Associate Professor

Department: Division of Epidemiology

Phone: (804) 628-4055

Email: derek.chapman@vcuhealth.org

Address/Location:
One Capitol Square, 5th Floor, Room 5014
830 E. Main Street
Richmond, VA 23219

Education

PhD - University of Miami, 1999

MS - University of Miami, 1998

BA - University of Cincinnati, 1993

Academic Training and Positions

Apr 2018-present Interim Director, Center on Society and Health, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

Jul 2014-present Associate Professor, Division of Epidemiology, Department of Family Medicine & Population Health, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

Dec 2013-Mar 2018 Associate Director for Research, Center on Society and Health, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

Oct 2004-Jun 2014 Assistant Professor, Division of Epidemiology, Department of Family Medicine & Population Health, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

Oct 2004-Dec 2013 State Maternal & Child Health Epidemiologist, Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, VA

Dec 2003–Jul 2004 Director of Research, Tennessee Department of Health, Nashville, TN

Aug 2002–Dec 2003 Director of Epidemiology & GIS, Tennessee Department of Health, Nashville, TN

Jun 2000–Aug 2002 Epidemiologist, Tennessee Department of Health, Nashville, TN

Research Expertise

Throughout my career, the central theme of my research has been social determinants of health inequities. The first part of my career focused on maternal and child health epidemiology, primarily using large secondary datasets (e.g., births, deaths, hospital discharge data) to study racial inequities in birth outcomes. My current work focuses on (1) increasing access to positive youth development activities as a means of preventing youth violence and (2) applied public health research intended to inform policy makers and change agents about the role of place-based social determinants of health on population health outcomes including avoidable mortality and life expectancy.

 

Teaching Expertise

Maternal & Child Health Epidemiology: EPID 622. Fall Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Introduces students to current issues in maternal and child health (MCH). Emphasis is placed on social determinants of health and how policy and neighborhood factors influence health. Students will learn how to use ArcView GIS software to map place-based factors and learn how to incorporate place-based data (e.g., census data) into their research. Students will also learn about key MCH topics including family planning, preterm/low birth weight, infant mortality, birth defects and developmental disabilities, injury prevention, and oral health.

Awards

• 2018-19 VCU Public Health Student Association Award for “Extraordinary effort in teaching and mentoring for MPH students”
• 2017-18 VCU Public Health Student Association Award for “Extraordinary effort in teaching and mentoring for MPH students”
• VCU Public Health Student Association Award for Best Elective Course (EPID 622, Fall 2016 and Fall 2017)
• 2009 & 2012 - Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine Outstanding Teacher Award in the Department of Epidemiology and Community Health
• Member, Virginia Commonwealth University Delta Eta chapter of The Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health (inducted May 2019)

Professional Affiliations

• American Public Health Association (APHA)
• Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE)

Recent Grants

Oct 2021-Sep 2026    Co-Investigator: Evaluation of Violence Prevention Strategies to Prevent and Reduce Community Levels of Youth Violence. (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention).

Feb 2022-Jul 2023      Principal Investigator: Comparing Life Expectancy Across California and Europe. (The California Endowment).

Jun 2022-Jun 2023    Co-Principal Investigator: Avoidable Mortality in Northern Virginia. (Northern Virginia Health Foundation).

Sep 2022-Jun 2023    Principal Investigator: Health Equity in Food Banking. (Feeding America).

Jul 2022-Feb 2023      Principal Investigator: Behavioral Health Index Website. (Virginia Dept. of Behavioral Health & Developmental Services).

Feb 2022-Dec 2022    Principal Investigator: Leveraging HOPE as a Change Agent

for Local Action Post Covid-19. (National Collaborative for Health Equity).

Aug 2021-Sep 2023   Principal Investigator: Calculating the Costs of Drug Addiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia (Virginia Dept. of Health).

July 2018-Sep 2023   Co-Principal Investigator: Evaluation of a Comprehensive Community-Level Approach to Youth Violence Prevention.  (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention).

Selected Publications

Lee, J. H., Wheeler, D. C., Zimmerman, E. B., Hines, A. L., & Chapman, D. A.

(In Press). Urban–Rural Disparities in Deaths of Despair: A County-Level Analysis 2004–2016 in the U.S. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2022.08.022

Schwandt, H., Currie, J., von Wachter, T., Kowarski, J., Chapman, D. A., & Woolf, S. (2022). Changes in the relationship between income and life

 

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