan, M, Vines, A, Daniels, J, Bharathi, Z, Hussey, J. (2021). Fathers and child health behaviors: assessing father engagement, early childhood diet, and screen time in a national sample of US children. HPHR; 36.
- Bowling J, Hopper LN, Cantu-Backhaus Z, Williams C, Butler K, & Yount L. (2020). “A beacon of the community we stand in”: Standardizing peer sex education at higher education institutions in the South. Sex Education. DOI: 10.1080/14681811.2020.1807315
- Parry K, Tully KP, Hopper LN, Schildkamp, P, Labbok, M. (2018) “Evaluation of Ready,
Set, BABY: a prenatal breastfeeding education and counseling approach.” Birth DOI: 10.1111/birt.12393 - Hopper LN, Blackman KF, Barnes K, Page RA., Rivera AI., Gizlice Z., Carter-Edwards, L. (2017). “Seeds of HOPE: Dissemination of a Weight-Loss and Empowerment Intervention” NCMJ 78(4): 230-236
