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 (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

(NIH) associate director for behavioral and

social science Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...

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 The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

from 1996 to 2006. She is a captain in the U.S.

Public Health Service Commissioned Corps The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (USPHSCC; also referred to as the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service) is the Uniformed services, uniformed service branch of the United States Public Health S ...

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 inter ...

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

clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well ...

from

University of Memphis The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

. 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 in 1997. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical

health psychology Health psychology is the study of psychological and behavioral processes in health, illness, and healthcare. The discipline is concerned with understanding how psychological, behavioral, and cultural factors contribute to physical health and il ...

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

for ten years in a variety of clinical, management, research, and policy positions. From 1996 to 1997, she was chief resident at Wilford Hall Medical Center 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 Wilford Hall Medical Center 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 The Air Force Medical Support Agency was an agency that provided support to the Surgeon General of the United States Air Force in medical force management. It also provided operational support for medical capabilities used in global, homeland s ...

. 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 The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) is part of the United States National Institutes of Health, which in turn is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. NIDDK is approximately the fifth-larges ...

(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 The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (USPHSCC; also referred to as the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service) is the uniformed service branch of the United States Public Health Service and one of t ...

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. 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 is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

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