MARINO A. BRUCE, PH.D., M.S.R.C., M.DIV. 

Marino A. Bruce, Ph.D., M.S.R.C., M.Div., is associate dean for research at the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine and is responsible for maintaining and expanding the research infrastructure of the college. In addition, he is a clinical professor in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences and holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Health Systems and Population Health Sciences. He will be contributing to the education and research missions of the college as a faculty member and research investigator respectively. 

A sociologist with an interdisciplinary background, Bruce examines the full range of determinants as they relate to the onset and progression of chronic diseases among African American males over the life course and across generations.  This work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) predoctoral, postdoctoral and early career research awards and related publications can be found in leading nephrology, public health, and men’s health journals.

Bruce is also active in several professional societies. He co-leads the Community and Faith-based Research Subcommittee for the Network of Minority Research Investigators for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and is serving a three-year appointment on the Publications Committee of the American Public Health Association.  He was recently elected to a three-year term on the board of directors for the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science. 

He is a former editor of Research on Race and Ethnic Relations, current associate editor of Ethnicity and Disease and Behavioral Medicine, and co-editor of two recent books, Men’s Health Equity and Racism: Science and Tools for the Public Health Professional.

Bruce earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Davidson College and master’s degrees in rural sociology, divinity, and rehabilitation counseling from North Carolina State University, Piedmont Theological Seminary, and Winston Salem State University, respectively. He earned his doctorate in sociology from North Carolina State University and received postdoctoral training in family medicine from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and in biobehavioral health from Duke University.

He is also an ordained Baptist minister and is committed to leveraging his professional, educational, and clerical experiences to improve health among marginalized populations. His current work – to develop and evaluate comprehensive biopsychosocial models that specify how faith can “get under the skin” to slow declines in physical and cognitive functioning among African American men during middle and late life – has been featured by numerous global media outlets, including USA Today, The Today Show, and Time Magazine.