Michael Reger

Biography

Michael Reger currently serves as an Associate Professor of the Practice in the Eck Institute for Global Health at the University of Notre Dame, after joining the University of Notre Dame in the Summer of 2022. He earned his B.S. in Health Sciences from Purdue University, and his MPH and PhD in Epidemiology from Indiana University. From 2014 to 2022 he was an assistant/associate professor of public health at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, MI. There he established a broad background in public health teaching and course development, working in many different areas of public health including epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental health, public health nutrition, health behavior and health promotion, and others. Working at a teaching institution for eight years allowed him to shape his general teaching philosophy, which consists of approachability and availability to students, as well as the belief that a professor should be a resource for student success.

Dr. Reger’s research covers a wide range of topics, but is most closely aligned with the primary prevention of disease. Previous studies focused on exploring the association between understudied nutritional factors and the development of chronic disease, including the interaction between smoking and saturated fat intake and the risk of lung cancer, the association with nutritional factors and pancreatic cancer, and the impact of phytoestrogen intake on the risk of breast cancer. Ongoing research include the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in Mexico and Kenya and decreasing food insecurity through the food rescue model. He has additional interest in decreasing negative maternal and child health outcomes, serving on the EIGH MNCH Initiative team and the planning committee for the Pop Up Pregnancy and Family Village, offering support in the areas of development, data collection, and data analysis.