Biography

Tamara Dubowitz is an Associate Policy Researcher at RAND. Trained in Social Epidemiology with concentrations in Maternal and Child Health and Public Health Nutrition, Dubowitz' research interests include neighborhood effects, particularly that of the built physical and social environment, obesity and diet related disease, and the health and nutrition effects of social policy (e.g., housing policy, food stamps, and WIC) and monitoring and evaluation. Her work has utilized both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine individuals within their social and structural contexts, having examined immigrant status and duration of residence in the United States, structure of the workday, access to childcare and competing daily-life constraints alongside of neighborhood socioeconomic status and racial composition. Dr. Dubowitz has also worked internationally. In addition to spending 2 1/2 years working on women's health programs and development with the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso, West Africa, Dubowitz led an evaluation of a maternal and child nutrition program led by UNICEF India. More recently, she has looked at factors of the built environment and their association with prevalence of obesity in Pittsburgh, Pa. Dr. Dubowitz received her doctorate and master of science from Harvard School of Public Health as well as her master's degree in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania.