Professor and Director of the Center for Prevention Science. His research emphases include adolescent health promotion, suicide, violence and substance abuse prevention, mental health promotion, sexual health, survey development, and program evaluation. He has published over 200 professional articles in peer-reviewed journals and has delivered more than 300 professional presentations at international, national, and regional conferences. His research studies have been cited in various websites and popular press publications, including Newsweek, WebMD, CBS Medscape and Counseling Today. Dr. King thoroughly enjoys mentoring students on research and has coauthored more than 150 research articles and presentations with students.
In 2001, he received the American Association for Health Education Horizon Award as the nation’s health educator demonstrating prominence in the profession. In 2004, he received the Simon Anderson Faculty Award for his dedication toward the educational advancement of student-athletes. In 2008, he received the UC Teaching Professor of the Year Award (UC Dolly Cohen Award), the most prestigious teaching award distributed at the University of Cincinnati for his excellence in teaching. In 2009, he was inducted into the UC Academy of Fellows in Teaching and Learning and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Toledo College of Health Science and Human Service. In 2017, he received the Mid-Career Research Scientist Award from UC for his sustained productivity in research. He is considered a national expert on adolescent suicide and substance abuse prevention.
He has helped to secure in excess of $3 million in grants and contracts from SAMHSA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction, Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Ohio Department of Health, Ohio Department of Education, and various other health organizations. He collaborated with Johns Hopkins and NIOSH to secure external funding to train undergraduate students on how to conduct public health research.
Dr. King is an active member of the American School Health Association, American Academy of Health Behavior, and the Society for Public Health Education. He is the former Chair of the Research Council for the American School Health Association and has consulted for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Registry of Effective Programs, and the National Institute for Occupational Health. He also serves as the Cincinnati Regional Epidemiologist for the Ohio Substance Abuse Network of the Ohio Mental Health and Addiction Services. He has developed various statewide projects for the Ohio Department of Health, Ohio Department of Education, Ohio Mental Health and Addiction Services, Ohio Department of Medicaid, and various other agencies. He served as the primary investigator evaluating the efficacy of a statewide project assisting mothers who are addicted to opiates. Currently, he is the Primary Investigator for a multi-year grant from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction which is aimed at developing a statewide suicide postvention infrastructure throughout Ohio.
Dr. King worked for several years in an inpatient psychiatric facility for adolescents, assisted the Southern Health Board of County Cork, Ireland in developing teen suicide and drug prevention efforts, and has assisted numerous schools, communities, coalitions, health departments and state agencies in establishing adolescent substance abuse, violence and suicide prevention initiatives. He believes that helping children and adolescents to become positively connected to positive people and positive situations, especially their family, school and community, is critical to their overall engagement in healthy behaviors.
