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Associate Professor
Department
Health & Wellness Design
Education
- B.S. Psychology, Neuroscience Indiana University 2007
- M.S. Clinical Psychology IUPUI 2009
- Ph.D. Clinical Psychology IUPUI 2013
- Postdoctoral Research in Medical Neuropsychology Kent State University 2015
Background
Grants, Awards, and Honors
- NIH/NIDDK - K23DK103941 Cognitive and Self-regulatory Mechanisms of Obesity Study (The COSMOS Trial (Role: PI)
- NIH/NIGMS - P20GM109097 Neurotrophic Indicators of Cognition, Executive Skills, Plasticity, and Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (NICE SPACES) (Role: Research Project Leader)
- NIH/NIGMS - U54GM104938 - Pilot of Weight Reduction in Under-represented Populations (POWER-UP Trial) (Role: PI of Pilot Project)
- NIH/NHLBI - F31 HL152620 Acute Inflammatory Effects of Weight Stigma in Overweight/Obesity (Role: Primary Mentor/Sponsor)
- NIH/NIA - R36 AG072342 - Differential Impact of ACEs and Aging on Brain Health (Role: Primary Mentor)
- Recipient and Ambassador of the NIH Loan Repayment Program – National Institutes of Health
- Scholar of the 2018 Health Disparities Research Institute – National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
- Fellow of the 2015 NIH Summer Institute on Randomized Behavioral Clinical Trials – National Institutes of Health
- Scholar of the 2014 Young Investigator Colloquium – American Psychosomatic Society
Scholarly Interest
Dr. Hawkins is a clinical health psychologist and behavioral medicine researcher on a mission to understand the relationships between cognitive factors (e.g., executive function), emotional factors (e.g. depression), chronic diseases (e.g., obesity, cardiovascular disease) and health behaviors (e.g., eating, exercise) -- as they exist in and are impacted by larger socioeconomic contexts.
She was the recipient of a K23 Career Development Award from NIDDK to examine cognitive factors related to behavioral weight loss interventions and was a Research Project Leader on a project examining neurotrophic factors related to early life adversity and obesity funded by the NIGMS. She has a thriving partnership with Cherokee Nation (Talequah, OK) to examine behavioral weight loss interventions in Indigenous populations and completed a funded pilot of acceptance-based weight loss therapy in collaboration with the Oklahoma Shared Clinical and Translational Research center.
Dr. Hawkins has a commitment to mentoring trainees from under-represented and disadvantaged background (she is a first generation college student herself) and has helped her mentees secure NIH funding for their dissertation work (e.g., R36 from NIA, F31 from NHLBI).
Selected Publications
Articles
Hawkins, M.A.W., Gunstad, J., Dolanksy, M., Redle, J.D., Josephson, R., Moore, S.M., & Hughes, J.W. (2014) Greater body mass index is associated with poorer cognitive functioning in male heart failure patients. Journal of Cardiac Failure, 20, 199-206.
Hawkins, M.A.W., Alosco, M.L., Spitznagel, M.B., Strain, G., Devlin M., Cohen, R., Crosby, R.D., Mitchell,
J.E., & Gunstad, J. (2015). Reduced inflammation is not associated with cognitive gains after bariatric surgery. Psychosomatic Medicine: Special Issue 'Diabetes, Obesity, and the Brain,' _77, 688-696.
Hawkins, M.A.W., Gunstad, J., Calvo, D., & Spitznagel, MB (2016). Higher fasting glucose is associated
with poorer cognition among healthy young adults. Health Psychology, 35, 199-202.
Hawkins, M.A.W., Colaizzi, J., Gunstad, J., Hughes, J.W., Mullins, L.L. Betts, N., Smith, C.E., Keirns, N.G.,
Vohs, K.D., Moore, S.M., Forman, E., Lovallo, W.R. (2018). Cognitive and Self-regulatory Mechanisms of Obesity Study (COSMOS): Study protocol for a randomized controlled weight loss trial examining change in biomarkers, cognition, and self-regulation across two behavioral treatments. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 66, 20-27.
Hawkins, M.A.W., Keirns, N.G., & Helms, Z. (2018). Cognitive function and carbohydrates. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care, 21, 302-307.
Hawkins, M.A.W., Ciciolla, L., Colaizzi, J., Keirns, N.G., Smith, C.E., Stout, M.E., Addante, S.M., Armans, M., & Erato, G. (2020). Adverse childhood experiences and cognitive function among adults with excess adiposity. Obesity Science & Practice, 1-10.
Gunstad, J. Sanborn, V. & Hawkins, M.A.W (2020). Cognitive dysfunction as a risk factor for overeating behaviors and obesity. American Psychologist, 75, 219-234.
Hawkins, M.A.W., Colaizzi, J.M., Cole, A.B., Keirns, N.G., Smith, C.E., Stout, M.E., Chaney, J., Sawhney, M., & Gahn, D. (2021). Pilot trial of acceptance-based behavioral weight loss and neurocognition among American Indians. Behavior Therapy, 52, 350-364.
Hawkins, M.A.W., Layman, H., Ganson, K.T., Tabler, J., Ciciolla, L., Tsotsoros, C., Nagata, J. (2021).
Adverse childhood events and cognitive function among young adults: Prospective results from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Child Abuse & Neglect, 115, 105008.
Hawkins, M.A.W., Keirns, N.G., Baraldi, A., Layman, H., Smith, C.E., Stout, M.E., Gunstad, J., Hildebrand, D., Vohs, K.D. & Lovallo, W.R. (2021). Baseline associations between biomarkers, neurocognitive function, and self-regulation indices in the Cognitive and Self-regulatory Mechanisms of Obesity Study (COSMOS). Obesity Science and Practice, 1-13.