The Public Health Department at UC Merced is delighted to welcome our newest faculty member, Irene Yen, PhD, MPH, Professor of Public Health. Dr. Yen comes to us from UCSF where she held faculty appointments in the Division of General Internal Medicine and the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and served as the co-Director of the Health and Society Pathway in the School of Medicine.
Dr. Yen’s appointment within UC Merced is testament to the Public Health Departments’ ability to attract amazing talent, and is another step in the continuing growth and breadth of the department, as well as what it can offer students. Dr. Yen’s research focuses on the social determinants of health, with emphasis on how neighborhood environment influences health behaviors and health status. The chair of the Public Health Department, Dr. Nancy Burke said “Dr. Yen is an internationally renown social epidemiologist whose research foci are incredibly relevant to the region and of great interest to our students at both the graduate and undergraduate level. We are excited to benefit from her strong record of trans-disciplinary research, excellence in educational leadership, and experience with training programs focused on supporting underrepresented minority students and faculty.”
Dr. Yen has experience in both quantitative and qualitative research methods including survey research, item development, intensive interview, and focus groups. She has recently completed projects studying how city planning policies and neighborhood environmental characteristics influence the diet and physical activity behaviors of girls. While at UCSF she was also crucial in developing two courses for a disparities research track within the UCSF Training in Clinic Research program.
Professor Yen is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Research Leadership fellow and Principal Investigator of a newly awarded NIH R01, “Educational trajectories & health: when people finish school and how it matters." Dr. Burke added “We look forward to working with Dr. Yen to expand our Public Health curriculum, develop our MPH program, and increase our regional impact on health disparities in the SJV.”
You can read more about Dr. Yen’s research here Dr Irene Yen's Publications
