Theresa Osypuk is a social epidemiologist, and her research examines why place and social policy influence health and health disparities. She studies the influence of racial residential segregation, neighborhood context, and social and economic policies implemented outside of the health sector, for their effects on health disparities across the life course. Read more
Dr. Osypuk is currently the principal investigator of several NIH grants investigating how Housing Choice Vouchers (the largest federal affordable housing policy in the U.S.) and neighborhood context influence the health of families. She has authored and coauthored over 65 scientific articles, in leading medical, epidemiology, social epidemiology, and public health journals. She has also collaborated on applied projects, including to translate social determinants of health research for policy makers and advocates, by contributing to development of two indicator website projects (
www.diversitydata.org and
www.diversitydatakids.org), the goal of which is to stimulate policy to improve the context and life chances of U.S. racial/ethnic minority children and families, emphasizing equity and diversity. She entered the public health field via communications, creating national public service campaigns to change attitudes and behavior related to public health and social issues, at The Advertising Council. Dr. Osypuk is currently an Associate Professor in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health in the School of Public Health, and Associate Director of the Minnesota Population Center, at the University of Minnesota. She earned her masters and doctoral degrees from Harvard School of Public Health, and trained as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar at the University of Michigan.
Theresa Osypuk is a social epidemiologist, and her research examines why place and social policy influence health and health disparities. She studies the influence of racial residential segregation, neighborhood context, and social and economic policies implemented outside of the health sector, for their effects on health disparities across the life course. Read more
Professor Elizabeth Heger Boyle (Department of Sociology & College of Law, University of Minnesota) studies the role of law in the realization of women’s and children’s right to health, particularly in the global south. She has written extensively on the impetus for and impact of laws related to female genital cutting, and considered the impact of laws and international treaties on adolescent childbearing, vaccinations, under-5 mortality, and educational enrollments. Read more
