Irene Yen

Dr. Irene Yen is a Professor of Public Health at the University of California, Merced within the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts. As Principal Investigator of the Housing, Opportunity, and Place (HOPe) Lab, she specializes in social epidemiology, examining how neighborhood environments, structural racism, and lifecourse educational trajectories influence health disparities. Her work bridges quantitative and qualitative methods, with a focus on marginalized populations including low-income communities, South Asian individuals, and people experiencing housing instability.

• Education: PhD in Public Health, MPH

Dr. Yen’s research emphasizes:

• Social Determinants of Health: Neighborhood cohesion, housing conditions, and urban planning.
• Health Equity: Addressing disparities through community-led solutions and anti-racist praxis.
• Lifecourse Epidemiology: Investigating how early-life adversity and educational disruptions affect long-term health.

Her recent publications analyze:

• Alzheimer’s disease risk in South Asian communities linked to neighborhood social cohesion.
• Community responses to pandemic policies and misinformation dynamics.
• Collaborative housing equity initiatives in California’s Central Valley.
• Mental health impacts of nontraditional educational pathways.

Scientific accolades include:

• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Research Leadership Fellowship
• NIH R01 grant for educational trajectory research

Dr. Yen leads mixed-methods studies on social support networks, safety-net hospital interventions, and structural poverty management. Her lab collaborates with organizations like Faith in the Valley and Cultiva Central Valley to implement community-organizing committees for policy change.