A FEW WORDS

ABOUT ME

I am an epidemiologist. I work at the intersection of data science and population health in Precision Prevention.

Problem | Opportunity | Vision | Qualifications

Why I Do What I Do

It is an exciting time to be a health researcher. There is an explosion of health-and-related data and corresponding number of analytic tools. Machine learning/AI have enabled data scientists and epidemiologists alike to rethink and refocus, with particular emphases on obtaining genomic profiles and on personalizing health and health care. We have been lured by gathering genomic profiles and by the notion of eliminating diseases by developing cures. The field of precision medicine is based on obtaining vast amounts of information on each person (genomic-, epigenomic-, proteomic-, metabolomic-, behavioromic-, and so on) to deliver personalized health care once a disease is diagnosed or, once known precursors to diseases are detected. However, under this best-case scenario of having a cure for every disease, we would still need constant medical care to address the next precursor, to cure the next disease and so on.

This is an endless cycle.

This is because in curing a disease, we would have done nothing to address the underlying constellation causes of the disease process, which likely leads to multiple disorders and diseases in the first place.

Just because a disease is cured, it does not mean that the damages the disease process has caused are cured.

We urgently need prevention: To prevent the disease process from starting at all. Prevention of multiple disorders and diseases is the key to eliminating diseases.

Relative to health care, we devote very few resources to prevention. Prevention has been individualized and privatized, left to individuals to navigate their community, information, coordinate their own wellness and engage in their own self-care. Under this model, prevention has become less science-based. Additionally, prevention is a collective activity. Improvements in population health and in the health of communities lead to healthier individuals.

What if we all work together to collectively harness the breakthroughs in science and medicine and direct our efforts toward prevention?

Precision Prevention: Data science for population health through prevention.

Constance Wang, PhD

CV

The Wang HealthImpact Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, Health Research for Action (2019- )

Epidemiology consultant (2013- )

Senior Advisor, University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health (2019-2022)

Mid-Career Visiting Scholar, University College London Institute of Health Equity Research, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (2014-2015)

Assistant Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology, University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health (2007-2013)

Research Scientist, University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health (2006-2007)

Lecturer, Epidemiology and Community Health, University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health (2005-2007)

EDUCATION

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar, University of California San Francisco and Berkeley (2003-2006)

PhD, Epidemiology, University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston, TX (2003)

MS, Epidemiology, University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston, TX (1998)

BA, Psychology, University of Texas at Austin (1994)

RESEARCH GRANTS

2010-2013 Co-Principal Investigator. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Pioneer Portfolio. Partnerships for Community Health (PACT): Collaboration between Academia, the Community and Business to Improve Health.

2006-2011 Principal Investigator. National Institute of Health/National Institute on Aging Career Development Award (K01). Etiology of Successful Aging: Methodologic innovations for understanding healthy aging processes to inform policy. The research component of this K01 career development program described the dynamics of the complex combinations (profiles) of exposures and diseases/functional outcomes over time and examined the contribution of risk factors-morbidities profiles on subsequent functional decline and mortality in a cohort of older adults.

2009-2010 Principal Investigator. Pilot study Phase II jointly funded by the UC Berkeley Population Center Competitive Pilot Funds with matching funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars Program at UC Berkeley Competitive Pilot Funds. Pilot Phase II: Biological Stress Reactivity, Socioneurocognitive factors, and Health-Related Decision Making. This pilot project looked at health-related decision-making in relation to biological stress reactivity, social positioning and individual cognitive styles among young adults and older adults.

2007-2009 Principal Investigator. Pilot project jointly funded by the UC Berkeley Center on the Economics and Demography of Aging (CEDA), UC Berkeley Social Science Experimental Laboratory (XLab), and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars Program at UC Berkeley. All Competitive Pilot Funds. Pilot Study: Biological Stress Reactivity, Socioneurocognitive factors, and Health-Related Decision Making. This pilot project looked at health-related decision-making in relation to biological stress reactivity, social positioning and individual cognitive styles among young adults and older adults.

2004-2011 Principal Investigator. National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Social and Economic Disparities in Health and Aging. This project looked at risk factor profiles for functional decline and mortality across the social and economic gradient among a cohort of older adults.