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Dr. Arthur G. Cosby is William L. Giles Distinguished Professor at Mississippi State University (MSU). He serves as Director and Research Fellow at the University's Social Science Research Center (SSRC) and as Professor of Sociology. He also is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Catania, Italy and serves as the MSU Coordinator for the collaborative doctoral programs with the University of Catania. He received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Mississippi State University in 1969 and has held prior faculty positions at Louisiana State University and Texas A & M University. He has numerous publications and conference presentations in the area of "public sociology." His research applies social science knowledge to such real-world problems as health, poverty, career development, racial disparities, tobacco control, families/children and policy studies. From 1981 to 1987, Dr. Cosby was the Thomas L. Bailey Professor and Head of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work. In 2003, he was the founding Director of the Mississippi Health Policy Research Center, and in 2000, he served as the Executive Director of the Rural Health, Safety, and Security Institute.

His research program has been supported by numerous agencies and foundations, including the American Cancer Society, The Bower Foundation, the Department of Homeland Security, the Economic Research Service, the Ministero dell Istruzione, dell Universita'e della Ricera, Italy, the National Aeronautic and Space Administration, the National Institute of Education, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Office of Rural Health Policy (HRSA), the Phil Hardin Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the U. S. Department of Agriculture, as well as numerous state agencies.

Dr. Cosby's current research focuses on a number of approaches to investigating the social climate for the improvement of health and well-being in America. These include such topics as the social and cultural dimensions of pain, healthy and unhealthy places in America and geographic and racial disparities. In 2005, he was first editor of About Children: An Authoritative Resource on the State of Childhood Today which was released by the American Academy of Pediatrics on its 75th anniversary.

Recent Publications

• 2007 - "Reconsidering the Rural-Urban Continuum in Rural Health Research: A Test of Stable Relationships Using Mortality as a Health Measure." Population Research and Policy Review. Forthcoming. Accepted for publication, February 2007. (with R. Cossman, L. Cossman, and R. Reavis).
• 2006 - "Comorbidity of Obesity and Pain in a General Population: Results from the Southern Pain Prevalence Study." The Journal of Pain. Forthcoming. Accepted for publication, December 2006. (with H. Hitt, R. McMillen, T. Thornton-Neaves, and K. Koch).
• 2006 - "Medicaid Reimbursement and Access to Physicians: Does Lower Reimbursement Mean Less Access to Care?" (Special article.) Journal of Mississippi Medical Association. 47(11):323-336. (with J. Cossman and J. Ritchie).
• 2006 - "Medicaid Reimbursement and Access to Physicians: Does Lower Reimbursement Mean Less Access to Care?" August. Policy Paper. Mississippi Health Policy Research Center, Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University. (with J. Cossman and J. Ritchie).
• 2006 - "Evaluating Heart Disease Prescriptions - Filled as a Proxy for Heart Disease Prevalence Rates for Small Geographic Areas." Journal of Health and Human Services Administration. Forthcoming. Accepted for publication, November 2006. (with R. Cossman, J. Cossman, W. James, T. Blanchard, R. Thomas, L. Pol, and D. Mirvis).
• 2006 - "Persistent Clusters of Mortality in the U.S." American Journal of Public Health. Forthcoming. Accepted for publication, August 2006. (with J. Cossman, R. Cossman, W. James, C. Campbell, and T. Blanchard).
• 2006 - "Driving to Doctors: Access to Primary Care Physicians." April. Policy Brief. Mississippi Health Policy Research Center, Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University. (with J. Cossman and J. Ritchie).
• 2006 - "Driving to Doctors: Access to Specialists in Mississippi." April. Policy Brief. Mississippi Health Policy Research Center, Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University. (with J. Cossman and J. Ritchie).
• 2006 - "An Assessment of Cardiovascular Health in Mississippi: A Focus on Racial Disparities in Mortality, Behavioral Risk Factors, and Knowledge." January. Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University. (with L. Brown, H. Taylor, T. Thornton-Neaves, L. Hutchins, R. McMillen, and W. James).
• 2005 - "The National Social Climate of Tobacco Control, 2000-2005." Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University. (with R. McMillen, K. Gresham, N. Valentine, C. Chambers and W. Frese).
• 2005 - "The Mississippi Social Climate of Tobacco Control, 2000-2005." Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University. (with R. McMillen, N. Valentine, K. Gresham, E. Sabbatini, and W. Frese).
• 2005 - "Profiles of Pain in Mississippi: Results from the Southern Pain Prevalence Study" Journal of the Mississippi State Medical Associatio., 46(10):301-309. (with H. Hitt, T. Thornton-Neaves, R. McMillen, K. Koch, T. Sitzman, E. Pearson, and S. Parvin).
• 2005 - "The Social and Cultural Dimensions of Pain: An Overview of the Southern Pain Prevalence Study 2004." Volume I. July. Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University. (with T. Thornton-Neaves, L. Rich, R. McMillen, M. Matta, L. Hutchins, J. Cathcart, M. Abregu, and H. Hitt).
• 2004 - "The National Social Climate of Tobacco Control, 2000-2003." Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University. (with R. McMillen, N. Valentine, J. Breen, and W. Frese).
• 2004 - "The Mississippi Social Climate of Tobacco Control, 2000-2003." Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University. (with R. McMillen, N. Valentine, and W. Frese).
• 2004 - "Rural-Urban Differences in the Social Climate Surrounding Environmental Tobacco Smoke": A Report From the 2002 Social Climate Survey of Tobacco Control." The Journal of Rural Health, 20(1):7-16. (with R. McMillen and J. Breen).
• 2004 - "Mortality Rates Across Time": Does Persistence Suggest "Healthy and Unhealthy Places in the United States?" In WorldMinds: Geographical Perspectives on 100 Problems. (with R. Cossman, J. Cossman, W. James, T. Blanchard), edited by Janelle, D.G., Warf, B., and Hansen, K. Amsterdam: Kluwer Press. Edited book.
• 2003 - "Mapping High or Low Mortality Places Across Time in the United States": "A Research Note on a Health Visualization and Analysis Project" Health & Place, 9(4):361-369. (with R. Cossman, L. Cossman, and R. Jackson-Belli).
• 2002 - "Healthy and Unhealthy Places in America: Are These Really Spatial Clusters?" Proceedings of the 22nd Annual ESRI International User Conference. Published as a CD and available on-line at http://gis.esri.com/library/userconf/proc02/abstracts/a1064.html. (with R. Cossman, T. Blanchard, W. James, and R. Jackson-Belli).

Edited Work

• 2004 - About Children: An Authoritative Resource on the State of Childhood Today. Chicago, IL: The American Academy of Pediatrics. 271 pp. (edited with R. E. Greenberg, L. Southward and M. Weitzman).

Recent Grants

• 2006 - "Mississippi Institute for the Improvement of Geographic Minority Health and Health Disparities--Evaluation Component." Principal Investigator. Funding Agency: University of Mississippi Medical Center, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• 2006 - "An Assessment of Cardiovascular Disease in the Mississippi Delta." Position: Principal Investigator. Funding Agency: Delta Health Alliance, Health Resources and Services Administration.
• 2006 - "Health Services Research Project." Position: Co-PI with C. Baird-Thomas. Funding Agency: Delta Health Alliance, Health Resources and Services Administration.
• 2005 - "Programmi Per L'Incentivasione Del Processo Di Internazionalizzazione Del Sistema Universitario." Position: Mississippi State University Coordinator. Coordinatore Del Progetto: Francesco Coniglione. Funding Agency: Ministero dell Istruzione, dell Universita'e della Ricera, Italy.
• 2005 - "Racial Disparities in Cardiovascular Health: A Mississippi Population Survey." Position: Principal Investigator. Funding Agency: Mississippi State Department of Health.
• 2004 - "A Comprehensive Threat Management Framework for a Crop Biosecurity National Architecture." Position: Co-Principal Investigator. Funding Agency: GeoResources Institute, Mississippi State University and National Science Foundation, Department of Homeland Security.
• 2004 - "Drugs, Diagnosis and Death: A Test of Pharmaceutical Data Validity in Estimating Rural Population Health." Position: Co-Principal Investigator. Funding Agency: Office of Rural Health Policy, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• 2004 - "Analysis of Physician Fee Schedule Changes in Mississippi, 2001-2003: Does Lower Pay Mean Less Access to Care?" Position: Co-Principal Investigator. Funding Agency: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Division of Medicaid, State of Mississippi, Center for Medicaid/Medicare Services, U.S. Dept. Of Health and Human Services.
• 2004 - "The Southern Pain Prevalence Study: The Social and Cultural Dimensions of Pain and Pain Management" Position: Principal Investigator. Funding Agency: American Cancer Society.
• 2002 - "The Mississippi Health Policy Research Center." Position: Director. Funding Agency: The Bower Foundation:
• 2002 - "The Atlas of American Children." Position: Principal Investigator. Funding Agencies: The Phil Hardin Foundation and The Bower Foundation: