CSULB College of Health and Human Services welcomes Grace Reynolds-Fisher as Interim Dean
Cal State Long Beach today welcomes Dr. Grace Reynolds-Fisher as the interim dean of the College of Health and Human Services (CHHS), effective January 2, 2025.
Dr. Reynolds-Fisher served as Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Research in the College of Health and Human Services since June 2019. During her time as Associate Dean she created a Grant Incentive Program for faculty, and developed two shared labs to support faculty research—The Social and Behavioral Sciences Lab and the Biophysiology Lab.
“I am honored to be appointed Interim Dean for CHHS. Dean Lounsbery has built a wonderful team in the Dean’s office. I look forward to continuing her vision as we move into a transition period and eventually hire a new permanent Dean for CHHS.” Reynolds-Fisher said.
Dr. Reynolds-Fisher was a Professor of Health Care Administration prior to assuming her role as Associate Dean. She served for 14 years as Associate Director (and later director) of the Center for Behavioral Research and Services where she was active in a variety of community-based research and service programs. Dr. Reynolds-Fisher has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles and almost 200 abstracts and offered conference presentations on her research interests, which include HIV, hepatitis, and sexually transmitted disease testing with health disparities populations. Her research was funded by the California HIV Research Program (CHRP) and the California Community Foundation. She served on the editorial board of AIDS & Behavior and completed a two-year appointment on the editorial board of Behavioral Medicine.
Since 2000, Dr. Reynolds-Fisher collaborated effectively on research with co-investigators from a range of disciplines. She was Co-PI and project manager on the R01 NIH-funded research grant entitled ‘Behavioral Science Aspects of Rapid Test Acceptance’ (BSARTA), a randomized clinical trial of non-FDA-approved rapid point-of-care tests for HIV, HCV, and syphilis. From 2017-2018 Dr. Reynolds-Fisher had a contract with Cepheid, Inc., a biotechnology company, and worked on getting FDA approval for a diagnostic rapid test for hepatitis C.
Dr. Reynolds-Fisher holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Macalester College, a Master of Public Administration and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from the University of Alaska at Anchorage, and a Doctorate in Public Administration and Health Policy from the University of Southern California.
Before joining CSULB in 2000, Dr. Reynolds-Fisher worked as a programmer/analyst with the State of Alaska, Department of Epidemiology, Section of Maternal Child and Family Health, on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded project on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
Karyn Scissum Gunn, Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs, is thrilled for Dr. Reynolds-Fisher’s appointment and is confident that she will provide excellent leadership and collegiality.
