Yusuf Ransome, MPH, DrPH

Dr. Ransome studies the impact of social determinants on influence racial/ethnic- and geography-related disparities in HIV/AIDS, alcohol and substance use disorders, physiological markers of health. Dr. Ransome uses several large-scale population-level data sources, as well as collecting and creating econometric measures, to study these issues. The long-term goals of Dr.Ransome's work are to develop multilevel-level interventions to improve overall health and wellbeing among populations, both domestically and internationally.

Dr. Ransome’s research covers two broad areas. The first line of research investigates how social, economic, and psychosocial determinants influence racial/ethnic- and geography-related disparities in HIV care continuum indicators (e.g. diagnosis, linkage to care, viral suppression). One focal determinant of interest is social capital/cohesion, broadly defined as collective resources available to individuals through their social connections. Some indicators of social capital and cohesion include connections, perceptions of general and interpersonal trust, norms of reciprocity, collective action, patterns of civic engagement, and availability of organizational resources.

Dr. Ransome received a K01 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to study the direct association and underlying mechanisms of the relationship between social capital/cohesion and HIV clinical indicators such as delayed diagnosis in the United States and internationally. Dr. Ransome also is engaged in multidisciplinary collaborations to develop econometric measures of social capital and cohesion and to use information from those measures to develop community-targeted interventions to improve a broad range of health outcomes and reduce chronic disease, substance abuse, and youth homelessness.

The second line of Dr. Ransome's research is to investigate the role of religious, faith, and spiritual involvement on the impact on alcohol and drug abuse as well as physiological markers of chronic health. Dr. Ransome utilizes several national datasets such as the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Longitudinal Study of Health & Wellbeing, and the National Survey of American Life (NSAL). Dr. Ransome's work in this area also involves developing novel indicators of faith and grace, and to develop personalized faith-based interventions to prevent and reduce substance abuse and improve health outcomes among individuals with alcohol and other substance use disorders.

Dr. Ransome directs a research team that draws on multiple data sources to answer complex questions. Some methodological approaches used to accomplish his research include survey data analysis, multilevel modeling, structural equation modeling, spatial epidemiology, and geographic information systems, activity space assessment and field experiments.