Cheryl Anderson facts for kids

Cheryl Ann Marie Anderson is an American epidemiologist. An epidemiologist is a scientist who studies how diseases spread and how to prevent them. Dr. Anderson is a professor and the first Dean of the University of California San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science. Her work mainly focuses on how good nutrition can help prevent long-term diseases, especially in communities that don't always have access to the best healthcare.

Education and Early Studies

Dr. Anderson has studied at several top universities. She earned her first degree, a Bachelor of Arts, from Brown University in 1992. She then went on to get a Master of Public Health degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1994.

Later, in 1997, she earned a Master of Science degree in epidemiology from the University of Washington. She continued her studies there, earning her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in nutritional sciences in 2001. After her Ph.D., she completed a special research program called a postdoctoral fellowship in 2002.

Her Journey in Public Health

Dr. Anderson has worked at many important research centers and universities. From 2001 to 2002, she was involved in cancer prevention research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She then taught epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania from 2002 to 2005.

She joined the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2005. There, she was a key faculty member at the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research until 2012. She also held positions at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

In 2012, Dr. Anderson moved to the University of California, San Diego. She directed the Bachelor of Science program in public health from 2012 to 2014. By 2015, she became the co-director of the UC San Diego Center of Excellence in Health Promotion and Health Equity. She also became an associate professor at the UC San Diego School of Medicine.

A big achievement in her career was in 2019. Dr. Anderson helped create and became the founding Dean of The Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at UC San Diego. This new school aims to do more research and education to prevent diseases, help people live longer, and improve health in communities.

Important Research Work

Dr. Anderson's research focuses on understanding how nutrition can prevent long-term illnesses. She studies how what we eat affects our health, especially in groups of people who might not have as many health resources.

She uses different ways to do her research:

• Observational studies: This means she carefully watches groups of people over time to see how their diet and lifestyle affect their health.
• Clinical trials: These are studies where different groups of people try different diets or health plans to see what works best.

Some of her research looks at how much salt and potassium people eat and how that affects their blood pressure and heart health. She also studies how to help people stick to healthy eating plans. Her work also helps identify what nutritional factors might lead to kidney disease or heart problems in people who already have kidney issues.

Awards and Special Recognition

Dr. Anderson has received several honors for her important work:

• She is a Fellow of the American Heart Association, which means she is recognized for her significant contributions to heart health.
• In 2016, she was chosen to be a member of the National Academy of Medicine. This is a very high honor for scientists in health and medicine.
• Since 2017, she has been the main leader for The US Ten Day Seminar on the Epidemiology and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. This is an important event for learning about heart disease prevention.