Presented by The Department of Biostatistics

Health Disparities and Their Drivers

With Dr. Ali Mokdad, PhD

Professor of Health Metrics Sciences; Chief Strategy Officer for Population Health, University of Washington

Ph.D. (Quantitative Epidemiology), Emory University

B.S. (Biostatistics), American University of Beirut

Introduction:

While national discourse often focuses on aggregate US health trends, our research at the US Health Disparities Project reveals that a person’s county is a more potent predictor of longevity than their genetic code. As we enter 2023, the post-pandemic "recovery" has been remarkably local and profoundly uneven, exposing a nation where geography acts as a primary driver of health. This presentation moves beyond state-level data to examine the extreme geographic heterogeneity found at the county level, where life expectancy in 2019 already spanned a staggering 27-year gap, ranging from 64.5 to 91.7 years. We will examine how drivers like educational attainment and others interact with behavioral risk factors and geography to create "pockets of despair" alongside "pockets of resilience." This seminar provides a data-driven roadmap to the localized interventions required to close these widening gaps.

Location:

Maurer Center for Public Health Auditorium Room 3013 Or Zoom:

https://unmc.zoom.us/j/93646191861?pwd=nXQhYy371Sbw8DbSBLjFwHtZ17ATbe.1

Webinar ID 936 4619 1861 Passcode 755382

Ali H. Mokdad, PhD, is a Professor of Health Metrics Sciences and Chief Strategy Officer for Population Health at the University of Washington. Trained as an epidemiologist, he is a renowned expert in health surveys, surveillance systems, and small-area estimation, particularly for risk factor measurement and analysis. His research focuses on disparities and addressing them with better health systems. Prior to joining IHME, Ali worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for 18 years, where he spent six years directing the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey, the US’s largest risk factor surveillance system, which monitors risk behaviors related to morbidity and mortality in the US, including research into age, gender, racial, and ethnic health disparities. He held multiple positions, including the Chief of Behavioral Surveillance, at CDC’s National Center for Chronic Diseases Prevention and Health Promotion. He has published more than 650 articles and reports.

Ali co-leads our efforts to quantify disparities in health outcomes and drivers in the US by race and ethnicity and county, with primary funding from the National Institute of Minority Health and Disparities. The project produces the most detailed and extensive set of health indicators at local levels comparably for the US.  He has led several major evaluation projects at IHME, including a multi-year evaluation of the Salud Mesoamerica Initiative, a pay-for-performance program administered by the Inter-American Development Bank to strengthen health services for some of the poorest people in Mesoamerica.  Ali has received several awards, including the:

• Global Health Achievement Award for his work in Banda Aceh post-tsunami.
• Department of Health and Human Services Honor Award for his work on flu monitoring.
• Shepard Award for outstanding scientific contribution to public health.
• Warren J. Mitofsky Innovators Award from the American Association for Public Opinion Research for innovation in research on address-based sampling.