Shiriki Kumanyika, Ph.D., M.P.H.
- Senior Advisor to the Center for Public Health Initiatives
- Professor of Epidemiology, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Medicine
- Professor of Epidemiology, Department of Pediatrics, Section on Nutrition, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- Associate Dean for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, School of Medicine
- Senior Scholar, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine
- Senior Fellow, Institute on Aging, School of Medicine
- Senior Fellow, Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics
- Director, Penn-Cheyney EXPORT Center for Inner City Health
Dr. Kumanyika has a unique interdisciplinary background that integrates epidemiology, nutrition, aging, prevention, minority health, and women's health issues. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Dr. Kumanyika holds a B.A. from Syracuse University, Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University, a Ph.D. in Human Nutrition from Cornell University, and a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. She also served on the Johns Hopkins Epidemiology faculty from 1984 through 1989. Dr. Kumanyika's research focuses on the role of nutritional factors in the primary and secondary prevention of chronic diseases, with a particular focus on obesity and related health problems such as hypertension and diabetes. Her current studies involve the development and evaluation of culturally appropriate interventions to prevent or treat obesity in clinical or community-based settings with a particular focus on African Americans and Latinos.
Dr. Kumanyika was the founding director of Penn's MPH program, serving in this role from the program's inception in 2002 until May of 2007. She is involved in numerous national and international public health-related activities. She has chaired the U.S. National Nutrition Monitoring Advisory Committee, served on two U.S. Dietary Guidelines Committees, on the Public Health Service Commission on Dietary Supplement Labels, and as a consultant to the Centers for Disease Control. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine, served for several years on the IOM Food and Nutrition Board and has been a member of several IOM public health related committees. Dr. Kumanyika chairs the Prevention Reference Group of the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF). She is also a consultant to the World Health Organization Department of Nutrition for Health and Development (NHD) and a member of the World Cancer Research Fund Expert Panel on Diet, Nutrition and Cancer.
Dr. Kumanyika has been active in the American Public Health Association
(APHA) since 1976. She is a past Chair of the Food and Nutrition Section and past member of the APHA Equal Health Opportunity Committee, Action Board, Joint Policy Committee, Publications Board, Intersectional Council, and Science Board. She served on the APHA Executive Board from 2004-2008, including 2 years as Vice-Chair and one year as Chair. In Philadelphia, Dr. Kumanyika has participated in the Mayor's Fun, Fit and Free campaign, the School Nutrition Task Force, as a member of the Board of Directors of the Health Promotion Council of Southeastern PA and the Executive Committee of the Section on Public Health of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Currently she serves on the Board of Directors of The Food Trust.