Cheryl Anderson, PhD MPH

Assoc. Prof., Preventive Medic., U. of Calif. San Diego Schl. of Medic.

Adj. Assoc. Prof., Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins U.

Member, Food and Nutrit. Board, Institute of Medic.

At the University of California San Diego, Cheryl Anderson is an Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine in the School of Medicine, and Co-Director of Center of Excellence in Health Behavior Change in Underserved and Vulnerable Populations.  She earned a PhD, with a specialization in Nutritional Sciences, from the University of Washington Department of Epidemiology, and a Masters degree in Public Health from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.  She remains an Adjunct Associate Professor in Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, after having served that university’s faculty in the Departments of Epidemiology and International Health (Human Nutrition), and the School of Medicine’s Division of General Internal Medicine.

Dr. Anderson has wide-ranging expertise in conducting clinical research studies with a focus on the effects of nutritional interventions on the prevention of chronic diseases or the remediation of their risk factors.  She has devoted particular attention to nutrition-related issues in chronic disease prevention in minority and under-served populations, including promoting health equity and reducing racial/ethnic disparities in cancer.   She has been an investigator on a variety of studies including:  a study of the effects of sodium and potassium intake on subclinical and clinical cardiovascular disease;  dietary feeding studies examining the effects of macronutrient intake on cardiovascular disease risk;  and a clinical trial of the effects of a behavioral intervention on maintenance of recommended dietary sodium intake.  She is the author or co-author of 80 articles in peer-reviewed journals, and has participated in peer review work for 24 of such journals.

Dr. Anderson has been a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board since 2011, and has served on many of its committees.  She previously served on the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s expert panel dealing with nutrition and physical (in)activity as determinants of cancer risk in Africa.  She has also been named as a Fellow in the World Health Federation Emerging Leaders Program, and a nominee for the University of California San Diego Salzman Distinguished Teaching Award, and has received a National Kidney Foundation of Maryland Volunteer Service Award, a Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Innovation Grant Award, and a Gil Omenn Award for Academic Excellence.