Donna Shelley

Vice Dean for Research

Professor of Public Health Policy and Management

Co-Director of the Global Center for Implementation Science

Professional overview

Dr. Shelley is a tenured Professor and Vice Dean for Research in the Department of Public Health Policy and Management and the founding Co-Director of the Global Center for Implementation Science at the NYU School of Global Public Health. She conducts translational, population-based, and policy-relevant research that aims to accelerate dissemination and implementation of tobacco use treatment in safety net health care delivery systems and implementation of tobacco control policies. This research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institute of Drug Abuse, National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the New York State Department of Health.

Dr. Shelley’s implementation research focuses on building the evidence for effective theory-driven strategies that target barriers to implementation and sustainability of evidence-based tobacco use treatment in primary care settings in the U.S and Viet Nam. Her research is also addressing the growing dual burden of noncommunicable and communicable diseases in LMICs and, specifically, the health impact on people living with HIV/AIDS. With funding from the NCI, Dr. Shelley is conducting a randomized controlled trial comparing the effectiveness of behavioral interventions and pharmacotherapy to improve cessation outcomes among people living with HIV/AIDs who use tobacco, and simultaneously, answering questions about the feasibility and effectiveness of implementation strategies to improve adoption of tobacco use treatment in HIV care settings in Viet Nam.  An example of her policy research includes a recently completed NCI-funded study that evaluated the impact of the US federally mandated smoke free public housing policy on exposure to secondhand smoke and explored the implementation process to identify strategies with the potential to improve the process and maximize public health impact.

Education

BS, University of Pennsylvania, PA

MD, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NY

MPH, Health Policy and Management, Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, NY

Areas of research and study

Health Systems Strengthening

Implementation science

Tobacco Cessation

Tobacco Policy