Renato Ferreira Leitao Azevedo
Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Institute of Gerontology
Assistant Professor
Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Institute of Gerontology
Renato F. L. Azevedo, Ph.D., joined the UGA faculty in August 2024, as Assistant Professor at the Institute of Gerontology and Epidemiology & Biostatics (EPIBIO) Department.
Dr. Azevedo earned his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with a focus on Cognitive Sciences of Teaching and Learning and Educational Statistics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He completed his Postdoctoral Training at the Human Factors and Aging Laboratory within the College of Applied Health Sciences, at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).
This Spring 2026, Dr. Azevedo is teaching GRNT 3300E – Health Communication and Aging and GRNT 8200E Public Health and Aging. In addition, he is mentoring several students under GRNT 4960R, 4970R, 4980R and GRNT 8000 courses. At the core of his teaching philosophy is the conviction that learning is a collaborative and engaging process that extends beyond the acquisition of knowledge. These courses often combine expertise in cognitive and behavioral sciences, human-centered design, with applied research work in health communication, health technologies and design with a focus in gerontology.
His research is dedicated to the investigation of relationships among cognition, decision-making, risk perception, aging, and expertise in domains such as health, education, and behavioral accounting/economics. His work often focuses on the design, development and use of human-centered technological interventions and data visualizations to facilitate positive behavior changes, successful decision-making, promoting health, education, and wellness, which often includes how technology can ameliorate inequities.
As postdoctoral research associate, Dr. Azevedo was the Illinois site lead for a US National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded multisite randomized controlled trial (RCT), a multidisciplinary project focuses on developing technology-based systems to improve medication adherence for hypertensive older adults. In another NIH-funded RCT, Renato is also part of a multidisciplinary team conducting needs assessments and usability tests to redesign health technology for people with mild cognitive impairment.
He holds leadership positions within the American Psychological Association (Division 21 – Applied Experimental & Engineering Psychology), serving as the representative of members-at-large, and as Program Chair for the 2025 and 2026 Annual Conventions, and within the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES), serving as the Communication Chair for the Product Design Technical Group and the Academic co-Chair for the 2026 Student mHealth Design Competition, organized by the Health Care Technical Group.
