Island University Continues International Partnership with Iranian Researchers
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – In a partnership that transcends international borders to advance research in public health, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi’s Dr. Kamiar Kouzekanani, Professor of Quantitative Methods, and Dr. Hamid Allahverdipour, Professor of Public Health at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in Tabriz, Iran, have been actively conducting scientific inquiries. Since 2017, the pair, with assistance from Iranian doctoral students and faculty members in public health, has published six theory-driven, data-based, and peer-reviewed articles in international journals, suggesting widespread interest in their findings.
“As a native of Iran who came to the USA at the age of 18 to pursue university education, I have had a deep desire to collaborate with the scientists in the old country, which I have found meaningful and productive,” said Kouzekanani.
The most recent studies include “The Role of a Community-Based Intervention in Promoting Helmet use in a Non-Probability Sample of Rural Motorcyclists in Iran, Journal of Community Health” in 2019 and “A Randomized Trial of a Relationship-Enhancement Approach in Improving Marital Intimacy in Middle-Aged Iranian Couples, Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy” in 2018. While the research has mainly focused on Iranians, results have worldwide implications.
“Our 2018 meta-analytical investigation of the effects of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions on low sexual interest/arousal in peri- and post-menopausal women, which was published in Sexual and Relationship Therapy, took nearly two years to complete and has already been cited in other publications,” said Kouzekanani, who teaches research methods and applied statistics graduate level courses in the College of Education and Human Development (COEHD).
The research supports the University’s new “R2 Doctoral University – High Research Activity” classification by Carnegie Commission of Higher Education, a milestone reached in December 2018.
“As a Tier 2 institution, we must continue making connections across disciplines, and as Ernest Boyer had suggested in his seminal 1990 report, remind ourselves that collaborative research efforts are instrumental in achieving the scholarship of inquiry and integration,” said Kouzekanani.
In addition to teaching and conducting research, Kouzekanani has chaired 52 doctoral dissertation committees and served as the methodologist in 55 additional doctoral dissertations since coming to the Island University in 2005. This is by far the most dissertations chaired by a faculty member in Island University history – and an aspect of his job as a university professor Kouzekanani says he enjoys the most.
As a public health advocate, another one of Kouzekanani’s proudest achievements has been completing 101 marathons, which included running a marathon in all 50 states. Kouzekanani says that even though he retired from marathon running in February 2014, he still runs on a daily basis and owes his wellness to it.
