Education and Certifications

• PhD, Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, 2019
• MPH, Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, 2013
• BS, Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2011

Biography

Dr. Sharon Welburn is an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology & Health Sciences in the BS in Health Science and Master in Public Health (MPH) programs at Columbus State University. While at CSU, she assists with student and faculty development programs as an assistant director of the Center for Career Design. Dr. Welburn is also the director for the Center for Health Disparities and Community Based Research, where she collaborates with community partners to improve the health of our community.

Dr. Welburn's research interests include but are not limited to: injury prevention, including falls in older adults, motor vehicle collisions, drug overdose, vaccine hesitancy, and understanding factors related to COVID-19 health outcomes. Dr. Welburn has been involved in injury research since 2009, starting with motor vehicle collisions and distracted driving with UAB’s Injury Control Research Center. She received additional training in the epidemiology of aging through the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Aging and Population Health, where she examined the effects of fatigue and fatigability on fall risk in older adults. Most recently, she has partnered with West Central Health District to address the growing problem of the opioid epidemic in Muscogee County.

Since Fall 2019, Dr. Welburn has served as the faculty advisor for the CSU Esports teams, whose current gaming focuses are on League of Legends, Overwatch, Valorant, and Rocket League, with plans for additional titles. Successes of our Esports teams are:

• Fall 2022—Valorant team placed 2nd place (runner up)
• Fall 2022—Rocket League team was knocked out in quarterfinals
• Spring 2022—League of legends team was knocked out in quarterfinals
• Fall 2021—Overwatch made semifinals (3rd place).
• Spring 2021—League of legends team was knocked out in quarterfinals
• Fall 2020—Overwatch won the championship
• Spring 2020—Attacker of the year for League of Legends (made quarterfinals but season canceled for Covid).

Academic Areas

• Epidemiology
• Gerontology
• Biostatistics

Research Interests

• Injury epidemiology
• Gerontology
• Fall Prevention
• Motor Vehicle Collisions
• Drug overdose