Centers, Institutes & Labs

Recognizing that the field of public health is interdisciplinary at heart, UCI Public Health offers students and faculty the opportunity to participate in a variety of centers, institutes, and laboratories representing a wide range of topics related to the discipline:

Air Pollution Health Effects Lab (APHEL)

APHEL serves as a research center for the study of airborne environmental and occupational exposures with a special focus on understanding the effects of air pollution on human health. Additional topics of research include the impact of air chemistry, tobacco and incense products, in-vehicle and indoor air contaminants, and the effects of inhaled materials on lung development.

Michael Kleinman, MS, PhD, Co-Director

Robert Phalen, PhD, Co-Director

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California Initiative for Health Equity & Action (Cal-IHEA)

Cal-IHEA supports the translation of research evidence into state health policy and public health practice to improve health equity in California. Our work spans three priority areas: 1) Building a Workforce for Health Equity by providing training opportunities for UC students to conduct health equity-focused work and research; 2) Collaborating with Diverse Stakeholders to Narrow Health Disparities and Inequities through partnerships with an array of policy stakeholders; and 3) Translating Research Findings into State and Local Policy and Practice through evidence-briefings and policy briefs.

Denise D. Payán, PhD, MPP, Faculty Director

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Center for Environmental Health Disparities Research (CEHDR)

CEHDR is dedicated to addressing environmental justice through community-based research and the promotion of equitable environmental health policies locally and nationally. The Center is committed to building upon the university’s ongoing efforts to expand the base of scholarship focused on the experiences of black, African American, and Caribbean communities{>

Karen Lincoln, PhD, MSW, MA, Director

Jun Wu, PhD, Co-Deputy Director

Alana LeBron, PhD, Co-Deputy Director

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Center for Health Ethics

The UCI Center for Health Ethics supports research, teaching, and community engagement initiatives related to ethical dimensions of health and health care. The purpose of the Center is to promote critical ethical reflection that extends from addressing health issues of concern to local communities in Orange County to national debates and transnational conversations about global health ethics. The Center is guided by a commitment to health equity, social justice, human flourishing, and the promotion of healthy civil societies.

Leigh Turner, PhD, Director

Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH)

The UCI COEH’s mission is to improve occupational and environmental health in the region it serves. The Center extends its services to government, industry, schools, health professionals, and the general public. It strives to improve the region’s awareness of occupational and environmental hazards and to prevent injury and disease.

Ulrike Luderer, PhD, Director

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Center for Population, Inequality, and Policy (CPIP)

CPIP aims to investigate the causes and consequences of this inequality as well as policies and other strategies designed to improve the well-being of the less advantaged – including employment, education, income, and housing. Funded by the Program in Public Health, CPIP convenes UCI researchers across the social sciences, public health, education, social ecology, and natural sciences to conduct high-quality population research on inequality.

Tim Bruckner, PhD, Co-Director

Additional Faculty Affiliates

 

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Center for Young Adult Cancer Survivorship Research

Launched in 2019, the Center for Young Adult Cancer Survivorship Research is an interdisciplinary research collaborative whose mission is to study and to improve the health outcomes of young adult cancer survivors. The Center was established through two team building grants awarded by the Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute and is now a multi-institutional organization, including investigators and trainees from the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of California Irvine (UCI).

Joel Milam, PhD, Co-Director

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Global Health Research, Education, and Translation (GHREAT)

GHREAT is global health initiative currently housed within the Department of Population Health and Disease Prevention. It aims to promote global health awareness and develop a comprehensive global health research, education, and training program for undergraduate and graduate students.

Daniel Parker, PhD, Program Manager

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Institute for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Research (IISBR)

IISBR serves as a scientific hub for research, training, and shared resources regarding the biobehavioral processes underlying health and disease with a focus on the use and development of salivary biomarkers. IISBR promotes the exchange of ideas, development of collaborations, training of new scientists, and conduct of innovative research via hands-on laboratory experience and education as well as professional analyte assay services and consultation on data analysis and interpretation.

Michael Hoyt, PhD, Co-Director

Jenna Riis, PhD, Co-Director

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Faculty Labs

Developing Brain Laboratory

The Developing Brain Lab at UCI utilizes non-invasive biomarker methods to measure the health of physiological systems underlying the brain-body connection in children, adolescents and adults affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).

Kristina Uban, PhD, Lab Manager

More about the Lab
Behavioral Medicine Research Lab

The Behavioral Medicine Research Lab at UCI conducts innovative studies of biobehavioral processes related to psychological adjustment and coping in the context of chronic disease and health-related adversity with a focus on cancer survivorship.

Michael Hoyt, PhD, Director

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Community Health & Innovative Policy (CHIP) Lab

The Community Health and Innovative Policy (CHIP) Lab is committed to advancing community health and policy research to address existing health inequities. The CHIP Lab team engages in applied public health and health services research to promote equitable and community-oriented policy solutions.

PI: Denise Payán, Associate Professor of Health, Society, & Behavior

CHIP Lab
Social Epidemiology & Research in Community Health Lab (SEARCH Lab)

The SEARCH Lab comprises graduate and undergraduate Public Health students who are committed to bettering the health and well-being of the UCI campus and it’s surrounding neighboring communities through public health research and community health initiatives.

PI: Bernadette Boden-Albala, MPH, DrPH

SEARCH Lab

Affiliated Centers & Institutes

UCI Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (CFCCC)

CFCCC is the only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center based in Orange County, California. Its mission is to prevent, manage and cure cancer so that all people live healthier, longer lives. 

Affiliated members include: Alana Lebron, PhD, Andrew Odegaard, PhD, Brittany Morey, PhD, David Richardson, PhD, David Timberlake, PhD, Denise Diaz Payan, PhD, Dominik Wodarz, PhD, Joel Milam, PhD, Jun Wu, PhD, Karen Edwards, PhD, Lari Wenzel, PhD,  Michael Hoyt, PhD, Michael Kleinman, PhD, Rufus Edwards, PhD, Sora Park Tanjasiri, DrPH, Suellen Hopfer, PhD, Trina Norden-Krichmar, PhD, Ulrike Luderer, MD, PhD, Veronica Vieira, DSc, and Yunxia Lu, PhD.

Visit CFCCC
Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (ICTS)

ICTS is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the Clinical and Translational Sciences Award (CTSA) program and functions as a local centerpiece for the national program. It is dedicated to advancing scientific discovery and medical breakthroughs and aims to accelerate these discoveries from the lab and translate them into life-altering medical care.

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Institute for Future Health (IFH)

IFH aims to integrate lifestyle, community, environment, and social factors in conjunction with clinical knowledge to radically transform health systems away from hospitals and into the hands of each individual.

Affiliated members include: Bernadette Boden-Albala, DrPH & Daniel Parker, PhD

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Institute for Precision Health (IPH)

Launched in spring 2022, IPH combines health sciences, engineering, statistics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, clinical genomics, data science, public health, and healthcare delivery system capabilities to provide personalized and effective health and wellness strategies. IPH aims to confront the linked challenges of health equity and the high cost of care.

Affiliated member includes: Bernadette Boden-Albala, MPH, DrPH

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UC Global Health Institute (UCGHI)

The UC Global Health Institute (UCGHI) is a UC-wide initiative that stimulates, nurtures, and promotes global health research, education, and collaboration to advance the University’s global health agenda.

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UCI Edwards Lifesciences Foundation Cardiovascular Innovation and Research Center (CIRC)

CIRC is an academic-based research and training center housed within the Henry Samueli School of Engineering that aims to accelerate advances in cardiovascular health and health equity. Its goal is to lead in dynamic discovery, innovation, translation, and inclusive excellence, and train the next generation of diverse leaders in cardiovascular science and engineering.

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UCI Institute of Transportation Studies

The Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Irvine (ITS-Irvine) is an organized research unit, established to foster research, education, and training in the field of transportation. A fundamental goal of the Institute is the stimulation of interdisciplinary research on contemporary transportation issues.

More about UCI ITS
Water UCI

Water UCI mobilizes seamless collaboration across the university to conduct research, provide educational and outreach programs, foster workforce development, and advance policy solutions to critical water problems facing the state, nation, and world.

Water UCI, located in the School of Social Ecology, serves to connect the water industry, government agencies, non-governmental organizations and K-12 schools with the vast resources of UCI and the UC system to implement solutions and keep the public informed.

Scott Bartell, Core Committee Member
Veronica Vieira, Core Committee Member

Water UCI
Center for Liberation, Anti-Racism & Belonging

C-LAB seeks to foster research communities that are grounded in addressing issues related to race, Indigeneity and migration. The center intends to do so by identifying research questions, exploring research methodologies and experimenting with diverse publication dissemination methods that bring attention to social injustice and work towards social justice.

Denise Payan, PhD is a member.

Center for Liberation, Anti-Racism & Belonging