Dr. Chen received his Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Engineering in 2016 from Nanjing University in China. During 2014-2015, he served as a Visiting Scholar at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Prior to joining the Yale School of Public Health faculty in July 2019, he was an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoc Fellow at Helmholtz Zentrum München-German Center for Environmental Health.Dr. Chen’s research focuses on the intersection of climate change, air pollution, and human health. His work involves applying multidisciplinary approaches in climate and air pollution sciences, exposure assessment, and environmental epidemiology to investigate how climate change may impact human health. Much of this work has been done in China, Europe, and the U.S.

Dr. Nicola Hawley is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology (Chronic Disease) and Anthropology at the Yale School of Public Health. Her expertise is in the etiology and prevention of obesity-related chronic disease in resource-poor, low-income settings. Her research focuses predominantly on Pacific Islander populations, although she has ongoing collaborations in South Africa, Uganda, Honduras, China, Columbia and the US. Methodologically, Dr. Hawley employs a life-course approach that utilizes cross-sectional, cohort, and randomized controlled trial designs to address questions of causality and identify critical periods of susceptibility. She is a mixed-methods expert and an advocate for community-engaged approaches to research, intervention, and development of health policy. Dr. Hawley’s current research focuses broadly on: (1) understanding how maternal and child health are impacted by rising levels of obesity and diabetes in resource-poor settings; (2) determining how innovations in healthcare delivery can impact identification and treatment of obesity-related disease during the perinatal period; and (3) developing interventions focused on pregnancy, childhood, and adolescence to prevent the intergenerational transmission of obesity-related disease.

Melinda L. Irwin, PhD, MPH is the Susan Dwight Bliss Professor of Epidemiology and Associate Dean of Research at the Yale School of Public Health, Deputy Director of the Yale Cancer Center, and Deputy Director (Public Health) in the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation. Nationally, Dr. Irwin co-leads the SWOG Cancer Research Network Cancer Survivorship Committee. In 2018, Dr. Irwin completed the yearlong Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Program. Dr. Irwin’s experience working across departments, schools, and with interdisciplinary groups of investigators has provided her with the skills to train and mentor effectively.  Dr. Irwin is a prominent leader in the field of cancer prevention and survivorship research. Her research over the past 20 years has focused on randomized trials of exercise and weight loss on biological markers, treatment side effects and quality of life in people with diagnosed with cancer. She has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, American Institute for Cancer Research, Komen for the Cure, and Livestrong Foundation. She is currently leading an NCI-funded clinical trial examining the impact of nutrition and exercise on improving chemotherapy completion rate, endocrine therapy adherence, biomarkers, body composition and quality of life in women beginning chemotherapy for breast cancer, and a also leading a newly funded NCI U01 trial of exercise and nutrition on treatment outcomes in women newly diagnosed with ovarian cancer.  Dr. Irwin is committed to training the next generation of scientists and is currently leading an NCI T32-funded Cancer Prevention and Control Training Program for pre- and post-doctoral fellows and an NCI R25-funded Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer (TREC) Training Program for early career investigators. At Yale, Dr. Irwin has advised, mentored and trained over 100 trainees. Her commitment to training the next generation of scientists is evident in the enthusiasm she brings to mentoring. Her vision is to maximize opportunities for early career investigators so they can become leaders in their respective fields and have a maximal impact on the health and well-being of patients and the population.

Dr. Ransome’s research investigates how social, economic, and cultural determinants influence racial/ethnic- and geography-related disparities in HIV care continuum indicators and alcohol use disorders. Two broad determinants of interest are a) social capital & cohesion, and b) religion, faith, and spirituality. Dr. Ransome currently has a K01 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to study the direct association and underlying mechanisms between social capital and cohesion on HIV care continuum outcomes in the United States. Some methodological approaches Dr. Ransome uses in his research program include survey data analysis, multilevel modeling, structural equation modeling, spatial epidemiology, and geographic information systems.