Social Behavioral Sciences

Mehrdad Mohammadi, MD, MPH, MA in Law and Diplomacy received his credentials in medicine, public health, law and development economics from Tehran University, Tufts University and Harvard University. He has been an adjunct professor at the School of Public Health at Tehran University teaching Justice and Public Health Law. Working with the WHO, Dr. Mohammadi has advised the Ministry of Health on International Health Regulations and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Valerie B. Yerger, ND is a licensed naturopathic doctor and Associate Professor in Health Policy at the University of California, San Francisco. She is a former Health Disparities Scholar of the National Institutes of Health. The overarching goal of Dr. Yerger’s work is to frame the disproportionate burden of tobacco among marginalized communities as a social injustice and to inform public health policies so they effectively reach and engage these communities.

Dr. Smith's work focuses on tobacco control policy, particularly approaches to the tobacco endgame. Past projects include work on the tobacco industry's influence on and relationships with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, tobacco industry interest in diet and obesity issues, tobacco product waste and pollution, and tobacco control policy issues in the U.S. military.

Research focuses on tobacco industry activities aimed at undermining public health, strategic positioning and messaging, marginalized populations, and emerging developments in the social construction of tobacco use. Dr. Malone is known nationally and internationally for her research on the tobacco industry’s strategic efforts to counter public health. Her work is funded by the National Cancer Institute, NIH, and by the California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program. She has served as a consultant on tobacco industry activities for the U.S.

Dr. Stella Bialous’ research focuses on the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, tobacco industry monitoring and building nurses’ capacity for tobacco control nationally and internationally. Dr. Bialous has consulted with the World Health Organization’s Tobacco Free Initiative for over 15 years.  In 2003, she received the American Legacy Foundation’s Sybill G.

Dr. Anderson's  research interests lie at the intersection of public health policy and social cognition.  She investigates marketing strategies that tap implicit constructs of self and perceptions of others, pair brand identities with personal identities, and encourage consumption of products detrimental to individual and public health. 

Department: Social and Behavioral Sciences
 

Professional Activities: 
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