Dr. Constance A. Nathanson, professor of sociomedical sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, received NIH funding for the third time for the School’s Sociomedical Sciences’ Gender, Sexuality, and Health Training (T-32) Program.  The funding  provides fellowships for doctoral students interested in research and teaching careers focusing on the role of gender and sexuality in shaping reproductive and sexual health, both in the U.S. and abroad. The program is supported by the Population Dynamics Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Development.

[Photo: Dr. Constance A. Nathanson]

“This interdisciplinary doctoral program is unique in its combination of in-depth training in a social science discipline with training in public health,” said Nathanson. “We are very proud of this training program and thrilled that it was refunded.”

From its inception to date, the program has funded 17 doctoral students.  Four are currently in training and supported by the training grant.  Eight have graduated and hold academic positions – including professorships at major colleges and universities.  The remaining five students still in training and no longer supported by the training grant have received multiple fellowship awards for their doctoral work.

Nathanson’s research focuses on the history, politics, and sociology of public health policy and policy change in the United States and in its peer developed countries. Recent publications include articles theorizing policy and policy change in public health from a sociological perspective; articles on tobacco and gun control policy, and the role of social movements in policy change; and essays on health inequalities, as well as a book, “Disease Prevention as Social Change” (2007), that describes and interprets public health policy shifts across time in the United States, France, Great Britain, and Canada. Dr. Nathanson is a founding director of the Columbia Population Research Center (CPRC) and was its co-director from 2006-2015.  CPRC networks demographers, sociologists, political scientists, lawyers, economists, statisticians, historians, physicians, and social and public health workers across the Columbia campus to promote the health and well-being of vulnerable populations.