Deborah A. Ellis (ab5112)

University information

Title: Professor
Unit: Family Medicine
Department: School of Medicine

Contact information

313-577-1055
Integrative Biosciences Building
Behavioral Health
6135 Woodward Ave
Detroit, 48202

Faculty Senate / Executive Committee

Title: Member-at-large (2026)
Biography:

 Deborah Ellis is a Professor (Research Educator), tenured in the department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences.

Deborah A. Ellis, Ph.D. is Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences in the Wayne State University School of Medicine. A pediatric psychologist by training, her research focuses upon developing behavioral interventions to improve health outcomes among adolescents with chronic medical conditions such as type 1 diabetes. Her work also focused on developing culturally competent interventions for youth of color and their families. She currently serves as director of the Community Engagement Core of the NIMHD-funded P50 ACHIEVE Greater Center, which is focused on reducing cardiometabolic health disparities among Black adults and associated lifespan inequality. Her research has been published in top-tier journals such as Diabetes Care, Pediatrics and Health Psychology and she has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health for the past 20 years.

Office Address:

6135 Woodward
iBio Building

Education/Training:

Postdoctoral Fellowship, Children's Hospital of Michigan 9/93-8/94

Predoctoral Internship, Children's Hospital of Michigan 9/92-8/93

Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan

Ph.D. in Child/Family Clinical Psychology 9/90-8/93

Michigan State University, East Lansing Michigan

M.A. in Child/Family Clinical Psychology 9/87-8/90

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

B.A. in Psychology with honors 9/83-4/87
 

Office Phone:

 313-577-1055

Honors and Awards:

Member, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Science of Behavior Change (SOBC) Common Fund Program External Scientific Advisory Panel (ESP). The ESP provides critical insight to assist the NIH in advancing the science supported within the program and ESP members attend annual meetings with grantees among other responsibilities 2018-2021

Wayne State University School of Medicine Teaching Excellence Award 2019

Wayne State University School of Medicine Research Excellence Award 2019

Publications:
  1. Knauft , K * Jacques-Tiura, A, Idalski Carcone, A., Weissberg-Benchell, J., Evans, M.A., Buggs-Saxton, C., Boucher-Berry, C, Miller, J.L., Drossos, T., Dekelbab, M. B., & Ellis, D (in press). The Moderating Role of Diabetes Distress on the Effect of a Randomized eHealth Intervention on Glycemic Control in Black Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes. Journal of Pediatric Psychology.
  2. Ellis, D.A. Idalski Carcone, A., Templin, T, Evans, M.A, Weissberg-Benchell, J, Buggs-Saxton, C., Boucher-Berry, C., Miller, J.L., Drossos, T., Dekelbab, M.B. (2024) Moderating Effect of Depression on Glycemic Control in an eHealth Intervention Among Black Youth With Type 1 Diabetes: Findings From a Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Diabetes 2024;9:e55165 doi: 10.2196/55165 PMID: 38593428.
  3. Ellis, D.A., Idalski Carcone, A., Kannikeswaran, N., Jacques-Tiura, A., Holtrop, T. (2024). A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Family-Based Community Health Worker Delivered Intervention for Urban Adolescents with Uncontrolled Asthma. Children’s Health Care, doi.org/10.1080/02739615.2024.2316083, epub ahead of print.
  4. Evans, MA, Ellis, DA, Vesco, AT, Feldman, MA, Weissberg-Benchell, J, Idalski Carcone, A, Miller, J Boucher-Berry, C, Buggs-Saxton, C Degnan, B, Dekelbab, MB Drossos, T. (2024). Diabetes Distress in Black Youth with Type 1 Diabetes and their Caregivers: Associations with Glycemic Control, Depression, and Health Behaviors. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, jsad096, https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsad096.
  5. Kannikeswaran, N, Spencer, P, Carcone, A, Huth, M*, Mehmood, Y* & Ellis, D.A. (2023). Utilization of electronic portal referrals to a community agency for children presenting with an asthma exacerbation to a pediatric emergency department. Journal of Asthma, 1-6, doi: 10.1080/02770903.2023.2272796. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37847783.
Deborah A. Ellis

Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences

Administrative Title: Professor
Office Address:

IBio Behavioral Health (H206)
6135 Woodward Ave
Detroit, MI 48202

Office Phone: 313-577-1055
Biography:

Deborah A. Ellis, Ph.D. is Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences in the Wayne State University School of Medicine and Director for the Division of Behavioral Sciences. A pediatric psychologist by training, her research focuses upon developing behavioral interventions to improve health outcomes among adolescents with chronic medical conditions such as type 1 diabetes. Her work also focuses on developing culturally competent interventions for youth of color and their families. She currently serves as director of the Community Engagement Core of the NIMHD-funded P50 ACHIEVE Greater Center, which aims to reduce cardiometabolic health disparities among Black adults and associated lifespan inequality. Her research has been published in top-tier journals such as Diabetes Care, Pediatrics and Health Psychology and she has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health for the past 20 years.

Please see Dr. Ellis' CV

Education Training:

Ph.D., Child/Family Clinical Psychology, Michigan State University
Fellowship, Pediatric Psychology, Children's Hospital of Michigan

Deborah A. Ellis

Integrative Biosciences Center (IBio)

Honorific: Ph.D.
Title: Professor
Deborah A. Ellis

Courses taught by Deborah A. Ellis

Fall Term 2024 (future)

Winter Term 2024

Fall Term 2023

Winter Term 2023

Fall Term 2022

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