Dr. Frank Puga is an assistant professor in the Department of Acute, Chronic, and Continuing Care at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Nursing. He received his Ph.D. in psychology with a concentration in behavioral neuroscience from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Puga’s research focuses on the stress and mental health profiles of older adults living with chronic illness and their care partners. He is specifically interested in understanding how psychosocial, behavioral, and cultural factors influence daily and long-term mental health patterns among populations disproportionately impacted by dementia and cancer. Dr. Puga’s research applies intensive longitudinal designs to identify specific psychosocial, behavioral, and cultural factors that increase resilience to chronic illness-related stress. The main goal of Dr. Puga’s work is to develop and test resilience-based behavioral interventions that are culturally responsive and tailored to the unique needs of individuals from minoritized populations living with chronic illness and their care partners. Dr. Puga completed a diversity supplement from the National Institute of Aging that examined relationships between contextual factors, such as caregiving stress and available social support, and psychological distress that dementia care partners experience on a given day. He is the PI of an R01 grant from the National Institute of Aging, examining stress, resilience, cultural factors, and daily and long-term mental health patterns among Latine/x dementia caregivers. As a Latino scientist, Dr. Puga is committed to advocating for older Latinx adults living with chronic illness and their care partners.
Frank Puga, PhD
