The Texas Leadership Research Scholars Program, which debuted in Fall 2024, is a Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board research scholarship and leadership opportunity program for high-achieving graduate students with financial need.

UNT was among only nine public universities in the state selected to participate in the inaugural cohort of the program, which awards selected doctoral researchers a nearly $18,000 scholarship renewable for up to four years.

“The TLRS program provides access and opportunity to exceptional doctoral scholars to excel in their research, academics and graduate life. The funding removes barriers for our scholars as they expand their career and life experiences to be readied for the workforce. This investment by the state of Texas is highly impactful and life-changing for UNT's doctoral students,” says Brenda Barrio, UNT associate vice president for graduate studies and student research.

Read Isaiah Salazar's story below and check back on the UNT Research website throughout Summer 2026 to learn more about other students in the inaugural group of Texas Leadership Research Scholars.

Healthy Habits

Growing up, Isaiah Salazar was a big fan of the TV show “Criminal Minds.”

“I used to watch that show and think, ‘I really want to know what makes people do what they do,’” he says.

 When he arrived at UNT, Salazar began working on a bachelor’s degree in psychology. During the final year of his degree, a friend told him about a job opening for a registered behavior technician — a professional who works with individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Although Salazar had originally planned to apply to graduate school, he decided to apply for the job instead.

“I taught kids with autism spectrum disorder language skills and social skills, and it was so powerful to see a behavior change happen in the moment,” he says. “That was my introduction to behavior analysis.”

Salazar went on to earn a master’s degree in behavior analysis at UNT. When his interests turned toward training systems, he decided to pursue a Ph.D. in health sciences at UNT as well. Now he studies organizational behavior management, a discipline he describes as “behavior analysis on a larger scale.”

“All humans operate under the same behavioral principles, so when we take that knowledge and apply it to management systems, we can better support outcomes for staff or even an entire organization.”

During his master’s degree, Salazar completed a thesis exploring how to ensure healthcare staff followed proper intervention procedures. To accomplish this, he created a self-monitoring training system intended to support consistent implementation of treatments by staff members. Now, as he works on his dissertation, Salazar hopes to expand on that work and develop large-scale, data-driven systems that improve healthcare employee performance while limiting ineffective supervisory systems.

When he finishes his Ph.D. program, Salazar would like to run a consulting firm that does organizational systems work for healthcare companies — a goal he describes as a “full-circle moment” for the work that inspired his master’s thesis.

“I’m really interested in process improvement. Improving those inefficient processes can lead to seeing better outcomes for healthcare organizations, leading to better outcomes for their clients,” he says.