Ruijia Chen

Ruijia Chen, ScD

Social Epidemiologist

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I am a social epidemiologist studying how social and policy contexts shape cognitive aging and dementia. I am currently a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health and will be joining the Department of Community Health Sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in July 2026.

My research combines social epidemiology with advanced quantitative methods to examine how social disadvantage, including financial strain, discrimination, and social isolation, affects cognitive health. I use big data, causal inference approaches, and cross-national comparisons to identify drivers of disparities and inform policy solutions. See my Research page for current projects.

I am an NIA K99/R00 fellow and previously an F99/K00 fellow. I received my ScD in Social Epidemiology from Harvard University and my MS in Social Policy from the University of Pennsylvania. I completed the first two years of my postdoctoral training in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UCSF.

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