David M. Abramson, PhD MPH

Columbia University
National Center for Disaster Preparedness
215 West 125th Street, Suite 303
New York, NY
USA 10027

Biographical Sketch: David Abramson, PhD MPH Director of Research, the National Center for Disaster Preparedness Assistant Professor of Clinical Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health Trained in social research, population health, and health systems analysis, Dr. Abramson is the principal investigator of the Gulf Coast Child and Family Health Study, an examination of displaced and impacted families in Louisiana and Mississippi encompassing a cohort of 1,079 households. Other current disaster-related research activities include a study of “Elusive Communities” and how hidden populations such as undocumented immigrants hear and respond to public health emergency messaging; the American Hotspots project, which involves the measurement and mapping of social vulnerability and hazard; and a CDC-funded evaluation of risk messaging and community engagement. Dr. Abramson is also an Associate Editor of the AMA peer-reviewed journal, Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. From 1993 through 1996 and again from 1998 through 2005 Dr. Abramson was co-investigator and project director of a longitudinal HIV cohort study, and has written over fifty reports analyzing the system of HIV/AIDS care in the New York metropolitan area. Between 1996 and 1998 Dr. Abramson was the Senior Program Officer at The New York Academy of Medicine’s Division of Public Health, and in that capacity served as the editorial and research director of a major project examining collaboration between medicine and public health. He has also served as a staff consultant to the Institute of Medicine Committee on Perinatal Transmission of HIV. Prior to entering the field of public health in 1990, Dr. Abramson worked for a decade as a national magazine journalist, having written for Rolling Stone, Esquire, Outside, and the San Francisco Examiner, among other publications. A former paramedic, Abramson holds a doctorate in sociomedical sciences with a specialization in political science, and a masters of public health degree, both from Columbia University.

Papers:
4202.0 Examining the impact of the deepwater horizon spill on children: A mixed methods approach in a 4-state study 4291.0 Differential post-disaster health of Vietnamese and African Americans living in adjacent communities flooded by Katrina