Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
Lauren C. Zalla, PhD, MS, studies policy approaches to improving health outcomes and reducing health inequities, particularly among people with HIV.
Research Interests
social epidemiology; social and structural determinants of health; health disparities; race/ethnicity; HIV; COVID-19; epidemiologic methods; causal inference; survival analysis; policy evaluation
Experiences & Accomplishments
Lauren Zalla is a social epidemiologist who works to improve health and reduce health inequities among people with HIV in the United States. Her research describes the social and structural determinants of health among people with HIV, and examines the causal effects of clinic-, state-, and national-level interventions to reduce health disparities related to HIV. In particular, she focuses on the place-based determinants of racial health disparities (e.g., racial residential segregation), and on place-based policy initiatives (e.g., state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs and the federal Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative).
Dr. Zalla also works to develop and disseminate epidemiologic methods that improve our ability to answer policy-relevant research questions. She has written about methods for measuring and monitoring health disparities, for estimating the effects of interventions to reduce disparities, and for improving the accuracy and precision of estimates for population sub-groups.
Honors & Awards
2023 - Health Disparities Scholar, Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions
2023 - Bernard G. Greenberg Award for Excellence in Doctoral Research, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2023 - Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health
2022 - Tyroler Student Paper Prize Award Finalist, Society for Epidemiologic Research
2013 - Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship, United States Department of Education
2012 - Graduation with Distinction, Duke University
2012 - Summa Cum Laude, Duke University
Select Publications
Zalla LC, Lesko CR. Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Excess Mortality from Non-COVID Causes of Death in the United States, March-December 2020. Am J Epidemiol. 2024; Online Ahead of Print.
Zalla LC, Cole SR, Eron JJ, Adimora AA, Vines AI, Althoff KN, Marconi VC, Gill MJ, Horberg MA, Silverberg MJ, Rebeiro PF, Lang R, Kasaie P, Moore RD, Edwards JK. Evaluating Clinic-Based Interventions to Reduce Racial Differences in Mortality among People with HIV in the United States. J Infect Dis. 2023;jiad263.
Zalla LC, Cole SR, Eron JJ, Adimora AA, Vines AI, Althoff KN, Silverberg MJ, Horberg MA, Marconi VC, Coburn SB, Lang R, Williams EC, Gill MJ, Gebo KA, Klein M, Sterling TR, Rebeiro PF, Mayor AM, Moore RD, Edwards JK. Association of Race and Ethnicity with Initial Prescription of Antiretroviral Therapy Among People with HIV in the US: October 2007 to April 2019. JAMA. 2023;329(1): 52-62.
Zalla LC, Mulholland GM, Filiatreau LE, Edwards JK. Racial/Ethnic and Age Differences in the Direct and Indirect Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on US Mortality. Am J Publ Health. 2022;112(1):154–164.
Zalla LC, Martin CL, Edwards JK, Gartner DR, Noppert GA. A Geography of Risk: Structural Racism and COVID-19 Mortality in the United States. Am J Epidemiol. 2021;190(8):1439–1446.
Zalla LC, Edwards JK, Cole SR, Breger TL, Rudolph JE, Virkud A, Satcher Johnson A, Hall HI. Demographic Trends in US HIV Diagnoses, 2008-2017: Data Movies. Am J Public Health. 2021;111(4):529-532.