Contact
Email: mxm194786@miami.edu
Roles
Associate Professor
Lead, Education Vertical for the Department of Informatics and Health Data Science
Core Faculty Member: Frost Institute for Data Science and Computing, Media and Innovation Lab
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Biography
Mairead Eastin Moloney received a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2009. Subsequently, she held postdoctoral fellowships in both research (2009-2011, Program on Integrative Medicine in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and teaching (2011-2014, Department of Sociology at North Carolina State University).
In 2014, she joined the University of Kentucky as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology. From January 2017- December of 2018, Dr. Moloney was a scholar in the NIH-supported Building Interdisciplinary Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) program. Dr. Moloney was promoted to Associate Professor, with tenure, in 2020. She also served as affiliate faculty for the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, the Center for Health Equity Transformation, The Appalachian Studies Program, and the Health, Society, and Populations major.
In her research, Dr. Moloney strives to reduce sleep disparities, and was particularly focused on improving outcomes for health disparity and marginalized populations in Appalachian Kentucky and beyond. In September of 2021, she was awarded her first NIH R01: "Restoring Equitable Sleep Time (REST) in Appalachia." This longitudinal study will recruit 400 adults from Eastern Kentucky and track their sleep and health habits over time. Using qualitative, quantitative, and biometric methods this research assesses factors that may contribute to Eastern Kentucky's ranking as one of the nation's largest hotspots of insufficient sleep.
Dr. Moloney also works with Dr. Jessica Weafer (The Ohio State University, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health) to better understand the relationship between sleep and alcohol use. Drs. Moloney and Weafer were awarded an NIH R21 to evaluate Sleep Healthy Using the Internet (SHUTi) (an online cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia) in heavy drinking adults with insomnia and are leveraging their promising findings for an R01 application.
In addition to her sleep-focused research, Dr. Moloney was interested in the reduction of preterm birth in Appalachian women, medicalization, virtual manhood acts, and the intersection of gender and disability. She published on these topics in a wide range of journals including: the American Journal of Public Health, Sociology of Health and Illness, Health Equity, Journal of Rural Health, Gender & Society, Men and Masculinities?, and Journal of Applied Gerontology.
In 2024 she joined the Department of Informatics and Health Data Science at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. In addition to her research, Dr. Moloney will lead the Education Vertical for the Department. She is also a member of the Frost Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC) and the Media and Innovation Lab. As part of the IDSC Population Health Informatics team under Dr. Azizi Seixas, Dr. Moloney's research will focus on the use of digital technologies to increase health equity, particularly as it applies to women and individuals living in underserved regions of the U.S. -
Education & Training
Education
Post Graduate Training
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Teaching Interests
U.S. Heathcare System, Informatics, Social Determinants of Health, Sociology of Mental Health, Medical Ethics -
Research Interests
Dr. Moloney aims to restore health equity to underserved populations using novel digital health. She typically employs mixed-method, longitudinal designs, grounded in the intersectional perspective, to better understand how health disparities are initiated and perpetuated. Her work explores chronic disease in underserved populations, rural health, and women’s health. Dr. Moloney often highlights the role of health behaviors (e.g., sleep, alcohol use) in influencing short- and long-term health outcomes. In all of her projects, she uses digital technologies for health assessment and /or intervention. -
Publications
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