Irene H. Yen, Ph.D., M.P.H. Assistant Adjunct Professor of Medicine Division of General Internal Medicine irene.yen@ucsf.edu

Education and Training
School of Public Health: University of California, Berkeley
Program in Epidemiology and Biostatistics (M.P.H.); Epidemiology (Ph.D.)

Areas of Interest

• Social determinants of health
• Neighborhood environment
• Racial/ethnic discrimination
• Social class
• Childhood and adolescent socioeconomic status
• Qualitative research to create rigorous measurement tools

Current Research Activities

Dr. Yen is currently funded by a grant from the National Institutes on Aging to study neighborhood environment's influence on the health of older adults. This grant includes two components: quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative component is a secondary analysis of data from the Chicago Health and Aging Project (CHAP). CHAP includes three types of data on neighborhood environment: survey, census, and direct observation. The qualitative component is a project to develop a survey measurement tool to assess health-relevant aspects of neighborhood for older adults. Developing a survey tool begins with concept development through intensive interviews of older adults in San Francisco and Oakland.

Dr. Yen received an IDEA award from the California Breast Cancer Research Program in 2006 to study the influence of city planning policies and neighborhood environments on girls' physical activity, diet, and growth trajectories.

Other Research Activities

• affiliated faculty, UCSF-UC Berkeley Health and Society Scholars Program
• Co-chair of contributed paper session, "Race and Class Inequalities in Health" for the annual meeting of the Society for Epidemiology Research 2000 - 2009.

Selected Peer Review Publications

Yen IH, Yelin EH, Katz P, Eisner MD, Blanc PD. Prospective impact of perceived neighborhood problems on change in asthma-related health outcomes. Health and Place, 2008; 14(3):468-77.

Leu JX, Yen IH, Gansky S, Adler N, Walton E, Takeuchi DT. The Association between Subjective Social Status and Mental Health among Asian Immigrants: Investigating the Influence of Age at Immigration. Social Science & Medicine 2008; 66: 1154-1162.

Yen IH, Stewart AL, Scherzer T, Pérez-Stable EJ. Older adults' perspectives on key domains of childhood social and economic experiences and opportunities: A first step to creating a multidimensional measure. Epi Perspectives and Innovations 2007; 4 :14.

Kushel M, Yen IH, Gee L, Courtney M. Homelessness and health care access after emancipation from foster care. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 2007; 161:986-993.

Yen IH, Scherzer T, Cubbin C, Gonzalez A, Winkleby M. Women's perceptions of neighborhood resources and hazards related to chronic disease risk factors: focus group results from economically diverse neighborhoods in a mid-sized US city. American Journal of Health Promotion 2007; 22(2):98-106.

Gillen G, Yen IH, Trupin L, Swig L, Rugulies R, Mullen K, et al. Workplace psychosocial and physical factors associated with musculoskeletal injury in hospital workers. Am J Industrial Medicine 2007; 50:245-260.

Yen IH, Yelin EH, Katz P, Eisner MD, Blanc PD. Perceived neighborhood problems and quality of life, physical functioning, and depressive symptoms among adults with asthma. Am J Public Health 2006; 96(5):873-9.

Blanc PD, Yen IH, Chen H, Katz P, Earnest G, Balmes JR, Trupin L, Friedling N, Yelin EH, Eisner M. Area-level socioeconomic status and health status among adults with asthma and rhinitis. Eur Respiratory J 2006; 27(1):85-94.

Yen IH. Historical Perspective: S. Leonard Syme's influence on the development of social epidemiology and where we go from there. Epi Perspectives and Innovations 2005; 2.
http://www.epi-perspectives.com/content/2/1/3

Leung MW, Yen IH, Minkler M. Community based participatory research: a promising approach for increasing epidemiology’s relevance in the 21st century. International Journal of Epidemiology 2004 33(3): 499-506.

Yen IH, Ragland DR, Greiner BA, Fisher, JM. Racial discrimination and alcohol consumption in urban transit operators: Findings from the San Francisco Muni Health and Safety Study. Public Health Reports 1999; 114: 448-458.

Yen IH, Syme SL. The social environment and health: a discussion of the epidemiologic literature. Annual Review of Public Health, 1999; 20: 287-308.

Yen IH, Kaplan GA. Neighborhood social environment and 11-year risk of death: multilevel evidence from the Alameda County Study. American Journal of Epidemiology 1999; 149: 898-907.

Dressel P, Minkler M, Yen IH. Gender, race, class, and aging: advances and opportunities. International Journal of Health Services 1997; 27: 579-600. Also to appear as a chapter in M Minkler and C Estes, eds. Critical Gerontology: Perspectives from political and moral economy. Baywood Publishing Company, 1999.

Yen IH, Kaplan GA. Poverty area residence and change in depression and perceived health status. International Journal of Epidemiology 1999; 28: 90-94.

Yen IH, Kaplan GA. Poverty area residence and prospective change in physical activity level: Evidence from the Alameda County Study. American Journal of Public Health 1998; 88(11): 1709-1712.