Dana and David Dornsife Dean of the Dornsife School of Public HealthProfessor of Epidemiology
Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Urban Health Collaborative
646.761.1362
gsl45@drexel.edu
Download CV
Follow on LinkedIn
Degrees
PhD, Epidemiology, University of WashingtonMPH, Epidemiology, University of WashingtonBS, Ecology, Behavior and Evolution, UCLA
Bio
Gina S. Lovasi, PhD, MPH, is the Dana and David Dornsife Dean and Professor of Epidemiology at Drexel University's Dornsife School of Public Health.
Her research projects reflect a tension between loving to work with large datasets to chip away at big questions, and a fascination with the insights gained through field data collection to tackle local information needs. In both contexts, the puzzles and surprises that emerge, either during the investigation or during subsequent dissemination, continue to provide a rich source of new research questions. Another interest is in synthesizing prior scientific literature to uncover answers and insights that single studies cannot provide.
Dr. Lovasi’s recent NIA-funded project is a longitudinal investigation of local retail (healthy food sources, physical activity venues, and medical facilities), perceptions of neighborhood change, and their implications for healthy aging across the US. She is Co-Director of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation project on Transforming Academia for Equity.
She has authored more than 175 peer-reviewed articles. She wrote for and co-edited the book Urban Public Health: A Research Toolkit for Practice and Impact (Oxford University Press, 2020). She serves on the editorial committee for the journal Annual Review of Public Health.
Dr. Lovasi most recently co-taught an interdisciplinary undergraduate honors course on How to Save the World, and has previously taught for the MPH, MS, and doctoral programs in public health. She currently mentors epidemiology doctoral students and junior faculty on using data to answer epidemiological and urban health questions.
Previous affiliations include University of California Los Angeles (undergraduate training), University of Washington (graduate training in epidemiology), and Columbia University (interdisciplinary postdoctoral training, assistant professorship in epidemiology).
Research Interests
- Cardiovascular Disease
- Data Analysis Methods
- Health and Place or Built Environment
- Health Disparities
- Spatial Analysis or GIS
- Urban Health
- Urban Trees and Greenspace
- Local Retail and Urban Design
- Transportation, Infrastructure and Policies
Publications
Select Publications:
Joshua, T., Lopez, R., Wilson, J.S., Owino, M., Love, E., Schinasi, L., Kaufman, M.J., Waetzig, E., Lovasi, G.S., and Moore, R.H. Shared leadership team: the creation, journey, lessons learned. Frontiers in Public Health, 2026. 14:1695469.
Hernandez, M.A., Hirsch, J.A., Mucciaccio, F.A., Kumar, A., Tabb, L.P., Finlay, J.M., Bader, M.D., Bennett, A., Michael, Y.L., and Lovasi, G.S. Gentrification and fear of displacement: a quantitative study of older Black and White US adults. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 2025. pp.1-13.
Lovasi, G.S., and Remigio, R. Where, when, and how to close dialysis access gaps: incorporation of geographic information system into data-driven planning: A commentary. Israel Journal of Health Policy Research, 2025: 14(1), p.69.
Lovasi, G. S., Bedrick, S., Brauer, M., Doerr, M., Kon, F., Smith, L., and Ritz, B. Paths to public benefit: Constructing meaning from our physical and built environments through digital observation. In: Paus, T. and Kum, H., ed. Digital Ethology, Strüngmann Forum Reports, MIT Press Direct, 2024.
Brown, J, Hirsch, J.A., Tabb, L.P., Judd, S.E., Bennett, A., Rundle, A., and Lovasi, G.S. A segmented regression analysis of household income and recurrent falls among adults in a national cohort study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 2024: 193(3) p. 516-526.
Lovasi, G.S., Boise, S., Jogi, S., Hurvitz, P.M., Rundle, A.G., Diez, A., Hirsch, J.A., Fitzpatrick, A., Biggs, M.L., and Siscovick, D.S. Time-varying food retail and incident disease in the Cardiovascular Health Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2023; 64(6), p. 877-887.
Gullón, P., Fry, D., Plascak, J.J., Mooney, S.J., Lovasi, G.S. Measuring changes in neighborhood disorder using Google Street View longitudinal imagery: a feasibility study. Cities & Health. 2023:1-7.
Lovasi, G.S., Treat, C.A., Fry, D., Shah, I., Clougherty, J.E., Berberian, A., Perera, F.P., and Kioumourtzoglou, M.A. Clean fleets, different streets: evaluating the effect of New York City's clean bus program on changes to estimated ambient air pollution. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, 2022.
Fry, D., Hipp, J.A., Alberico, C., Huang, J.H., Lovasi, G.S., and Floyd, M.F. Land use diversity and park use in New York City. Preventive Medicine Reports, 2021. 22: 101321.
Lovasi, G.S., Diez Roux, A., Kolker, J. (Eds.) Urban Public Health: A Research Toolkit for Practice and Impact. Oxford University Press, 2020.
Click for full list of publications in PubMed