Faculty Profile for Dr. Melinda Villagran

profile photo for Dr. Melinda Villagran
Dr. Melinda Villagran
Professor — Department of Communication Studies
Program Faculty — Translational Health Research Center
NUEC 247
phone: (512) 245-4044
Scholarly/Creative Work
Awards
Grants
Service

Biography Section

Biography and Education

 Melinda Villagran is a professor and Executive Director of the Translational Health Research Center at Texas State University. She leads academic, public, and corporate research partnerships that seek new solutions to improve resilience and health outcomes. Dr. Villagran is currently the Principal Investigator for the Mental Health M.A.P. (Monitoring and Assessment Program) research program and the Visualizing Mental Health research program, both of which are funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to improve mental healthcare access and quality in Central Texas. She is also the PI for a research program funded by the McCoy Foundation to explore the role of relational values in workplace. In 2024, Dr. Villagran was appointed by Gov. Abbott to take part in a Texas Healthcare Workforce Task Force that created policy recommendations to address issues related to healthcare workforce shortages across the state. She formerly served as Co-PI of the Accelerating Credentials of Value research program, which was funded by the Texas Higher Education Board to develop evidence-based skill development opportunities for the healthcare workforce. During her academic career, Dr. Villagran has served as a professor, department chair, graduate program director, research center director, chair of the Council on Funded Research, and as a PI and Co-PI on numerous research grants from state and federal agencies, and private foundations. She is the recipient of the Texas State Presidential Award for Scholarly and Creative Activity at the professor level, and is the author of two scholarly books and over 65 peer-reviewed research publications.

Teaching Interests

 health communication campaigns and interventions; organizational communication, data analysis and visualization methods, empirical research and statistics, training and development; population and community health disparities; team science

Research Interests

 health communication; healthcare management, quality, and workforce development; interdisciplinary teams; community health interventions; research mentoring; student success

Selected Scholarly/Creative Work

  • Ekren, E. M., Maleki, S., Curran, C. M., Watkins, C. L., & Villagran, M. M. (2025). Health differences between rural and non-rural Texas counties based on 2023 County Health Rankings. BMC Health Services Research, 25(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-12109-2
  • Ekren, E. M., Tomasso, M. E., & Villagran, M. M. (2024). Resilience as a Concept for Convergence Across Health, Systems, and Well-Being: An AI-Augmented Mapping of 50 Years of Resilience Research. Sustainability, 16(23). https://doi.org/10.3390/su162310333
  • Maleki, S., Dede-Bamfo, N., Ekren, E. M., Mohammadalizadehkorde, M., & Villagran, M. M. (2024). Mapping Access to Children’s Hospitals in Texas. Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(2), 140. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21020140
  • Nicotera, A., Villagran, M. M., & Kim, W. (2021). Managing in hospitals. In Handbook of Management Communication (Vol. Cooren, F. & Stücheli-Herlach, P. (2021). Handbook of Management Communication. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton., pp. 477–490). Boston, MA, US: Degruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501508059
  • MacArthur, B. L., Dailey, S. L., & Villagran, M. M. (2016). Understanding healthcare providers’ professional identification: The role of interprofessional communication in the vocational socialization of physicians. Journal of Interprofessional Education & Practice, 5, 11–17. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xjep.2016.09.001

Selected Awards

  • Award / Honor Recipient: Showcase Seminar Distinguished Scholar Award, University of Oklahoma. 2018 - Present
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Currently Serving Spouse Advisory award, Military Officers of America. 2009 - Present
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Presidential Award for Scholarly and Creative Activity. 2014
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Rockefeller Brothers Fund Mentor for Students of Color Entering the Teaching Profession. 2003
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Teaching Award of Merit. 2009

Selected Grants

  • Villagran, Melinda Morris (Principal). Psychometric Properties of The Relational Values Assessment, McCoy Foundation/ McCoy's Building Supply, Private, $45000. (Funded: January 2025 - January 2026). Grant.
  • Villagran, Melinda M. (Principal). Visualizing Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Federal, $997000. (Funded: October 1, 2023 - September 30, 2025). Grant.
  • Villagran, Melinda M. (Principal). Community Health and Economic Resilience Research, State of Texas, State, $5100000. (Funded: October 1, 2021 - October 1, 2023). Grant.
  • Villagran, Melinda M.. Central Texas Mental Health M.A.P. (Monitoring & Assessment Program), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Federal, $2000000. (Funded: September 2021 - September 2025). Grant.
  • Villagran, Melinda Morris (Principal), Burney, Marsha N (Supporting), Keeley-Vassberg, Maureen (Supporting). Networx: A Virtual Safety Net to Improve Postpartum Health, St Davids Foundation, Private / Foundation / Corporate, $289633. (Submitted: October 2017, Funded: January 2018 - August 2020). Grant.

Selected Service Activities

Director
Texas State Health Scholar Showcase
January 2017-2024
Chair
Texas State Council on Funded Research
2017-2021
Chair
Translational Health Research Initiative
2016-2020
Co-Chair
LBJ Distinguished Lecture Series
2016-2018
Chair
University Strategic Planning Process - Innovation "Read Across"
2017