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

Transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from a cadaver to an embalmer

Catastrophe model for the exposure to blood-borne pathogens and other accidents in health care settings

Compliance with universal precautions in correctional health care facilities

Safety climate dimensions associated with occupational exposure to blood-borne pathogens in nurses

The impact of multifocused interventions on sharps injury rates at an acute-care hospital

The public health and law enforcement stress

Correlates of infection control practices in dentistry

Infection control basis for recommending one-time use of sterile syringes and aseptic procedures for injection drug users

The use of total quality improvement techniques to determine risk factors for back injuries in hospital workers.

Tuberculosis risk in funeral home employees

Compliance with universal precautions among physicians

Laboratory professionals' compliance with universal precautions

A work-systems analysis of compliance with Universal precautions among health care workers

Facilitator report: Bloodborne pathogens exposure among health care workers

Methodologic issues in intervention research - Health care

Operationalizing theoretical constructs in bloodborne pathogens training curriculum

Stress and occupational exposure to HIV/AIDS

Work-related stress and psychological distress in emergency medical technicians.

Behavioral factors in safety training

Compliance with universal precautions among health care workers at three regional hospitals

Occupational Risk of Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Hepatitis B Virus, and Hepatitis C Virus Infections Among Funeral Service Practitioners in Maryland

Review of accidents/injuries among emergency medical service workers in Baltimore, Maryland

Safety climate in healthcare settings

The influence of employee, job/task, and organizational factors on adherence to universal precautions among nurses

A case study in improving safety management