Morgan Clennin, PhD, MPH, is an Independent Investigator at the Institute for Health Research. Her research interests include examining the influence of social and structural determinants of health and neighborhood environments on the development of chronic disease, with a focus on cardiovascular health and disparities. My dissertation examined the associations between neighborhood deprivation, cardiorespiratory fitness, and physical activity in youth. My training and research experiences have included: 1) measurement of built, social, and socioeconomic environment, including neighborhood deprivation; 2) conducting social epidemiology research utilizing population-based data sources and medical record data; 3) secondary data analysis employing diverse analytic methods including multilevel and longitudinal modeling approaches; and 4) evaluating natural experiments of community-driven health equity structural interventions.

Dr. Clennin serves as principal investigator or co-investigator for several research and evaluation projects, has authored nearly three dozen peer-reviewed publications and delivered over thirty-five presentations at professional conferences. She also collaborates with the Physical Activity Policy Research and Evaluation Network (PAPREN) and the Colorado Cardiovascular Outcomes Research (C-COR) Consortium.

Dr. Clennin earned her PhD in Exercise Science with an emphasis on social epidemiology and health disparities from the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health. She completed her Master of Public Health from Saint Louis University with an emphasis in Behavior Science and Epidemiology. Currently, Dr. Clennin is applying for a career development award (CDA) that will provide essential training, resources, and protected time to support her transition to an independent investigator. The proposed project will harness novel data sources and interdisciplinary methods to examine social and structural determinants of disparities in cardiovascular disease risk. The goal of this research is to identify the unique structural determinants and exposures that explain why disparities emerge and how experiences with racial discrimination, structural racism, and neighborhood attributes intersect to influence disparities in cardiovascular disease risk.