Gilbert C. Gee

Gilbert C. Gee, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Fielding School of Public Health at UCLA. His research focuses on racism and other social determinants of health inequities among racial/ethnic and immigrant communities. He has also published on the topics of stress, neighborhoods, immigration, and environmental exposures. He received his bachelor degree in neuroscience from Oberlin College, his doctorate in Health Policy and Management from the Johns Hopkins University, and post-doctoral training in sociology from Indiana University.

His research has been honored with a group Merit Award from the National Institutes of Health for the development of a multicultural measures of discrimination for health surveys. He received two Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards from the Environmental Protection Agency for development of the Stress-Exposure-Disease Framework. He also received the 2019 Paul Cornely Award from the Health Activist Dinner (formerly the Physicians Forum).

Dr. Gee shared the Delta Omega Award for Innovative Public Health Curriculum with student leaders from the CHS Grads for Racial Justice: Amelia Fay-Berquist, Elida Ledesma, Ashley Lewis, Sarah Jane Smith, and Marisol Torres. He was also honored wtih the C. Doris and Toshio Hoshide Distinguished Teaching Prize in Asian American Studies. 

Dr. Gee was the past the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. He was an advisor for Health Affairs for an issue on structural racism. He has also been a guest editor for Child Development, Asian American and Pacific Islander Nexus Journal, and the Asian American Journal of Psychology. Dr. Gee also served on an National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine committee to select Leading Health Indicators for Healthy People 2030.

Education

  • Post Doctoral Training, Sociology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
  • PhD, Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
  • BA, Neuroscience, Oberlin College, OH

Related Tags

Areas of Interest

  • Racism
  • Health inequalities
  • Racial, ethnic, and immigrant populations
  • Life course
  • Stress
  • Neighborhoods, environmental justice
  • Asian Americans

Notable Honors

  • Delta Omega Award for Innovative Public Health Curriculum. 2018. For the class titled, “We Gon’ Be Alright: Addressing Racism and Anti-Black Violence as a Public Health Crisis.” UCLA. Credit to stellar student facilitators: Amelia Fay-Berquist, Elida Ledesma, Ashley Lewis, Sarah Jane Smith, and Marisol Torres.
  • NIH Merit Award.  2008.  Group Award for “Multicultural Survey Methods Group,” recognition for outstanding leadership in the development of novel methods for the evaluation of data collection instruments used across populations with multiple languages and cultures.
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Scientific and Technical Achievement Award.  2008.  For the article titled, “ Environmental Health Disparities:  A Framework Integrating Psychosocial and Environmental Concepts” by Gee and Payne-Sturges.
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Scientific and Technical Achievement Award.  2008.  For the article titled, “National Environmental Health Measures for Minority and Low Income Populations:  An Approach for Tracking Environmental Health Disparities”  by Payne-Sturges and Gee.
  • Best Published Paper.  2007.  For the article titled, “A Nationwide Study of Discrimination and Chronic Health Conditions among Asian Americans.”  From the Asian and Pacific Islander Caucus of the American Public Health Association.

Selected Courses

  • CHS 235: Influence of the Social and Physical Environment on Racial Health Disparities
  • CHS 235: Writing for Publication in Public Health
  • CHS 227: Conceptualizing and Measuring Structural Racism

 

Selected Publications (from over 150)

  • Gee, G.C., Chien, J.*, Sharif, M., Penaia, C.*, Tran, E.* (in press). East Is East… or Is It? Racialization of Asian, Middle Eastern, and Pacific Islander Persons. Epidemiologic Reviews.

  • Gee G.C., Hicken M. (2021). Structural Racism: The Rules and Relations of Inequity. Ethnicity and Disease. 31(suppl1): 293-300. PMCID: PMC8143846 

  • Gee, G.C., Morey, B.N., Bacong, A.M., Dong, T.T., Penaia, C.S., (2022) Considerations of Racism and Data Equity among Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in the Context of COVID-19. Current Epidemiology Reports. (9) 77-86.

  • Gee, G.C., Ro, M.R., Rimoin A.W., 2020. Seven Reasons to Care about Racism and Covid19 and Seven Things to Do about It. American Journal of Public Health 110(7):954-955 

  • Morey B, Hing A,* Bacong A.,* de Castro A.B., Gee G.C. (2020) Heterogeneity in Migrant Health Selection: The Role of Immigrant Visas. Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 61 (3): 359-376

  • Gee, G.C., Hing, A.H.*, Mohammed, S., Tabor D., Williams D.R., (2019) Racism and the Life Course: Taking Time Seriously. American Journal of Public Health. Supp 1, 109(51):S43-S47.\

  • Gee, G.C., de Castro, A.B., Crespi, C.A., Wang, M.C., Llave, K.*, Brindle, E., Mayol, N.L., Kabamalan, M.M., Hing, A.K. (2018). Health of Philippine Emigrants Study (HoPES): Study Design and Rationale. BMC Public Health, 18:771. doi: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2018.09.008

  • Seaton, E., Gee, G.C., Spanierman, L., Neblett, E.W. (2018). New Directions for Racial Discrimination Research as Inspired by the Integrative Model. American Psychologist. 73(6): 768-780.

  • Gee G.C., Morey B., Walsemann K.M., Ro A., Takeuchi D.T. (2016). Citizenship as Privilege and Social Identity: Implications for Psychological Distress. American Behavioral Scientist, 60(5-6): 680-704.

  • Paradies Y., Ben J., Denson N., Elias A., Priest N., Pieterse A., Gupta A., Kelaher M., Gee G.C. (2015). Racism as a Determinant of Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. PLOS ONE. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0138511

  • Gee, G.C., de Castro, A.B., Wang, M.C., Crespi, C.M., Morey, B.N.*, Fujishiro, K. (2015). Feasibility of Conducting a Longitudinal, Transnational Study of Filipino Migrants to the United States: A Dual-Cohort Design. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 26(2):488-504. PMCID: PMC4550438.

  • Gee, G.C., Walsemann, K.M., Brondolo, E. (2012). A Life Course Perspective on How Racism May Be Related to Health Inequities. American Journal of Public Health, 102(5):967-974. PMCID: PMC3483932.

  • Gee, G.C., Ford, C.L. (2011). Structural Racism and Health Inequities: Old Issues, New Directions. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, 8(1):115-132. PMCID: PMC4306458.

  • Gee, G.C., Walsemann, K.M., Takeuchi, D.T. (2010). English Proficiency and Language Preference: Testing the Equivalence of Two Measures. American Journal of Public Health, 100(3):563-569. PMCID: PMC2820064.