Marilyn A. Winkleby, PhD, MPH

Primary Institution:
Stanford Medicine
CA
Department:
Stanford Prevention Research Center
Position(s):
Professor of Medicine, Emerita
Stanford Medicine | School of Medicine

Marilyn Winkleby, PhD, is a professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, and faculty director of the Office of Community Health. She received her undergraduate and master’s degrees in social science and clinical psychology from California State University, Sacramento, and earned her master’s degree in public health and PhD in epidemiology from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. Since then, Dr. Winkleby has combined epidemiologic study with intervention research to shed light on the ways in which social factors impact health.

The author of more than 140 articles in public health, epidemiology, and medical journals, Dr. Winkleby focuses on many of the issues currently making headlines, including cardiovascular disease risk factors, women’s health, the health of ethnic minority and low-socioeconomic groups, and the influence of neighborhoods on health. Public health work, she suggests, provides the chance to connect to “real people in real communities,” while advocating for changes that improve health.

In her public service work, Dr. Winkleby has mentored hundreds of students through a program she helped found 25 years ago, the Stanford Medical Youth Science Program. In 2011, this program received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government for mentoring in these fields.

Associated SEPA Project(s)