Ross Brownson, PhD

Ross C. Brownson, PhD, is the Lipstein Distinguished Professor of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis. He studies the translation of evidence to public health practice and policy, with a content focus on environmental and policy determinants of chronic diseases. Dr. Brownson is the author/editor of 15 books and over 550 peer-reviewed articles. His books include Applied Epidemiology, Evidence-Based Public Health, and Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health. Dr. Brownson’s research is supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He is director of the Prevention Research Center in St. Louis (https://prcstl.wustl.edu/) and co-director of the Washington University Implementation Science Center for Cancer Control (https://implementationscience.wustl.edu/). 

Dr. Brownson has received numerous awards for his work. Among these, he is the recipient of the Abraham Lilienfeld Award for outstanding contributions in teaching and mentoring and the Award for Excellence (from the American Public Health Association) and the Charles C. Shepard Science Award (the highest award for science, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Dr. Brownson has been noted as one of the most productive public health scholars and was named by Thompson Reuters as one of the world’s most influential scientific minds. 

His service includes seven years on the US Task Force on Community Preventive Services and membership on four committees of the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. Brownson is also a former board member of the American Cancer Society and a former president of the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors and the American College of Epidemiology.