Lorraine

T.

Dean

,

ScD

As a social epidemiologist, I research privilege and health -- that is, how individual- and neighborhood-level social and economic factors contribute to health inequities and health outcomes for those managing chronic disease. Methodologically my focus is on using multi-level modeling, GIS, propensity scores, and econometric methods.  I teach a national award-winning service-learning course on privilege and health as part of the social epidemiology curriculum at Hopkins. As a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Research Scholar, I have examined the relationship between guaranteed income and health, and am co-lead of the national Guaranteed Income and Health Consortium. I have been PI of an NIH R01 on structural racism and hypertension, PI on two NIH R21s on economic barriers to HIV PrEP use, an F31 and K01 to explore social determinants of breast cancer screening and survivorship outcomes, and PI on a Fulbright Grant to explore women’s perceptions of self-breast exams in Venezuela. 

Prior to my time in academia, I led a $13 million tobacco policy and control initiative in Philadelphia, PA. This policy role has had lasting impact on the City of Philadelphia, resulting in 40,000 fewer smokers and permanent legislative changes affecting 1.5 million Philadelphians. Through that policy work, my efforts have had impact by moving the needle toward better health for populations and I am returned to academia to be part of building the evidence base for chronic disease policies and programs. Because of this background, I bring a multi-disciplinary research approach, setting forth a new path to explore how social factors shape life for survivors of chronic disease.