Debra Haire-Joshu

Debra Haire-Joshu is an internationally renowned scholar of health behavior who develops population-wide interventions to reduce obesity and prevent diabetes among underserved women and children. She holds a joint appointment in the Washington University School of Medicine, and directs the Center for Obesity Prevention and Policy Research (COPPR) and the Washington University Center for Diabetes Translation Research (WU-CDTR).

COPPR aims to discover and integrate new science into policies designed to prevent obesity. The WU-CDTR, funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, supports over 80 investigators across the country conducting studies to eliminate the root causes of obesity and disparities in Type 2 diabetes. Haire-Joshu also serves as a co-director of the Institute for Implementation Science Scholars (IS-2), a mentored training program for investigators interested in applying dissemination and implementation (D&I) methods and strategies to reduce the burden of chronic disease and address health inequities.

Haire-Joshu has served on several National Academy of Medicine (and Institute of Medicine) committees on early childhood obesity and is a current member of the National Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Advisory Council. She has published extensively in peer reviewed literature, authored an award-winning textbook on diabetes management across the lifespan, and has been an active contributor to health policy at national and state levels. At the Brown School, Haire-Joshu teaches obesity prevention and policy courses and works with masters and doctoral students to engage in applied community research.

Debra Haire-Joshu

  • Joyce and Chauncy Buchheit Professorship in Public Health
  • PhD, Saint Louis University
  • Office Phone: 314-935-3963
  • Email: djoshu@wustl.edu

Areas of Focus:

  • Health policy
  • Preventing obesity and diabetes in underserved populations
  • Transdisciplinary approaches to biomedical, behavioral, and public health research