Xing Gao, PhD, MPH

Equitable neighborhood development is key to preventing adverse health outcomes resulting from structural disinvestment, gentrification, and community segregation. As a social epidemiologist, I study how place-based inequities are rooted in systems of power like structural racism and racial capitalism, and how they ultimately impact maternal and cardiovascular health. My research has been published in prominent journals, including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, JAMA Open Network, the American Journal of Epidemiology, and the Journal of the American Heart Association. 

Growing up in a working-class Chinese immigrant family and having been a first-generation student, I developed a deep appreciation for political education and community engagement as foundational to scholarship that advances place-based health equity. My current work focuses on understanding the combined health impacts of social marginalization and local environmental hazards, such as wildfire exposure and drinking water contamination.  

As the newest faculty member in the Public Health Department, I look forward to collaborating with students on projects particularly relevant to communities in the San Joaquin Valley. 

I also look forward to meeting students in the classroom. I will be teaching Introduction to Biostatistics (PH 10), Introduction to Epidemiology (PH 100), and Social Epidemiology (PH 111).