Simona C. Kwon, DrPH, MPH

I am a professor in the Department of Population Health and director of the Section for Health Equity in the Department of Population Health. I serve as the associate director for Community Outreach and Education for the Perlmutter Cancer Center.

I am a social and behavioral epidemiologist with extensive experience in the use of, among other methods, community-based participatory research, mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) approaches, evidence-based strategies, dissemination and implementation science, and multidisciplinary teams to address community-level health disparities.

I work in collaboration with multisector coalitions made up of local and national community-based organizations, governmental agencies, service delivery organizations, and researchers from discrete disciplines.

My research examines the social and cultural factors that influence health and health outcomes for populations experiencing health disparities. I employ a social determinants of health framework to implement and evaluate evidence-based strategies in community settings, focusing on cultural relevance and impact and finding more effective channels through which to translate research into practice.