Robyn Gershon

Clinical Professor of Epidemiology

Professional overview

Dr. Gershon is an interdisciplinary occupational and environmental health and safety researcher with extensive experience in the areas of disaster preparedness, healthcare safety, and risk assessment and management in high-risk work occupations. She earned her doctorate in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, School of Public Health, where she was on faculty for several years.  

Subsequently, Dr. Gershon was a Professor at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, with a joint appointment in the School of Nursing.

At the Mailman School, she also served as the Associate Dean for Research and was the Director of the Mentoring Program. Her most recent faculty appointment prior to joining NYU GPH was Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She was also an Adjunct Professor in the UCSF School of Nursing, as well as at UC Berkeley where she taught public health disaster courses.

Dr. Gershon and her team conducted numerous ground breaking studies to develop and test new metrics of preparedness. Importantly, Dr. Gershon’s work has influenced the adoption of safe work practices and regulatory control measures, such as national needlestick prevention guidelines and high-rise building fire safety laws. Her numerous research studies encompass a wide range of topics, including, (to name a few): bloodborne pathogen exposure; hospital safety climate; psychosocial work stress in law enforcement; “ability and willingness” of essential workforce employees to report to duty during natural and man-made disasters; preparedness of responders for terrorist incidents; emergency high–rise building evacuation- (including the World Trade Center Evacuation Study); emergency preparedness of the elderly and disabled; mass fatality management infrastructure in the US; adherence to emergency public health measures among the general public;  hearing loss risk in subway ridership; and noise exposure in urban populations.

Dr. Gershon recently completed a four-year, longitudinal intervention NIH-funded study on motivation and persistence in pursuing STEM research careers among underrepresented doctoral students. (the BRIDGE Project). 

As a committed advocate for junior faculty and graduate students, Dr. Gershon will play an active role in research mentorship and advisement. 

Education

BS, Medical Technology, Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT

MHS, Medical Microbiology, Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT

DrPH, Environmental and Occupational Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Honors and awards

Recipient, American Society of Safety Engineers, Membership Award, Oakland, CA (2016)

Recipient, John L. Ziegler Capstone Mentor Award, Global Health Sciences, University of California San Francisco (2015)

Recipient, City of New York Fire Commissioner's Special Commendation Certificate of Appreciation (2006)

Recipient, Survivors' Salute, World Trade Center Survivors' Network (2006)

Recipient, Annual International Sharps Injury Prevention Award (2005)

Delta Omega (Public Health) Honorary Society (1997)

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society (Microbiology) (1976)

Lambda Tau Mu Honor Society (Laboratory Science) (1976)

Areas of research and study

Disaster Health

Disaster Impact and Recovery

Disaster Preparedness

Environmental Public Health Services

Epidemiology

Healthcare Safety

Occupational Health

Risk Assessment and Management

Publications

Publications

Temporal Trends of Early COVID-19 Infections in New York City Transit Workers and Residents: March 01, 2020–May 02, 2020

“They did not care about us”: How a lack of pandemic preparedness created long-term distrust and dissatisfaction among New York City transit workers

Adverse Effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Amid Cumulative Disasters: A Qualitative Analysis of the Experiences of Children and Families

Association of Victimization by Sex among Public Facing Bus and Subway Transit Workers, New York City

Barriers and Facilitators to Vaccine Equity Amidst the COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout in the United States

Associations Between COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Socio-Spatial Factors in NYC Transit Workers 50 Years and Older

Examining the effects of cumulative environmental stressors on Gulf Coast child and adolescent health

Meltzer, G. Y., Merdjanoff, A. A., Xu, S., Gershon, R., Emrich, C. T., & Abramson, D. M. (n.d.).

Publication year

2023

Journal title

Population and Environment

Volume

45

Issue

3

10.1007/s11111-023-00436-1

Abstract

Abstract

This study examines how community-level cumulative environmental stress affects child and adolescent emotional distress and chronic health conditions both directly and indirectly through stressors at the household, family, and individual levels. Data comes from the Women and their Children’s Health (WaTCH) Study, which sought to understand the health implications of exposure to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DHOS) among a cohort of 596 mothers with children ages 10 to 17 in southeastern Louisiana. Community-level environmental stress was measured using a newly developed geospatial index. Household-level stressors included previous hurricane impacts, impacts of DHOS, degree of financial difficulty, and degree of housing physical decay. Family stressors included maternal depression, self-rated physical health, and degree of parenting stress. Child stress was based on perceived stress; child mental health was based on serious emotional disturbance; and child physical health was based on diagnosis of chronic illness. Structural equation modeling used weighted least squares means and variance and theta parameterization. Results showed a significant negative direct path between community-level cumulative environmental stress and child/adolescent serious emotional disturbance and chronic illness. However, the indirect relationship through household, family, and individual-level stressors was significant and positive for both child/adolescent serious emotional disturbance and chronic illness. These findings point to the centrality of the household and family in determining child and adolescent physical and mental health outcomes in communities exposed to frequent disasters and ongoing environmental stressors.

Vicarious Trauma: Exploring the Experiences of Qualitative Researchers Who Study Traumatized Populations

Are local offices of emergency management prepared for people with disabilities? Results from the FEMA Region 9 Survey

Impact of occupational exposure to COVID-19 on the physical and mental health of an essential workgroup: New York City transit workers

Comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder and lower respiratory symptoms in disaster survivors: Qualitative results of a 17-year follow-up of World Trade Center disaster survivors

Construction trade and extraction workers: A population at high risk for drug use in the United States, 2005–2014

The influence of social supports on graduate student persistence in biomedical fields

Adherence to Emergency Public Health Measures for Bioevents: Review of US Studies

Protective factors, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and World Trade Center evacuees

Hosakote, S., Nwankwo, E. M., Zhi, Q., & Gershon, R. (n.d.).

Publication year

2018

Journal title

Journal of Emergency Management

Adherence to emergency public heath measures for bio events: review of US studies

Gershon, R., Zhi, Q., Chin, A. F., Nwankwo, E. M., & Gargano, L. M. (n.d.).

Publication year

2017

Journal title

Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness

Page(s)

1

Emergency Preparedness Safety Climate and Other Factors Associated with Mental Health Outcomes among World Trade Center Disaster Evacuees

Enabling a Disaster-Resilient Workforce: Attending to Individual Stress and Collective Trauma

Health care emergency preparedness: changes on the horizon

Gershon, R., & Zhi, Q. (n.d.).

Publication year

2017

Journal title

Journal of the Association of Occupational Health Professionals in Healthcare

Page(s)

20

Mass-Fatality Incident Preparedness among Faith-Based Organizations

Psychosocial Influences on Disaster Preparedness in San Francisco Recipients of Home Care

Resilience to post-traumatic stress among World Trade Center survivors: A mixed-methods study

Self-reported Preparedness to Respond to Mass Fatality Incidents in 38 State Health Departments

Are We Ready for Mass Fatality Incidents? Preparedness of the US Mass Fatality Infrastructure

Coping Behavior and Risk of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among Federal Disaster Responders