Christine M. Hunter is an American clinical psychologist and a uniformed service officer. She is the acting

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

(NIH) associate director for behavioral and

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

s research and acting director of the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. Hunter was an active duty officer in the U.S. Air Force from 1996 to 2006. She is a captain in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.

Education

Hunter completed a B.S. in psychology at the

United States International University United States International University (USIU) was a nonprofit university based in San Diego, California that was accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. At its peak, it had two additional American campuses and three interna ...

in 1992. She earned M.S. (1995) and Ph.D. (1997) in clinical psychology from

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

. Her dissertation was titled ''Dietary restriction as a predictor of a constellation of problem behaviors in a bi-racial sample of adolescents: a prospective analysis''. Robert C. Klesges was chair of her thesis committee along with Thomas Fagan, Sam B. Morgan and Leslie A. Robinson. Hunter completed her psychology internship at

Wilford Hall Medical Center Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center, formerly known as Wilford Hall Medical Center, is a U.S. Air Force medical treatment facility located on the grounds of San Antonio's Lackland Air Force Base. Operated by the 59th Medical Wing The 59th ...

in 1997. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical health psychology in 2001 and was board certified in clinical health psychology in 2005 by the

American Board of Professional Psychology The American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) is the primary organization for specialty board certification in psychology. Mission statement "The mission of the American Board of Professional Psychology is to increase consumer protectio ...

Career

U.S. Air Force

Hunter served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force for ten years in a variety of clinical, management, research, and policy positions. From 1996 to 1997, she was chief resident at

where she served as a liaison between 11 residents and internship faculty and reported to the director of clinical training. From 1997 to 1998, Hunter was a staff psychologist at the Keesler Medical Center at the

Keesler Air Force Base Keesler Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Biloxi, a city along the Gulf Coast in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. The base is named in honor of aviator 2d Lt Samuel Reeves Keesler Jr., a Mississippi nati ...

. She provided outpatient adult mental health, clinical health psychology, and couples counseling services. Hunter was promoted to clinical director of inpatient mental health at Keesler from 1998 to 1999. Hunter was the first non-prescribing provider to hold this position and have admitting privileges. From 1999 to 2000, Hunter was chief of the Keesler life skills enhancement center where she led outpatient mental health services. Hunter completed a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical health psychology at

from 2000 to 2001. She served as director of clinical programs and research from 2001 to 2002 before being promoted to chief of the clinical health psychology service at Wilford. Hunter served as director of the clinical health psychology research institute at Wilford from 2003 to 2004. From 2004 to 2006, she was chief of Air Force substance abuse program development at the Air Force Medical Support Agency. She oversaw a $15.5 million budget.

National Institutes of Health

In 2006, she joined the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) where she was the director of behavioral research and managed a behavioral science grants portfolio focused on diabetes and obesity research. She led the development of the revision of the Strategic Plan for NIH Obesity Research, developed and led the NIDDK Centers for Diabetes Translation Research and led numerous behavioral and social sciences research funding opportunity announcements. In 2017, Hunter was named deputy director of

's (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR). In January 2022, she succeeded William T. Riley as the acting NIH associate director for behavioral and social sciences research, and acting director of the OBSSR. In these roles, she supports the OBSSR mission to enhance the impact of health-related behavioral and social sciences research, coordinate and integrate these sciences within the larger NIH research enterprise and communicate health-related behavioral and social sciences research findings. Christine is a Captain in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.

Research

Hunter's research interests include methods of advancing behavioral ontology development and social sciences. She investigates mechanisms of behavior change, individual differences in treatment response, and

translational science Translational research (also called translation research, translational science, or, when the context is clear, simply translation) is research aimed at translating (converting) results in basic research into results that directly benefit humans. ...

. She is also interested in implementation science to advance the reach, uptake, adaptation, and scale up of effective approaches to improve health and

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

into routine care, community settings, and public health practice.

Selected works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Christine Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) United States International University alumni University of Memphis alumni National Institutes of Health people American clinical psychologists American women psychologists 21st-century American psychologists 21st-century American women scientists Female officers of the United States Air Force United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officers 21st-century American military personnel 21st-century American women civil servants