Frank T. Materia, PhD, MHS, CHES

Professional Background

Dr. Frank T. Materia grew up in the City of Reading, Pennsylvania. He received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Biobehavioral Health from The Pennsylvania State University, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Translational Science from the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, and a Master of Health Science (MHS) degree. He is also a Certified Health Education Specialist and has completed a postgraduate certification in Implementation Science. He moved to Kansas City in 2020 to complete postdoctoral training in community-based health research and implementation science at Children’s Mercy Hospital-Kansas City (CMH), where he was also awarded The American Diabetes Association’s Leveraging Lifestyle for Diabetes Prevention Across the Lifespan Fellowship.

Dr. Materia is a health scientist with expertise in behavioral medicine, mobile and digital health program/intervention development, implementation science, and community-engaged research. Throughout his academic career, he has garnered consistent institutional, extramural, and foundation awards to fund his research and training. In 2023, he joined the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) faculty in the Departments of Otolaryngology and Population Health as a tenure-track Assistant Professor. He also has an appointment in the KUMC Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Wichita), serves as Associate Director of KUMC's Program in Digital Mental Health, and is the Associate Scientific Director of the Digital Health Co/Lab (Co/Lab) at the University of Kansas.

Through his leadership across KUMC digital health-focused programs, appointments in KUMC institutes and centers, and various roles in the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Dr. Materia helps to advance collaborative translational health research across multiple disciplines. He has many years of experience in team science, specifically in successfully bridging communication between academic medical researchers, private sector engineers, and clinicians in developing digital health-based monitoring and intervention programs. He is a member of the Center for Children's Healthy Lifestyles and Nutrition, University of Kansas Cancer Center's Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Frontiers Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and KUMC's Landon Center on Aging. He holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics at The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Medicine where he collaborates closely with the UMKC Community Health Research Group.

• BS, Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
• MHS, Clinical Health Science, Saint Francis University, Loretto, PA
• MS, Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
• PhD, Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
• Post Doctoral Fellowship, Implementation Science and Community-Engaged Research, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO
• Post Doctoral Fellowship, Chronic Disease Across the Lifespan, American Diabetes Association, United States

• American Head and Neck Society, Member, 2025 - Present
• American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Member, 2023 - Present
• International Society for Research on Internet Interventions, Member, 2023 - Present
• Society of Behavioral Medicine, Member, 2017 - Present

Research

Overview

Broadly Dr. Materia’s research interests focus on mobile health (i.e., mHealth) and investigating how wireless portable technologies (e.g., smartphones, smartwatches, text messaging, mobile web) can be utilized to deliver (all or portions of) face-to-face clinical and behavioral interventions, as well as monitor biopsychosocial health processes as patients go about their daily lives (e.g., via wearables, apps, momentary self-report methods). This research centers specifically on implementation science in mHealth and aims to evaluate how various patient-centered (e.g., acceptability, age, tech literacy, socioeconomics) and process-specific (e.g., tech design, clinical workflow, technical support, healthcare/provider integration) factors affect the successful implementation, uptake, dissemination, and sustainability of digital health programs. The overarching goal of this work is to enhance the reach and affordability of traditional in-person medical care and monitoring for hard-to-reach patient populations using innovative technologies and methods.

His research grants have a strong focus on developing and/or adapting face-to-face clinical and behavioral assessment/intervention techniques to go mobile via digital and wearable health technologies. His team has cultivated strong collaborative ties with urban Kansas City faith-based institutions, rural communities across Kansas, UMKC’s School of Medicine, The Children’s Mercy Hospital-Kansas City, Jackson County government, urban communities in the Mid-Atlantic region, rural groups in Appalachia, and internationally with low-resource populations in Sub-Saharan Africa.