University of Michigan, School of Public Health
Department of Health Behavior and Health Education
1415 Washington Heights
Ann Arbor
MIUSA
48109
Biographical Sketch: Barbara Israel is a Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the School of Public Health, University of Michigan. Dr. Israel has published widely in her research interests areas including: the social and physical environmental determinants of health and health disparities; the relationship among stress, social support, control and physical and mental health; community empowerment and health; and community-based participatory research (CBPR). Dr. Israel has extensive experience conducting community-based participatory research in collaboration with partners in diverse communities. With initial funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1995, she has worked together with community partners to establish and maintain the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center. The Center involves multiple funded research and intervention projects aimed at increasing knowledge and addressing factors associated with health disparities and quality of life of residents in Detroit, Michigan. Dr. Israel is actively involved in several of these CBPR projects examining and addressing, for example, the social and physical environmental determinants of cardiovascular disease, the environmental triggers of childhood asthma, access to food and physical activity spaces, diabetes management and prevention, and capacity building for and translating research findings into policy change.