Chloe E. Bird

Chloe E. Bird is an Adjunct Senior Sociologist at RAND, Professor of Policy Analysis at the RAND School of Public Policy, Director of the Center for Health Equity Research at Tufts Medical Center, and Sara Murray Jordan Professor of Medicine at Tufts Medical School. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Her research focuses on women's health, health equity, social determinants of health, and policy analysis. Key areas include gender disparities in cardiovascular disease, maternal mortality reduction, and the economic impact of women's health research funding. She employs mixed methodologies, from community-engaged qualitative approaches to economic modeling of health investments.

Bird's publications demonstrate strong trends in health equity and policy-relevant research. Recent work emphasizes maternal health interventions in underserved communities (e.g., Medi-Cal populations) and cost-benefit analyses of gender-specific research funding. Earlier studies established foundations in neighborhood effects on health and gender disparities in chronic disease management.

Scientific Awards & Honors:

• Distinguished Career Award for the Practice of Sociology (American Sociological Association)
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Fellow, American Academy of Health Behavior

She leads significant grants including NSF-funded work on sociologists in STEM and NIH-funded maternal health policy assessments. Bird is establishing a Women's Health Research and Policy Institute through RAND-Tufts collaboration. She directs Tufts' Center for Health Equity Research, focusing on interdisciplinary solutions to health disparities.