Get to know new and promoted faculty within the College of Health and Human Services.

Dr. David [Eli] Lankford is a new associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology, where he specializes in exercise physiology and sport performance. Prior to Fresno State, Dr. Lankford spent 15 years in Idaho, where he was the founding director of the exercise science program at BYU-Idaho and twice served as president of the American College of Sports Medicine for the northwest chapter.

Dr. Lankford brings both academic experience and industry expertise to Fresno State, which includes serving as director of marketing research for several of the largest health and fitness companies worldwide. He obtained his doctorate in exercise physiology from BYU and a master’s in health and human performance from the University of Montana.

In his spare time, Dr. Lankford can be found spending time in Alaska, in the mountains, or playing the guitar.

Dr. Reuben Addo has been tenured and promoted to associate professor in the Department of Social Work Education, where he has taught graduate and undergraduate courses since fall 2020. During his time on campus, Dr. Addo has secured substantial funding as a principal investigator and co-principal investigator on multiple state, federal and international grants. His current funded projects include a $2.3 million behavioral health grant, as well as an international grant on researching critical thinking in college students across three countries.

His current research centers on peer support and personal recovery from serious mental illness, social support networks and positive well-being among individuals with experiences of homelessness. He has presented this and other research at many national and international peer-reviewed conferences.

Dr. Addo says his contributions reflect his commitment to advancing social work knowledge and practice across research.

Dr. Candy Madrigal has been tenured and promoted to associate professor in the Department of Social Work Education, where she began her academic career in fall 2020. Since then, she has taught graduate courses and has served on numerous committees, at the department, college and university level.

Dr. Madrigal brings 19 years of experience as a child welfare worker and licensed clinical social worker into her teaching and research, specializing in mental health and social justice policies and programs that impact ethnic and racial minority groups. Immigration policies and human rights are also among her passions.

She says one of her proudest accomplishments at Fresno State thus far was leading an international conference with social work colleagues from Fresno State and Mexico in 2023.

Dr. Caio Sarmento has been tenured and promoted to associate professor in the Department of Physical Therapy. He utilizes his vast expertise in human anatomy and chronic musculoskeletal pain to oversee and lead the newly renovated Gross Anatomy Lab on campus, where he teaches cadaver-based anatomy to first-year Doctor of Physical Therapy students. His innovation and adaptation of this lab during the COVID-19 pandemic earned him the Provost’s Award for Extraordinary Teaching in Extraordinary Times in fall of 2020.

Since joining campus in 2019, Dr. Sarmento has published extensively on topics such as fibromyalgia, systemic inflammation, and pain perception, and actively presents his work on anatomy education at national and international conferences.

Outside of academia, he embraces the outdoors through road biking, hiking and traveling — and also enjoys learning about new languages and diverse cultures.

Dr. Mary Garza has been tenured as an associate professor in the Department of Public Health, where she has taught since fall 2018. A native of Fresno, Dr. Garza is proud to teach and mentor undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students, as well as postdoctoral fellows. She says she is committed to training the next generation of public health leaders and ensuring continued progress in increasing minority representation in research and practice.

Her research includes serving as principal investigator for the “Engaging Mothers & Babies: Reimagining Antenatal Care for Everyone (EMBRACE)” research study — a five-year, $5.6 million grant, in collaboration with UCSF, aimed at improving birth outcomes among African American and Latine women in the Central Valley.

One of Dr. Garza’s favorite accomplishments at Fresno State thus far has been recruiting 678 participants for the EMBRACE study — many of whom are from underserved communities.