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

Evaluation tool for the assessment of personal protective respiratory equipment

Mental, physical, and behavioral outcomes associated with perceived work stress in police officers

Noise levels associated with New York City's mass transit systems

Nurse work environments and occupational safety in intensive care units

Protecting home health care workers: A challenge to pandemic influenza preparedness planning

The prevalence and risk factors for percutaneous injuries in registered nurses in the home health care sector

Violence, job satisfaction, and employment intentions among home healthcare registered nurses

Web-based training on weapons of mass destruction response for emergency medical services personnel.

Epidemiology of subway-related fatalities in New York City, 1990-2003

Factors that influence Medical Reserve Corps recruitment.

Home health care registered nurses and the risk of percutaneous injuries: A pilot study

Household-related hazardous conditions with implications for patient safety in the home health care sector

Participatory action research methodology in disaster research: Results from the world trade center evacuation study

Safety factors predictive of job satisfaction and job retention among home healthcare aides

Worksite emergency preparedness

Factors associated with high-rise evacuation: Qualitative results from the world trade center evacuation study

Home health care challenges and avian influenza

Non-hospital based registered nurses and the risk of bloodborne pathogen exposure

Organizational climate and nurse health outcomes in the United States: A systematic review

Organizational climate and occupational health outcomes in hospital nurses

Prevalence and risk factors for bloodborne exposure and infection in correctional healthcare workers

Roadmap for the protection of disaster research participants: Findings from the world trade center evacuation study

Nurse work environments and occupational safety in intensive care units

Pilot survey of subway and bus stop noise levels

Health and safety hazards associated with subways: A review