Kelly L'Engle

Kelly L. L'Engle, PhD, MPH, is a health behavior and communication scientist with deep experience designing and evaluating public health interventions that expand information access, improve health behaviors, and promote well-being across diverse communities. A professor at the University of San Francisco, she teaches courses on communication strategy, program design, and research methods. She currently leads a digital health and wellness coaching program to support young Latinas, college students, and healthcare workers. She also has established a research program examining climate change anxiety and activism among young people. Dr. L’Engle previously served as a Senior Scientist at FHI 360 leading global population health research, and she directed an NIH longitudinal study of adolescent health and media use.

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• Health and wellness coaching
• Health risk communication and culturally tailored health promotion
• Youth climate anxiety and activism
• Global health and research
• Behavioral sciences for decision making
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• Digital health interventions
• Health and wellness coaching
• Culturally-tailored messaging for health promotion
• Adolescent health and well-being
• Eco-anxiety and activism
• Healthcare worker stress and burnout
• Global health, Reproductive health, Chronic disease

• Chair, Faculty Association of the School of Nursing and Health Professions
• Program Director, MPH-Behavioral Health Concentration
• Faculty Advisor, Break the Cycle of Children’s Environmental Health Disparities Training Program: Effect of Activism on Eco-Anxiety in Adolescents
• Member, Laudato Si' Working Group
• SONHP Representative, Joint University Curriculum Committee

• Ph.D. Health Behavior and Health Education, Gillings School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC
• MPH, Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
• BA, Development Studies (Sociology), Brown University, Providence, RI

• FHI 360, Scientist
• World Health Organization, Consultant, Member, Mobile Technical Evidence and Review Group (mTERG)
• University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Project Director Teen Media
• mHealth Working Group, Advisory Board
• Porter Novelli, Communications Researcher
• Larkin Street Youth Center, HIV Educator

• University of San Francisco, Lane Center, Laudato Si Research Collaborative: Climate Crisis, Eco-Anxiety, and Youth Activism (2024-25)
• University of San Francisco, Innovation in Teaching with Technology Award (2021)
• Society of Behavioral Medicine, Leadership Institute Fellow (2021-22)
• Ignatian Teaching and Research Fellowship at USF: Engaging the Ignatian Tradition in Jesuit Higher Education (2019-2020)

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• L’Engle, K. L., Sahoo, J., Anderson, G. M. H., Brown, E., & Nutkiewicz, L. (2026). Hope and Fear: A Survey of Eco-Emotions and Climate Anxiety, Activism, and Well-Being Among Older Adolescents in Northern California. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 23(7), 834.
• L'Engle, K., Landeros, A., & Trejo, E. (2025). Examen Tu Salud: A digital spiritual health intervention for young adult US Latinas. Journal of Religion and Health, 64.
• L’Engle, K., Trejo, E., & Coutinho, A. (2024). Digital coaching to address health, wellness, and burnout among healthcare workers: Pilot study results. Workplace Health & Safety.
• Nutkiewicz, L. , Habib, A., Duenas, M., Ruiz, L., Anderson, G.H., & L'Engle, K. (2023). Encouraging Youth Activism to Combat Climate Change and Reduce Eco-Anxiety. International Public Health Journal, 15(4), 353-370.
• L'Engle, K., Trejo, E., Landeros, A., Zúñiga Sandoval, E., Jauregui, J., & Yang, S. (2023). Brief peer coaching complements daily digital messages for chronic disease prevention among young adult Latinas. Translational Behavioral Medicine, 14(2), 80-88.
• L’Engle, K. L.,  Burns, J. R., Basuki, A., Couture, M. C.,  and Regan, A. K. (2023). Liberals Are Believers: Young People Assign Trust to Social Media for COVID-19 Information. Health Communication, 1-13. Advance online publication.
• Couture, M. C., L'Engle, K. L., Swathi, P. A., & Regan, A. K. (2023). COVID-19 vaccine coverage among college students following vaccine mandates. Journal of American College Health, 1–5. Advance online publication.
• Nutkiewicz, L., Habib, A., Duenas, M., Ruiz, L., Anderson, G.H., & L'Engle, K. (In Press). Encouraging Youth Activism to Combat Climate Change and Reduce Eco-Anxiety. International Public Health Journal.
• Ampt, F., Lim, M. S. C., Agius, P. A., L’Engle, K., Manguro, G., Gichuki, C., Gichangi, P., Chersich, M., Jaoko, W., Temmerman, M., Stoove, M., Hellard, M., & Luchters, S. (2020). Effect of a mobile phone intervention for female sex workers on unintended pregnancy in Kenya (WHISPER or SHOUT): a cluster-randomised controlled trial. Lancet Global Health, 8(12): e1534-e1545. PMID: 33220217 
• **Ampt, F., & **L’Engle, K., (**shared first authors), Lim, M. S. C., Plourde, K. F., Mangone, E., Mukanya, C. M., Gichangi, P., Manguro, G., Hellard, M., Stoove, M. Chersich, M. F., Jaoko, W., Agius, P., Temmerman, M., Wangari, W., Luchters, S. (2020). A mobile phone-based sexual and and reproductive health intervention for female sex workers in Kenya: development and qualitative study. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 8(5):e15096.
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