Bernadette Boden-Albala

About

Dr. Bernadette Boden-Albala is the Founding Dean of the UC Irvine Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health at the University of California, Irvine. She is also a Professor in the Department of Health, Society and Behavior and the Department of Neurology in the School of Medicine. She is an internationally recognized expert in the social epidemiology of stroke and cardiovascular disease. Over the past 15 years, her research has focused on defining and intervening on social determinants of disease, including the roles of sex, race-ethnicity, socio-economic status, social support, stress, and social networks on disparities and patterns across the U.S. and globally. Since January 2020, under her leadership, Wen Public Health has become a key academic partner for government agencies and community organizations to address COVID-19 in the region, leading efforts in preparedness, response, communication, health behaviors, and testing. She has served as principal investigator on large-scale community COVID-19 serosurveillance projects and is involved in multiple advisory groups guiding COVID-19 response. Dr. Boden-Albala has held leadership positions at NYU, Mount Sinai, and Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, where she earned her MPH and DrPH degrees. Her research portfolio emphasizes reducing health disparities and promoting health equity through community-based interventions, with over 200 publications contributing to community-based stroke and heart disease…

Selected publications

• Cognitive Impairment and Dementia After Stroke: Design and Rationale for the DISCOVERY Study

  Stroke · 2021-05-27 · 122 citations

  reviewOpen access

  Stroke is a leading cause of the adult disability epidemic in the United States, with a major contribution from poststroke cognitive impairment and dementia (PSCID), the rates of which are disproportionally high among the health disparity populations. Despite the PSCID's overwhelming impact on public health, a knowledge gap exists with regard to the complex interaction between the acute stroke event and highly prevalent preexisting brain pathology related to cerebrovascular and Alzheimer disease…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Distinct SARS-CoV-2 antibody reactivity patterns elicited by natural infection and mRNA vaccination

  npj Vaccines · 2021-11-04 · 86 citations

  articleOpen access

  We analyzed data from two ongoing COVID-19 longitudinal serological surveys in Orange County, CA., between April 2020 and March 2021. A total of 8476 finger stick blood specimens were collected before and after a vaccination campaign. IgG levels were determined using a multiplex antigen microarray containing antigens from SARS-CoV-2, SARS, MERS, Common CoV, and Influenza. Twenty-six percent of specimens from unvaccinated Orange County residents in December 2020 were SARS-CoV-2 seropositive; out…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Estimated seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among adults in Orange County, California

  Scientific Reports · 2021 · 54 citations

  Senior author

  Clinic-based estimates of SARS-CoV-2 may considerably underestimate the total number of infections. Access to testing in the US has been heterogeneous and symptoms vary widely in infected persons. Public health surveillance efforts and metrics are therefore hampered by underreporting. We set out to provide a minimally biased estimate of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among adults for a large and diverse county (Orange County, CA, population 3.2 million). We implemented a surveillance study that minim…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Anti-Asian racism related stigma, racial discrimination, and protective factors against stigma: a repeated cross-sectional survey among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic

  Frontiers in Public Health · 2023-09-13 · 14 citations

  articleOpen access1st author

  Background: Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, reports of anti-Asian American or Pacific Islander (AAPI) hate have increased in the United States. Institutions of higher education provide a unique opportunity to examine COVID-19 related stigma and protective factors in AAPI young adults enrolled in college. Objective: The goal of this research was to examine COVID-19 related stigma among a diverse college student population. We posited that AAPI students experience more raci…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• An Ounce of Prevention

  Neurology · 2025-06-12 · 7 citations

  article

  The global burden of neurologic disorders is rising, driven by aging populations and improved survival following acute neurologic events. As a result, more individuals are living with long-term disabilities from conditions such as stroke, dementia, and other neurodegenerative diseases. Despite significant advances in neurology, there remains an urgent need for a preventive approach to mitigate these trends. Growing evidence highlights the effectiveness of preventive strategies, including lifesty…

  PublisherDOI

Awards & honors

• Community Hero by the Greater Irvine Chamber (2020)
• Founding Dean Bernadette Boden-Albala appointed chair of AAN…

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