Research Expertise
Our division chief, Rebekah Walker, PhD, focuses her research on reducing and eliminating health disparities by addressing social determinants of health and social risk for adults with chronic disease.
Our faculty and staff members bring rich research expertise to the Division of Population health.
Faculty with In-Depth Research Knowledge
Our faculty experts:
- aim to reduce and eliminate racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in chronic disease outcomes
- excel in executing in advanced regression methodologies, including path analysis and structural equation modeling
- incorporate health behavior, health economics and public health principles in their work
- address the multi-level barriers to care that occur across the individual, community, and health care system levels for marginalized populations with chronic disease
- have expertise in public health, behavioral medicine, qualitative and mixed methods research, implementation science and community based participatory research
Multidisciplinary Research Expertise
Our faculty have backgrounds with experience including:
- employing diverse methodologies spanning economics, epidemiology, public policy, psychology, and implementation science
- serving as a methodological expert on studies investigating pathways through which structural racism influences diabetes outcomes
- supporting health systems improvement with a primary focus on primary care integration and leveraging community organizations to improve chronic disease outcomes
- designing, implementing, and analyzing clinical trials, as well as applying survey methods to observational data
- clinical trials methodology, qualitative and mixed methods study designs, large database observational study methodology, community based participatory research and implementation science
Impactful Research Efforts
Members of our division are currently conducting research in areas including:
- intervention development for type 2 diabetes that incorporates behavioral economics principles, including cash transfers
- developing and testing interventions delivered in community-based settings that address social and structural factors impacting adults with cardiovascular disease
- examining strategies and implementation outcomes of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) delivery in high-incidence populations, with an ongoing project in Nigeria aimed at exploring the potential of private community pharmacies as an avenue to improve accessibility
- addressing population health, optimizing health outcomes for vulnerable populations and investigating disparities in health care costs
Valuable Support
Staff members in our division bring important expertise to key positions that bolster critical work.
Key roles include:
Master's level biostatisticians support biostatistical infrastructure and clinical analytics infrastructure housed within our division.
These staff members use their professional experience to provide comprehensive biostatistical support for faculty, fellows and residents. Our biostatisticians and system administrator also support funded research projects conducted by our faculty.
Program research assistants focus on recruitment and retention for cross-sectional, cohort and interventional research studies being conducted by faculty in our division.
Our staff also provide critical support coordinating grant submissions, scientific manuscript coordination, collaboration activities, and regulatory and data management activities to ensure compliance and standard procedures across the lifespan of research activities.