Anna Kucharska-Newton

Anna Kucharska-Newton, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina's Gillings School of Global Public Health. Her research focuses on cardiovascular disease epidemiology, aging, and social determinants of health, particularly in relation to heart disease and stroke. She is a key contributor to the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, a longitudinal cohort study examining risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and related outcomes.

Her work integrates clinical data with social and environmental factors, including studies on healthcare utilization patterns (e.g., post-stroke care), opioid use disorder identification via NLP, and the impact of socioeconomic status on health outcomes. She has authored over 30 peer-reviewed publications and collaborates on projects addressing disparities in cardiovascular care and aging-related functional decline.

Her research highlights innovative methods like natural language processing applied to electronic health records, and she investigates how social determinants like neighborhood disadvantage influence cardiovascular events across racial groups. She also explores pandemic-related impacts on loneliness and health among older adults.

Key affiliations include the ARIC Study leadership and the COMPASS Trial, a pragmatic study evaluating post-acute stroke care models. Her lab's work spans epidemiological methodologies, healthcare policy research, and translational studies linking basic biology to population health.