Ross C. Brownson, PhD, Principal Investigator

Dr. Brownson is a Professor at Washington University in St. Louis. He is involved in numerous community-level studies designed to understand and reduce modifiable cancer risk factors such as physical inactivity, obesity, and tobacco use. In particular, he is interested in the impacts of environmental and policy interventions on health behaviors and he conducts research on D&I of evidence-based interventions. Dr. Brownson is the author of 7 books and over 300 peer-reviewed articles. His books include Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Control, Applied Epidemiology, Handbook of Obesity Prevention, Communicating Public Health Information Effectively: A Guide for Practitioners, and Evidence-Based Public Health. His book (co-edited by Drs. Colditz and Proctor), Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health: Translating Science to Practice, was published early 2012 and is highly relevant for the MT-DIRC. He is associate editor of the Annual Review of Public Health, and on the editorial board of four other journals. He is a former and founding member of the 15-person CDC Task Force developing the Guide to Community Preventive Services. Dr. Brownson is the recipient of the Award for Excellence in Prevention Research and Research Translation in Chronic Disease (2000, from CDC) and the Abraham Lilienfeld Award for outstanding contributions in teaching and mentoring (2003, from APHA). Dr. Brownson began his career as a cancer epidemiologist with the Missouri Department of Health and therefore has strong practice and academic experience in cancer prevention and control. He also has a long track record of NCI funding, receiving his first NCI grant in 1986.