Arrianna Marie Planey

Dr. Arrianna Marie Planey is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health and a Research Fellow at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. She holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2020), an MA in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago (2013), and a BA in History from UC Berkeley (2009). Her work focuses on applying spatial analytic methods to study health policy impacts on healthcare access, equity, and structural inequities. Key areas include rural hospital closures, racial disparities in healthcare access, and social determinants of health.

Her research has addressed topics such as geographic inequities in opioid overdose deaths, birth outcomes among Black immigrant populations, and the socioeconomic impacts of hospital closures. She has received the 2023 Gillings Faculty Award for Excellence in Health Equity Research for her pioneering work linking spatial analysis to policy interventions.

Dr. Planey is affiliated with the Carolina Population Center and the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her interdisciplinary approach integrates geospatial data with public health policy to address systemic barriers in healthcare delivery. Recent publications emphasize the intersection of climate vulnerability and cancer burden, opioid therapy discontinuation risks, and telehealth adaptations during pandemics.