Yen-Tyng Chen, PhD, MS

Yen-Tyng Chen (she/her) is an Assistant Professor at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. She is a social epidemiologist and behavioral scientist committed to examining how social-contextual environments (e.g., neighborhoods, social networks) shape healthcare delivery and health behaviors among underrepresented populations. Her research program aims to discover foundational drivers of HIV treatment and prevention and substance use, including cumulative stress, socioeconomic hardship, and individual- and network-level strengths and resilience. She received her PhD in Behavioral Sciences and Health Education at Emory University in 2016 and completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Chicago with a focus on spatial and network epidemiology.

Dr. Chen has actively published peer-reviewed journal articles in leading public health journals such as American Journal of Preventive Medicine, AIDS,  Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, AIDS and Behavior, Journal of Urban Health, Social Science & Medicine, and the American Journal of Public Health. Dr. Chen’s current areas of research and methodological expertise include: health care engagement; HIV; substance use; place-based research; social network analyses; and ecological momentary assessment.