Cheryl A. M. Anderson is the Dean and a Professor in the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at the University of California, San Diego, where she also holds the Hood Family Endowed Deans Chair in Public Health. She directs the UC San Diego Center of Excellence in Health Promotion and Equity. Anderson received an AB in Public Health from Brown University, an MPH from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health, and MS and PhD degrees from the University of Washington School of Public Health. She joined UC San Diego in 2012 as an associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, later serving as professor and interim chair of the department. Previously, she held faculty positions at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Anderson chairs the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention Council, is the immediate past chair of its Nutrition Committee, and is a Fellow of the American Heart Association. She served on the 2015 U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans Advisory Committee and the National Academy of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board, and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2016.

Anderson’s research focuses on nutrition and chronic disease prevention in underserved populations through observational epidemiology, randomized clinical trials, and implementation science. Her studies investigate dietary patterns, sodium and potassium intake effects on blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, behavioral interventions for dietary adherence, and nutritional risk factors for kidney disease progression and cardiovascular events in chronic kidney disease patients. She has authored over 170 scholarly publications, including “Sodium, blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease: further evidence supporting the American Heart Association sodium reduction recommendations” (Circulation, 2012), “Effects of high vs low glycemic index of dietary carbohydrate on cardiovascular disease risk factors and insulin sensitivity: the OmniCarb randomized clinical trial” (JAMA, 2014), and “Popular Dietary Patterns: Alignment With American Heart Association 2021 Dietary Guidance” (Circulation, 2023). As principal investigator or co-investigator, she leads NIH-funded projects such as the MEASURE Study on dietary sodium and blood pressure, the KIN Project on food justice, and the BPCARE trial on hypertension management in refugees. Her work advances health equity, addressing disparities in minoritized communities through community partnerships and evidence-based interventions.

Professional Email: c1anderson@health.ucsd.edu