Cheryl Anderson facts for kids

Cheryl Ann Marie Anderson is a leading American scientist who studies how diseases spread and how to prevent them. She is an expert in epidemiology, which is the study of health and illness in large groups of people. Dr. Anderson is a professor and the person who started the University of California San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science. Her main work focuses on how good nutrition can help stop long-term diseases, especially in communities that don't always get the best healthcare.

Dr. Anderson's Education Journey

Dr. Anderson has studied at several top universities. She earned her first degree, a Bachelor of Arts, from Brown University in 1992. She then continued her studies to become a public health expert.

Advanced Degrees

In 1994, she received a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Later, in 1997, she earned a Master of Science in epidemiology from the University of Washington. She completed her highest degree, a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), also from the University of Washington, in 2001. After her Ph.D., she did more advanced research as a postdoctoral fellow in 2002.

Dr. Anderson's Career Path

Dr. Anderson has worked at many important health and research centers. 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.

Working at Johns Hopkins

From 2005 to 2012, Dr. Anderson was a scientist and professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She also worked at the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research. During this time, she held positions at both the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Leadership at UC San Diego

In 2012, Dr. Anderson moved to the University of California, San Diego. She directed the Bachelor of Science in Public Health program there until 2014. In 2015, she became a co-director of the Center of Excellence in Health Promotion and Health Equity. She also became an associate professor in the School of Medicine.

Founding a New School

A major achievement for Dr. Anderson was founding The Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at UC San Diego in 2019. She created this school to improve research and education. The school's goal is to prevent diseases, help people live longer, and make communities healthier.

What Dr. Anderson Researches

Dr. Anderson's research focuses on epidemiology, which means she studies how diseases affect large groups of people. She especially looks at how what we eat (nutrition) can help prevent long-term diseases. She works to help people in communities who might not have easy access to good healthcare.

How She Does Her Research

She uses different methods in her research. This includes looking at large groups of people over time (observational studies). She also conducts special studies where some people get a treatment and others don't (randomized clinical trials). Her work also involves finding the best ways to put health ideas into practice in real life.

Key Research Areas

Dr. Anderson's work explores how different eating habits, like how much salt (sodium) and potassium people eat, affect blood pressure and heart diseases. She also studies ways to help people stick to healthy eating plans. Another important part of her research is finding out how nutrition affects kidney disease and heart problems in people with kidney issues.

Awards and Special Recognitions

Dr. Anderson has received several important awards and honors for her work.

• She is a Fellow of the American Heart Association. This means she is recognized as a leader in 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 (Principal Investigator) for The US Ten Day Seminar on the Epidemiology and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease.