Alison Cohen, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor
Epidemiology & Biostatistics
School of Medicine

I am an epidemiologist who does community-driven, policy-relevant applied epidemiology and public health research to study social and environmental determinants of health inequities, and possible interventions that could reduce these inequities. In addition to my primary appointment in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, I am also affiliated faculty with the Philip R.

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Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies.

Much of my research is in partnership with community-based organizations, with the goal of systematically documenting health inequities using community-based participatory research approaches and harnessing the power of research-practice partnerships. I also study interventions beyond the health sector that could reduce inequities in health and well-being.

I have experience doing multidisciplinary research and evaluation on topics including public health, education, youth, civic engagement, and the environment. I conduct research locally, nationally, and internationally, in English, Spanish, and French.

I welcome potential students and trainees to contact me if you are interested in working with me.

Education & Training

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  • PhD Epidemiology University of California Berkeley 05/2017
  • MPH Epidemiology & Biostatistics University of California Berkeley 05/2012
  • BA Community Health & Education Studies Brown University 05/2009

Interests

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  • community-based participatory research
  • health inequities
  • civic engagement
  • social epidemiology
  • environmental health
  • adolescent health
  • program evaluation
  • young adult health
  • women's health
  • social determinants
  • youth participatory action research
  • health equity

Websites

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Grants and Projects

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  • The 3E Study: Economic and Educational Contributions to Emerging Adult Cardiometabolic Health, NIH/NHLBI, 2023-2027
  • Collaborative Research: Science with the People: Collaborative analysis of government data for policy reach and structural change in environmentally contested regions, NSF, 2023-2025
  • The I-ACTED Study: Testing the Causal Effects of a Civic Engagement Intervention on Health and Wellbeing Among Youth, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Evidence for Action program, 2020-2025
  • Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA): Evaluating programming to break the cycle of multigenerational violence, Blue Shield of California Foundation, 2020-2022
  • Base-Building and Leadership Development Among Latina Survivors of Gender-Based Violence, Economic Exploitation, and Migration Trauma: Implications for Health Equity, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2020-2022
  • Westbrook Apartments Community-Based Health Needs Assessment: Community-led Data Collection for Ongoing Health Equity Programming and Systems Change, Bank of America Foundation, 2019-2022

Publications (109)

Top publication keywords:
Environmental PollutionPublic Health PracticeConsciousnessTelevisionElectrical Equipment and SuppliesMarriageSchoolsMaternal MortalityRecreationCommunity NetworksPublic HealthCommunity-Based Participatory ResearchWeight GainEducational StatusStudents

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