Virginia W Chang

Virginia Chang
Virginia W Chang
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Associate Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Professional overview

Virginia W. Chang, MD, PhD is Associate Professor of Global Public Health at NYU School of Global Public Health, Associate Professor of Population Health at NYU School of Medicine, and Affiliated Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at NYU. Dr. Chang is a graduate of the Inteflex Program at the University of Michigan, where she received her BS and MD degrees.  She then completed a residency in internal medicine, fellowship training with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, and a PhD in sociology, all at the University of Chicago. Prior to joining NYU, Dr. Chang was in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and a staff physician at the Philadelphia Veterans Administration Medical Center.

As a physician and sociologist, Dr. Chang integrates perspectives from medicine, epidemiology, sociology, and demography in her research. Much of her work has focused on obesity and health disparities, engaging topics such as the influence of socially structured context (e.g., racial segregation, income inequality, neighborhood social/physical disorder) on obesity; the relationship of obesity to mortality and disability; the influence of weight status on the quality of medical care; socioeconomic disparities in health and mortality; and the inter-relationships between health, medical technologies, and stratification.

Her research program has been funded by the NICHD, NHLBI, and NIA of the National Institutes of Health, the Veterans Health Administration, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Measy Foundation, the American Diabetes Association, and the Russell Sage Foundation.  She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Society of General Internal Medicine Award for Outstanding Junior Investigator of the Year and the Marjorie A. Bowman Award from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine for achievement in the health evaluation sciences. Dr. Chang is also a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Dr. Chang’s publications span a variety of disciplines, including journals such as JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine, JAMA Internal Medicine, Health Affairs, American Journal of Public Health, American Journal of Epidemiology, Journal of Health & Social Behavior, Social Science & Medicine, Demography, and Social Forces.  She was recently an Associate Editor of the Journal of Health & Social Behavior.

Education

BS, Biomedical Sciences and Philosophy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
MD, Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
MA, Sociology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
PhD, Sociology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
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Fellow, Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Resident, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Intern, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
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Diplomate, American Board of Internal Medicine
Licensed Medical Physician, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Honors and awards

Majorie A. Bowman Research Award, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (2010)
Outstanding Junior Investigator of the Year, Society of General Internal Medicine (2008)
Robert Austrian Faculty Award for Health Evaluation Reserach, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (2008)
Physician Faculty Scholars Award, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2007)
Finalist, Hamolsky Junior Facutly Award, Society of General Internal Medicine (2004)
Finalist, Richard Saller Prize for Best Dissertation in the Division of the Social Sciences, University of Chicago (2003)
Graduate University Fellowship, University of Chicago (2001)
Eli G. Rochelson Memorial Award for Excellence in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School (1994)
Biomedical Research Program Scholarship, University of Michigan Medical School (1991)
James B. Angell Scholar, University of Michigan (1988)
William J. Branstrom Freshman Prize, University of Michigan (1986)

Areas of research and study

Global Health
Health Disparities
Internal Medicine
Obesity
Population Health
Social Behaviors

Publications

Publications

Early life exposure to the 1918 influenza pandemic and old-age mortality by cause of death

Obesity and Mortality

Gender equality, development, and cross-national sex gaps in life expectancy

Race/ethnic differences in adult mortality: The role of perceived stress and health behaviors

Secular declines in the association between obesity and mortality in the United States

Metabolic syndrome and weight gain in adulthood

Quality of care among obese patients

Social capital and glucose control

Fundamental cause theory, technological innovation, and health disparities: The case of cholesterol in the era of statins

Mortality attributable to obesity among middle-aged adults in the United States

Neighborhood racial isolation, disorder and obesity

Racial differences in the impact of comorbidities on survival among elderly men with prostate cancer

Weight change, initial bmi, and mortality among middle- and older-aged adults

Affect and heart disease

Being poor and coping with stress: Health behaviors and the risk of death

The relationship between measured performance and satisfaction with care among clinically complex patients

The shape of things to come: obesity, aging, and disability.

Weight Status and Restaurant Availability. A Multilevel Analysis

The changing relationship of obesity and disability, 1988-2004

Trends: Prevalence and trends in obesity among aged and disabled U.S. medicare beneficiaries, 1997-2002

Racial residential segregation and weight status among US adults

Trends in the association of poverty with overweight among US adolescents, 1971-2004

Income disparities in body mass index and obesity in the United States, 1971-2002

Income inequality and weight status in US metropolitan areas

U.S. obesity, weight gain, and socioeconomic status

Contact

vc43@nyu.edu 708 Broadway New York, NY, 10003