Discipline(s):
Epidemiology, Maternal and Child Health
Area(s) of Expertise:
Epidemiology with a Policy Focus, Health Behaviors During Pregnancy and Postpartum, Infant Feeding, Childhood Obesity
E-Mail:
shawkins@hsph.harvard.edu
Background:
Summer Sherburne Hawkins is an epidemiologist with an interest in addressing policy-relevant research questions in maternal and child health. In 2008, Summer completed her doctoral degree in epidemiology at the Institute of Child Health at University College London; her thesis examined individual-, family-, community-, and area-level risk factors for obesity in three-year-old British children. She has also developed studies examining the determinants of health behaviors during pregnancy, infant feeding practices, and health behaviors in young children. As a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar, Summer intends to continue addressing health disparities in the field of maternal and child health. She plans to investigate the determinants of health behaviors during pregnancy, among parents with young children, and early life. Summer’s focus on policy-relevant research has also fueled her interest in how epidemiological methods can be used to assess the impact of policies on health behaviors during pregnancy and early life as well as health disparities. She looks forward to working across disciplines to explore how policy evaluation and epidemiological methods can be combined to address research questions relevant to the fields of epidemiology, public health, and policy. Summer also holds a bachelor’s degree in Biopsychology from Vassar College and a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Drexel University.
Journal Articles:
Click here for a list of Summer Hawkins' available publications in PubMed.
