Department of Epidemiology Luisa N. Borrell D.D.S., Ph.D. Assistant Professor [email protected] 600 West 168th St. PH18-331 Telephone: 305-9339 Fax: Research interests Background: Upon obtaining a dual DDS-MPH degree in dentistry and general public health at Columbia University in February 1994, Dr. Borrell enrolled in the General Dentistry Residency Program at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. After completing her residency, Dr. Borrell worked as a dentist at The Children's Aid Society (CAS). Dr. Borrell continued to work at CAS until she accepted a Dental Public Health residency position at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx in 1996. These were experiences that increased her awareness to the health needs among members of these communities and heightened her interest and desire to research solutions to their problems. As a result, in 1997, Dr. Borrell applied for, and was accepted into, the Ph.D. program in Epidemiological Science at the School of Public Health, University of Michigan. Dr. Borrell was granted a National Research Scientist Award (NRSA) fellowship for three years. During her second year of Ph.D. studies, Dr. Borrell worked with Dr. Sherman James at the University of Michigan Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Health (CRECH) as a research intern. As an intern, she reviewed the literature on selected health outcomes to assist in developing interdisciplinary frameworks that help decipher the complex biological, socioeconomic, and cultural determinants of health. The work at CRECH, her background and her previous clinical experiences served as the impetus for Dr. Borrell to focus her research on racial/ethnic periodontal disparities between African-Americans and Whites over a 15-year period (1974-1988). In addition, Dr. Borrell investigated differences and similarities among African Americans, non-Hispanics Whites and Mexican Americans using data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), 1988-1994. Throughout her education, Dr. Borrell had the opportunity to be mentored by Drs. Mary Fran Sowers, Brian Burt, Sherman James, Harold Neighbors and John Lynch among others. Their mentorship brought different perspectives to her career development: epidemiological methods (MFS), the epidemiology of dental diseases (BB), the knowledge and implications of the use of race/ethnicity in research (SJ and HN) and the effect of socioeconomic inequality on health (JL). Upon the completion of her Ph.D. in 2001, Dr. Borrell decided to pursue an academic career and join the faculty at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. Her research interests focus on the social determinants of health and the effect of race/ethnicity as a social indicator of vulnerability and consequences of exposures through the life course of an individual.