Crystal N. Piper, PhD

Research Interests:

As a health services researcher, my agenda focuses on health behaviors and the characteristics of disparities in chronic diseases and disease management among minority and vulnerable populations. I have realized that the development of healthy lifestyles often begins at infancy and continues through the stages of life (i.e. infancy, childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, adulthood, and older adult), thus it is crucial to understand health differences across the lifespan. In an attempt to better explain the multiple determinants associated with a specific condition, my research agenda integrates a life course approach to the study of chronic diseases and contributes to the advancement of my expertise in the field. Several chronic conditions have been linked, in part, to fetal environment, which include the following: hypertension, type 2 diabetes, asthma, prostate cancer, obesity, cognition, and stroke.

Biosketch