Rebecca Hasson, PhD

Dr. Rebecca Hasson received her Bachelors, Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. During her graduate career, Rebecca worked in both the Physical Activity & Health and Energy Metabolism laboratories. Her previous work focused on developing and validating objective techniques to assess habitual physical activity in children and adults as well as investigating racial differences in the metabolic and psychological responses to exercise. After graduating, Rebecca completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Southern California’s Childhood Obesity Research Center (USC-CORC). At USC-CORC, she examined racial/ethnic differences in cancer-related metabolic risk factors, and the role that behavioral interventions play in improving these metabolic risk factors in African-American and Latino youth.

Rebecca is currently completing a second postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California at San Francisco’s Center on Social Disparities in Health (UCSF-CSDH) as a W.H. Kellogg Health Scholar. At UCSF-CSDH, Rebecca’s current research incorporates her previous training in exercise physiology, pediatric obesity, endocrinology and metabolism to examine the social, behavioral, and biological determinants of racial/ethnic cancer disparities in African-American and Latino communities. In 2012, Rebecca will join the University of Michigan’s faculty as an Assistant Professor in the Schools of Kinesiology and Public Health.

Throughout her academic career, Rebecca has been extensively involved with the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and American Public Health Association affiliate organizations. She serves on ACSM’s ad-Hoc Committee on Diversity Action and Exercise is MedicineÔCommittee on Underserved Populations. She is currently serving as President of the Society for the Analysis of African-American Public Health Issues, and works with fellow researchers and policy makers on the Joint Policy Committee of the Societies of Epidemiology. In addition, Rebecca is the Health and Wellness Advisor for City Scholars Foundation®, a community-based organization in Los Angeles, California. Together, these research and service opportunities have uniquely prepared Dr. Hasson to be become an active and promising academic researcher and leader in the field of minority health.

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Breaking the Ice - Rebecca's "Q&A"