Dustin Troy Duncan is an American public health researcher who is an Associate Dean for Health Equity Research at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Their research considers how environmental factors influence population health and health disparities. In particular, Duncan has focused on the health of sexual minority men and transgender women of color in New York City and the Deep South. Duncan serves as Founder of the Dustin Duncan Research Foundation.

Dustin Troy Duncan
NationalityAmerican
Alma materMorehouse College (BA)
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Scientific career
FieldsPublic health
InstitutionsColumbia University
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
ThesisA spatial analysis of obesogenic neighborhood environmental influences among children and adolescents (2011)

Early life and education

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Duncan earned their bachelor's degree at Morehouse College. At Morehouse, Duncan majored in psychology.[1] They moved to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health for their graduate studies, completing a master's degree in public health science.[1] Based at the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute Center for Community-Based Research, Duncan investigated how public perception of safety influenced people's likelihood to walk in urban neighbourhoods.[1] In particular, this appeared to impact ethnic minority and low income adults.[1] Duncan remained at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where they studied environmental influences that cause obesity amongst young people.[2] After earning his doctorate in 2011, Duncan was appointed the Alonzo Smythe Yerby Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard.[3]

Research and career

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Duncan's research considers how environmental factors influence population health and health disparities. He moved to New York University. In particular, Duncan has focused on the health of sexual minority men and transgender women of color in New York City, Chicago and the Deep South. He is interested in the epidemiology of HIV, sleep and coronavirus diseases.[4] Duncan makes use of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to better understand neighbourhoods, and they have argued that GPS-defined neighbourhoods are better than ZIP codes for researching communities.[1]

Duncan serves as Associate Dean for Health Equity Research at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.[5] Here they lead two cohort studies; N2 (Neighborhoods and Networks), which considers Black, sexual minority men in Chicago and Baton Rouge and TURNNT (Trying to Understand Relationships, Networks and Neighborhoods among Transgender women of colour), which considers HIV-negative transgender women in New York City.[6][7] Duncan also serves as Founder and President of the Dustin Duncan Research Foundation.

Awards and honors

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Selected publications

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Books

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Personal life

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Duncan is gay and an ambassador for 500 Queer Scientists.[11] Dr. Dionne Jones, mother, serves at President of the Dustin Duncan Research Foundation; she also teaches online courses in health, human development and sexuality at the University of Maryland Global Campus. He has a PhD in Educational Psychology from Howard University - Phi Beta Kappa. Dr. Donald Keith Duncan, Dustin Duncan’s uncle, a well-known and highly respected Jamaican dental surgeon and radical politician, representing the People’s National Party (PNP). He vigorously and radically fought social injustices in Jamaica including against racial, social and economic injustices. He tested positive for COVID-19 on August 30, 2020, and died from complications of COVID-19 in Kingston, Jamaica on September 17, 2020.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Science, NYU Center for Data (April 26, 2016). "Can your neighborhood affect your health? Data science says yes". Medium. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  2. ^ Duncan, Dustin Troy (2011). A spatial analysis of obesogenic neighborhood environmental influences among children and adolescents (Thesis). OCLC 734000415.
  3. ^ "Dustin T. Duncan | HuffPost". www.huffpost.com. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  4. ^ "Dustin Duncan | Columbia Public Health". www.publichealth.columbia.edu. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  5. ^ "Team". Spatial Epidemiology Lab. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  6. ^ "TURNNT". TURNNT. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  7. ^ "Team". TURNNT. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  8. ^ "IAPHS Welcomes Newly Elected Leaders for 2019". IAPHS - Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science. August 14, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  9. ^ "2019 Emerging Public Health Professional Award". alumni.sph.harvard.edu. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  10. ^ "The New Mentors of the Year for 2020". Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. August 24, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  11. ^ "Dustin Duncan". 500 Queer Scientists. Retrieved March 6, 2021.