I use spatial and simulation modeling to understand the community/ neighborhood and environmental determinants of health and illness focusing on the underlying socioeconomic and physical mechanisms in the United States as well as globally. In particular, my research has focused on how neighborhood-level factors in conjunction with individual-level variables explain spatial variations in adverse reproductive health outcomes. Additionally, I am studying the determinants of physical activity, obesity, and maternal smoking by neighborhoods based on the 2002 Allegheny County Behavioral Risk Surveillance Survey for which I served as the principal investigator. My other research projects include: the CDC funded Center of Excellence in Academic Environmental Public Health (CO-PI), Center for Healthy Environments and Communities (CO-Investigator); CDC funded study of ""Large Scale Natural Experiment of Community Economic Development: Effects on Violence Pattern""(Co-Investigator); ""Validating GIS-based methods to address spatial uncertainty in clinical trials"" and Heinz foundation funded study of ""Environmental factors in autism spectrum"". Some of the research tools I use are: geographic information systems (GIS), spatial data analysis, and multilevel models. My recent co-authored publications are (1) Improvements in the life expectancy of type 1 diabetes: the Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications study cohort. Diabetes. 2012 Nov;61(11):2987-92; (2) Local Spatial and Temporal Processes of Influenza in Pennsylvania, USA: 2003–2009 published 28 Mar 2012 | PLOS ONE and (3) Spatial and multidimensional visualization of Jeddah health resources: A community health assessment of the primary clinics. Journal Of Global Health Perspective, Volume 01 / Issue 01 / March 2013). Teaching I am teaching the following graduate-level courses: BCHS 3015 GIS and Spatial Data Analysis (cross-listed as BIOST 3023), BCHS 2561 Demographic Techniques, and BCHS 2598 Social Inequalities and Health (cross-listed as BIOST 2030). Service I am Co-Chair of CDC Public Health Environmental Tracking team on tools for environmental tracking. I am also the chair of the Graduate School of Public Health faculty diversity committee. My outside service is related to conducting community health assessments for local and international agencies. I work closely with Magee-Women’s Hospital’s WomenCare International and have served in the Ukraine, Albania, and Shaklin Island in Russia. I working with community based organizations and Universities in Kenya, India and Indonesia. In my previous projects, I have worked in Ecuador & Chile. I am on the faculty advisory board of the African & Asian Studies program as well as the Center for Latin American Studies at Pitt. I am an elected member of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population based in Paris, France. I am also a member of the American Public Health Association and the Population Association of America.
