Laura Senier, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor
College of Social Sciences & Humanities, Department of Health Sciences, Faculty, Institute on Urban Health Research
Office: 960B RP
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 617.373.7482
Laura Senier’s research interests include the sociology of medicine and public health, community environmental health, and environmental justice. Her research identifies political, social, and economic barriers in research translation, or the effort to migrate scientific discoveries into clinical and public health practice. She has also studied community mobilization in communities burdened by environmental injustices, in the Boston area and in the upper Midwest. Her work has appeared in Social Science & Medicine; Genetics in Medicine; Sociological Inquiry; Organization & Environment; and Environmental Science & Technology. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in sociology of health and illness, environmental health, environmental justice, and qualitative research methods.
Education:
PhD, Sociology, Brown University, 2009
MPH, Social & Behavioral Sciences and Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, 2000
Northeastern Centers & Institutes
Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute
Institute for Health Equity and Social Justice Research
Research Interests:
Research translation, Community environmental health
Courses
PHTH 3250, Fundamentals of Qualitative Research
PHTH 6320, Qualitative Methods in Health and Illness
Selected Recent Publications
Senier, Laura, Colleen M. McBride, Alex Ramsey, Vence L. Bonham, and David Chambers. In press. “Blending insights from implementation science and the social sciences to mitigate disparities in screening for hereditary cancer syndromes.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
Senier, Laura, *Leandra Smollin, *Rachael Lee, *Lauren Nicoll, *Michael Shields, and *Catherine Tan. 2018. “Navigating the evidentiary turn in public health: sensemaking strategies to integrate genomics into state-level chronic disease prevention programs.” Social Science & Medicine 211: 207-215. PMCID: PMC6067973
Senier, Laura, Phil Brown, Sara Shostak, and *Bridget Hanna. 2017. “The socio-exposome: advancing exposure science and environmental justice in a postgenomic era.” Environmental Sociology 3: 107-121. PMCID: PMC5604315
Selected Public Service
Distribution Committee, Metrowest Health Foundation (2014-present)