Cynthia Lakon

Cynthia Lakon is a Professor in the Department of Health, Society, & Behavior at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) School of Public Health. Her work focuses on social networks and health, particularly adolescent peer networks, substance use, and computational social science approaches.

• Ph.D. in Health Behavior/Health Education from UNC-Chapel Hill (2004)
• MPH in Community Health Sciences from UCLA (1995)
• BS in Psychology/Premed from UCLA (1991)

Key research areas include:

• Social networks and health behavior
• Adolescent substance use
• Systems science and computational modeling
• Health disparities in aging populations
• Ecological models of health

Recent publications highlight her work on network dynamics in smoking behavior, social media interventions for cessation, and socio-spatial disparities in nursing homes during the pandemic. Her research integrates quantitative network analysis with public health applications.

Scientific honors include

• School of Health Science Honoree for Excellence in Undergraduate Education (2013)
• Royster Society of Fellows (2004-present)
• Delta Omega National Honor Society (1995)

Funded by NIH grants, she leads the Lakon Network Cascades Lab, focusing on network-based interventions for health behaviors. Her work bridges computational methods with traditional public health research to address complex social determinants of health.