Marlene Camacho-Rivera, ScD MS MPH
Marlene Camacho-Rivera, ScD MS MPH
Assistant Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
Dr. Marlene Camacho-Rivera is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at SUNY Downstate School of Public Health. She received her BS in Biology and Society from Cornell University, her MPH in Health Policy and Management from Tufts University School of Medicine, and her MS and ScD in social epidemiology from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health as a Harvard presidential scholar. As a social epidemiologist, Dr. Camacho-Rivera’ s research focuses on three main themes: (1) identifying structural and social determinants of chronic disease disparities (e.g. cancer, CVD, and chronic pulmonary diseases) among urban and racial and ethnic minoritized communities; (2) developing community-engaged approaches to promote chronic disease self-management; and (3) improving linkages and continuity of care through the use of mobile health and technological devices. Her research has been funded through the National Cancer Institute and the Stony Wold-Herbert Fund Foundation. For the past year, Dr. Camacho-Rivera has been focused on applying mixed method, community-based approaches to reducing disparities in prevention and morbidity, and health, social, and economic sequelae of COVID-19 among structurally vulnerable communities. She volunteers with several local community organizations to disseminate culturally and linguistically tailored COVID-19 information to diverse communities across New York City. Passionate about training the next generation of minority health disparities researchers, Dr. Camacho-Rivera serves as a faculty fellow within the SUNY Downstate TRANSPORT program, mentor within the NHLBI funded PRIDE-CVD program, and a researcher within the Brooklyn site for the MACS/WIHS. For her efforts in improving minority health and health disparities, she has earned several awards including the AAMC Herbert W. Nickens Faculty Fellowship.