David Abramson

Clinical Associate Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Professional overview

Dr. David Abramson is a Clinical Associate Professor at NYU’s School of Global Public Health and the director of the research program on Population Impact, Recovery and Resilience (PiR2).  His research employs a social ecological framework to examine the health consequences of disasters, individual and community resilience, and long-term recovery from acute collective stressors. His work has focused on population health consequences, interactions of complex systems, and risk communication strategies associated with hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, the Joplin tornado, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, H1N1, and Zika, among other natural, technological, and man-made disasters.  Before joining NYU’s faculty, Dr. Abramson was the Deputy Director at Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness at the Earth Institute.

In 2005 Dr. Abramson launched the Gulf Coast Child and Family Health study, an ongoing longitudinal cohort study of over 1,000 randomly sampled Katrina survivors in Louisiana and Mississippi, which is presently a core research project in the NIH-funded Katrina@10 Program (P01HD082032, NICHD).  After Superstorm Sandy he partnered with colleagues at Rutgers University, Columbia University, and the University of Colorado to conduct the Sandy Child and Family Health study, an observational cohort study modeled on the Katrina study. More recently, he was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study the risk salience of an evolving threat, the Zika virus, among the US population in general and among women of child-bearing age.  In addition, Dr. Abramson serves on two National Academies of Medicine panels, the Standing Committee on Medical and Public Health Research During Large-Scale Emergency Events, and the Committee on Evidence-Based Practices for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response.

Prior to entering the field of public health, Dr. Abramson spent a decade as a national magazine journalist, having worked at or written for such publications as Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Outside magazines, and was a nationally-certified paramedic.  He has a PhD in sociomedical sciences, with a sub-specialization in political science, and an MPH, both from Columbia University.

Education

BA, English (High Honors), Queens College, New York, NY

MPH, Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY

PhD, Sociomedical Sciences/Political Science, Columbia University, New York, NY

Honors and awards

Columbia University Alumni Association Scholarship (2003)

Eugene Litwak Prize for best doctoral dissertation proposal, Mailman School of Public Health (2002)

Columbia University School of Public Health Alumni Association Scholarship Award (1982)

Nyack Hospital Paramedic Program Valedictorian (1989)

Areas of research and study

Community Health

Disaster Health

Disaster Impact and Recovery

Environmental Impact

Population Health

Public Health Systems

Social Behaviors

Social Determinants of Health

Publications

Publications

From information to intervention: connecting risk communication to individual health behavior and community-level health interventions during the 2016 Zika outbreak

Information-Accessing behavior during zika virus outbreak, United States, 2016

Cross-Sectional Psychological and Demographic Associations of Zika Knowledge and Conspiracy Beliefs Before and After Local Zika Transmission

Housing Transitions and Recovery of Older Adults following Hurricane Sandy

Hurricanes and healthcare: A case report on the influences of Hurricane Maria and managed Medicare in treating a Puerto Rican resident

Support for vector control strategies in the United States during the Zika outbreak in 2016: The role of risk perception, knowledge, and confidence in government

Application of a Theoretical Model Toward Understanding Continued Food Insecurity Post Hurricane Katrina

Children and Disasters

Factors associated with continued food insecurity among households recovering from hurricane Katrina

How the US Population Engaged with and Prioritized Sources of Information about the Emerging Zika Virus in 2016

Variations in Healthcare Provider Use of Public Health and Other Information Sources by Provider Type and Practice Setting during New York City's Response to the Emerging Threat of Zika Virus Disease, 2016

Risk salience of a novel virus: US population risk perception, knowledge, and receptivity to public health interventions regarding the Zika virus prior to local transmission

Social capital, neighborhood disorder, and disaster recovery

The Women and Their Children's Health (WaTCH) study: Methods and design of a prospective cohort study in Louisiana to examine the health effects from the BP oil spill

Crisis Decision-Making during Hurricane Sandy: An Analysis of Established and Emergent Disaster Response Behaviors in the New York Metro Area

Foreword

The Medical Home and Care Coordination in Disaster Recovery: Hypothesis for Interventions and Research

Preparedness and emergency response research centers: Early returns on investment in evidence-based public health systems research

School interventions after the Joplin tornado

The Resilience Activation Framework: a Conceptual Model of How Access to Social Resources Promotes Adaptation and Rapid Recovery in Post-disaster Settings

The Science and Practice of Resilience Interventions for Children Exposed to Disasters

Hurricane Sandy: Lessons learned, again

Measuring the impact of hurricane katrina on access to a personal healthcare provider: The use of the national survey of children's health for an external comparison group

Persistence of mental health needs among children affected by hurricane Katrina in New Orleans

Rural and suburban population surge following detonation of an improvised nuclear device: A new model to estimate impact