Lawrence Green, author and public health expert, visits UNC to discuss practice-based evidence

Dr. Larry Green stands beside a photograph of Drs. Milton Rosenau and Lucy Morgan. Rosenau was the School’s first dean, and Morgan was founding chair of what is now the UNC Department of Health Behavior and Health Education.

Green, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics in the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine and co-leader of UCSF’s Comprehensive Cancer Center’s society, diversity and disparities program, contends that research can be made more relevant, useful and actionable in public health and health promotion practice. In addition to the highly controlled, randomized studies necessary to test theories and to test the efficacy of interventions under usually ideal circumstances, he proposes that health promotion also should test more robust, ecologically complex interventions in natural population settings and systems. With this in mind, Green discussed the Institute of Medicine report on Bridging the Evidence Gap in Obesity Prevention: A Framework to Inform Decision Making.

While at UNC, Dr. Green met with several faculty members in the School, including Dean Barbara K. Rimer, DrPH, Alumni Distinguished Professor of health behavior and health education. He also attended a presentation by a group of students who had applied Green’s PRECEDE-PROCEED planning model to their work.

UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.