Community & Population Health Research

In the area of community and population health research, faculty in the College of Health are addressing the most pressing health challenges faced by communities through data-driven prevention and intervention. Their approach is based on social, biological, psychological, commercial, and other determinants of health. Our world-renowned faculty make up some of the most distinguished leaders in their fields, and each year nearly $1,000,000 is awarded in funding to further research in this area.

Our faculty have expertise in a wide array of domains, specializing in disciplines spanning from issues in environmental health to health policy. Through population-based and clinical research, faculty research translates to community intervention to improve overall public health and diminish population vulnerabilities. Faculty expertise in this area has come to serve as a resource and partner for helping to resolve population health issues in the greater Lehigh Valley.

Our faculty are investigating real-world problems and finding solutions, ranging from the development of an early-warning system for environmental toxicants to analyzing the mental-health effects of immigration and resettlement on older individuals. Areas of focus in which our faculty are performing research expand as far as improving accessibility of disabled persons through the development of a new indoor mapping interface, leveraging virtual reality scene reasoning for medical school training, and AI technologies in health.

Our research methods include community-based participatory research and community-driven approaches, analyzing underlying environmental factors associated with health risk, evaluating the effectiveness of regulatory and policy initiatives, and designing experimental and controlled health interventions. Our faculty and students have expertise in coding and analyzing data sourced from surveys and interviews to investigate the intersection of health and nonmedical factors in an effort to drive change and enable individuals of diverse backgrounds to lead healthy lives.

College of Health faculty conduct projects with academic partners as well as organizations in both the private and public sectors. Our research is funded by the PA State Department of Health, PA Department of Environmental Protection, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, National Endowment for the Humanities, American Cancer Society, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency.