Emma Sanchez-Vaznaugh

Emma Sanchez-Vaznaugh, Sc.D, MPH
Vice-Chair of Prevention Institute's Board of Directors
Professor, San Francisco State University
San Francisco, California

Emma is a Professor in the Department of Public Health at San Francisco State University (SFSU). She received a B.S. from the University of San Francisco, an M.P.H. from SFSU, and a doctorate of science in Social Epidemiology from Harvard University’s School of Public Health. Dr. Sanchez-Vaznaugh is also affiliated faculty at the Health Equity Institute within SFSU and the Center for Health Equity within the University of California San Francisco. Dr. Sanchez-Vaznaugh is a social epidemiologist whose research focuses on three interrelated strands: social inequalities in health, with a primary focus on maternal and child health; and the extent to which policies and community environments influence population patterns of disease overall as well as disparities by race/ethnicity, immigration status, and socioeconomic factors. Dr. Sanchez-Vaznaugh’s research includes studies on racial/ethnic disparities in maternal birth outcomes; the influences of nutrition and physical education policies for schools and community environments on racial or ethnic childhood obesity disparities. She has received research support from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Healthy Eating Research, Active Living Research and Physical Activity Research Center), the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Kaiser Permanente and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Sanchez-Vaznaugh currently receives research support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the RWJF Healthy Eating Research program to examine the influences of nutrition policies for schools on childhood obesity. Dr. Sanchez-Vaznaugh served on the National Academies of Sciences Committee on Physical Activity and Physical Education in the School Environment.