Assistant Professor
Contact Information
Office: Little Hall 3006
Email: luciana.giorgio@ua.edu
Phone: 205-348-6197
Areas of Interest and Expertise
- Sleep Health
- Health Equity
- Social Determinants of Behavioral Health
- Latinx Behavioral Health
Education
- Ph.D. Columbia University School of Social Work
- M.S.S.W. Columbia University School of Social Work
- B.A. in Psychology University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Bio
Dr. Giorgio is a social and behavioral health researcher with expertise in sleep health and health equity among marginalized populations. Her current research investigates how psychosocial factors, such as stress and relationships, influence sleep and cardiovascular health among Latina/o/x adults. She has an active mixed-methods study examining the individual, social, and community-level factors impacting healthy sleep among Latina mothers living in Alabama. Findings from this study will inform the development of a family-based behavioral intervention for this population. Her research is funded by the Office for Research and Economic Development and the Office for Social Work Research at the University of Alabama. Dr. Giorgio’s previous work examined the effects of social relationships and sociocultural stress on insomnia symptoms among Latina/o/x adults. She also collaborated on a project that developed and tested a tailored Spanish version of a psychological treatment for insomnia for Latina/o/x immigrants. Based on her research efforts thus far, Dr. Giorgio has been accepted as a fellow into the Health Disparities Research Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Academy of Sleep Medicine Young Investigator’s Research Forum. Dr. Giorgio has experience working with under-resourced communities in clinical and community settings, delivering mental health and health promotion services. She teaches social work research courses at undergraduate and graduate levels.
Learn more about Dr. Giorgio’s work and her Sleep Health Equity research group at: https://she-research.ua.edu/
Selected Publications
Spandola, C.E., Groton, D.B., Giorgio Cosenzo, L., Fantus, S., Hilditch, C.J., Burke, S.L., Littlewood, K., Bertisch, S.B., Zhou, E.Z. (2023). Sleep and sleep knowledge among social work students: Implications for mental health and self-care education. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment.
Alcántara, C., Giorgio Cosenzo, L.A., McCullough, E., Vogt, T., Falzon, A.L., Peréz Ibarra, I. (2021). Cultural adaptation of psychological interventions for prevalent sleep-wake disorders in the United States: A systematic review. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 56, 101455.
Giorgio Cosenzo, L.A., Diaz, S.V., Morris, M., & Alcántara, C. (2020). Risk and protective factors for insomnia among Asian, Black, and Latinx adult immigrants in the United States: A socioecological analysis. In G. Hall & E. Huang (Eds.), Mental and Behavioral Health of Immigrants in the United States. Cambridge, MA: Academic Press
Alcántara, C., Diaz, S.V., Giorgio Cosenzo, L.A., Loucks, E., Penedo, F., & Williams, N.J. (2020). Social determinants as moderators of the effectiveness of health behavior change interventions: Scientific gaps and opportunities. Health Psychology Review. 14(1). 132-144.