About the BUILDA Team

Dr. Yulong Gu is an Associate Professor of Health Science at Stockton University. Her key research interest is improving healthcare outcomes through innovative information technologies (IT). Thus, her research focuses on how to unleash the power of health IT to transform health care, improve patient outcomes, and reduce health disparity.

Dr. Gu led a 2016 survey study that found more than half of college students were not able to use the Internet effectively to meet their mental health information needs, especially regarding depression. This study inspired the conceptualization of the BUILDA program, which aims to help students improve knowledge, skills, and competency to use the Internet for solving health problems. For a full list of Dr. Gu’s publications, please click here.

Dr. Zornitsa Kalibatseva is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Stockton University in Galloway, NJ. She earned her Ph.D. in clinical psychology with a focus on multicultural psychology. Dr. Kalibatseva’s teaching and research interests focus on understanding the influence of culture on psychological distress and treatment among culturally diverse individuals. Specifically, her research examines cultural variations in depression among underrepresented groups in psychology and aims to disentangle mental health disparities. Dr. Kalibatseva is passionate about raising awareness about psychological disorders and removing the stigma associated with seeking psychological help.

Dr. Xu Song is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Stockton University. His research interests include organization-customer online interaction, relationship management strategies, and new communication technology adoption and application. Dr. Song leads the BUILDA website development and maintenance.

Dr. Sreelekha Prakash (MD, MPH) is a clinical epidemiologist currently working as Assistant Professor in Stockton University and Research Fellow for Stockton Center for Successful Aging (SCOSA) in Galloway, NJ.

She collaborates on research with faculty in Stockton and with institutions and organizations outside Stockton on varied public health issues. She is also engaged with public health organizations at the National and State levels on public health initiatives to create awareness about improving healthy living and promoting health policies based on epidemiological data.

Dr. Prakash is on the advisory panel for Nations Health, monthly newsletter of APHA (American Public Health Association), on Executive board of Science Board of APHA and part of the Epidemiology caucus of APHA. At the state level her current position with (New Jersey Public Health Association) NJPHA is as secretary and co-chair of the Epidemiology group.

Dr. Liuliu Fu is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems at California State University, Los Angeles. Her research interest is in healthcare systems and big data. So her publications focus on the application of information technologies in healthcare and the impact of various factors on healthcare outcomes.