Briana Mezuk

Briana Mezuk is a Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, where she serves as Director of Masters Studies for Epidemiology and Co-Director of the Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health. She holds additional affiliations as a Faculty Associate at the Research Center for Group Dynamics and as a Center Member at the Eisenberg Family Depression Center, Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, and Caswell Diabetes Institute.

Dr. Mezuk earned her PhD in Mental Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and completed postdoctoral training as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar at the University of Michigan. Her undergraduate education includes a BS in Neuroscience and a BPhil in History & Philosophy of Science from the University of Pittsburgh.

Her research program uses epidemiologic methods to examine the interrelationships between mental and physical health over the lifespan, with a focus on depression and conditions in mid- and late-life including frailty and type 2 diabetes. She integrates conceptual and analytical approaches from social science and clinical disciplines to develop a more nuanced understanding of mental-physical health connections. Her work prominently features the Richmond Stress and Sugar Study (SASS), the Aging, Transitions over the Lifespan, and Suicide (ATLAS) Project, and the Michigan Integrative Well-Being and Inequality (MIWI) Training Program.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong focus on the intersection of mental health with chronic physical conditions, particularly diabetes, and how social determinants shape health outcomes across the lifespan. Her work increasingly employs mixed-methods approaches to examine health disparities, with a growing emphasis on suicide risk during major life transitions and the integration of mental health care into diabetes management.

Dr. Mezuk directs multiple NIH-funded research programs focused on integrative methods for mental and physical health, urban African American aging research, and diabetes-related mental health. She mentors junior investigators through the Michigan Integrative Well-Being and Inequality Training Program, which provides methods training for early career scientists conducting research at the intersection of mental health, physical health, and health disparities.

Her collaborative work spans multiple research centers including the Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health, the Group for Research on the Epidemiology of Mobility, Aging and Psychiatry, and the Michigan Integrative Well-Being and Inequality Training Program. Her research team frequently partners with community organizations like the YMCA for diabetes self-management program evaluations.