Claudia Toledo-Corral

Dr. Claudia Toledo-Corral is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at California State University, Northridge (CSUN). With over a decade of clinical epidemiology research experience, her work focuses on the pathophysiology of obesity and its impact on cardiovascular and Type 2 diabetes risk in minority youth. She has published 42 peer-reviewed articles and is currently conducting funded research on the role of community and physical environments in obesity and cardio-metabolic risk among pollution-burdened populations in Los Angeles.

• Ph.D., 2010, University of Southern California
• M.P.H., 2006, University of Southern California
• M.S., 2004, California State University, Northridge
• B.S., 1999, University of California, Los Angeles

Her research expertise spans four key areas: (1) cardio-metabolic risk associated with obesity, (2) ethnic differences in obesity-related health risks, (3) alterations in the HPA axis and their connection to cardio-metabolic health, and (4) psychosocial and environmental determinants of cardio-metabolic outcomes. She also investigates abdominal adiposity, metabolic syndrome, pre-diabetes, and subclinical atherosclerosis.

Dr. Toledo-Corral’s funded projects emphasize environmental and community-level factors influencing health disparities. Her research lab, MESA Research Lab (https://mesa-research.com), explores these themes in depth.

She teaches HSCI 587: Seminar in Epidemiology (19388, Wednesdays 4:00 PM–6:45 PM, JD2528) and HSCI 694: Research Design (18914, Tuesdays 7:00 PM–9:45 PM, UL001) during Fall Semester 2025. No office hours are currently listed for this semester.