Lynda Lisabeth

Lynda Lisabeth, PhD, MPH serves as Interim Dean of the University of Michigan School of Public Health and holds dual appointments as Professor of Epidemiology and Research Professor of Neurology. Her primary academic home is the Department of Epidemiology within the School of Public Health, where she leads significant research on stroke epidemiology with emphasis on health disparities.

Her research focuses on stroke risk and outcomes, post-acute stroke care, informal caregiving, stroke healthcare utilization, sleep-disordered breathing after stroke, and social determinants of health. She co-leads the Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi (BASIC) Project, a longstanding population-based stroke surveillance study operating since 2000 that examines ethnic-specific stroke trends and outcomes in Mexican American and non-Hispanic white populations. Her work consistently demonstrates how stroke uniquely impacts women and Hispanic populations through intersectional analyses of social, environmental, and biological factors.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications reveals consistent focus on ethnic disparities in stroke outcomes, sleep disorders following stroke, longitudinal recovery patterns, and the role of neighborhood characteristics in post-stroke recovery. Her research employs population-based surveillance methods, longitudinal cohort designs, and innovative approaches to measuring social determinants of health.

Lisabeth has secured substantial funding for her research initiatives, particularly through the BASIC Project infrastructure which supports multiple concurrent studies on post-stroke sleep, rehabilitation, and caregiving. Her work demonstrates strong interdisciplinary collaboration across epidemiology, neurology, sleep medicine, and health services research.

She maintains an active research team investigating multiple aspects of post-acute care following stroke, with particular attention to Mexican American communities. Her laboratory work integrates population surveillance with detailed clinical assessments to understand mechanisms behind observed disparities.