Dr. Dana Williamson is a behavioral social scientist by training with diverse public health experience that spans 15 years of applied community-engaged research, outreach, and development. She is a graduate of Oberlin College (B.A.), Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health (MPH) and Laney Graduate School (Ph.D). She has been a health communications specialist with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, a program director at Emory University Rollins School of Public Health implementing multiple NIH-funded culturally-sensitive interventions, and has served as a consultant and lead evaluator on numerous public health oriented research studies. At core, her research applies a health disparities lens which is crucial in addressing key questions about inequity, society, justice, health consequences, and lack of resources. Dr. Williamson was a part of the inaugural cohort of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Health Policy Research Scholars program, a national leadership program teaching doctoral students how to apply their research to shape policies that improve health and advance equity. She was also an Agents of Change Fellow, a partnership with Environmental Health News and the George Washington University Milken School of Public Health designed to amplify voices, increase diversity of thought, and help shape the public dialogue on environmental justice (EJ), equity, and policy.

Dr. Williamson is currently a Social Scientist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. She is a part of the evaluation arm of the EPA and leads teams on the research and planning of evidence building for Agency programs, policies, and regulations. Dr. Williamson is also a lead evaluator of the EPA’s Environmental Justice (EJ) Training Academy, a leadership development program that is centered on collaborative problem solving (CPS) and capacity building approaches to address EJ concerns.