Rate My Professor Rajiv Chowdhury

Dr. Rajiv Chowdhury is the Chair and Professor of the Department of Global Health at the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University. Prior to joining FIU as a tenured professor, he served as a full Professor of Global Health at the University of Exeter and as an Associate Professor at the University of Cambridge in England. He holds a doctoral degree in Public Health and a master's degree in Epidemiology from the University of Cambridge, where he was a Commonwealth Scholar and Gates Cambridge Scholar. Additionally, he received advanced training in Global Health at Harvard and Johns Hopkins Schools of Public Health, in Global Epidemiology at Imperial College London, and in Clinical Trials at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Dr. Chowdhury's research focuses on the causes of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and dementia, examining social, biological, and environmental factors, and advancing implementation research to translate etiological evidence into effective policies in the U.S. and globally. With over 150 scientific publications garnering more than 120,000 citations and an H-index of 83, his work has informed multiple global guidelines and received coverage in outlets like The New York Times, CNN, and BBC. Key publications include "Association of drinking water salinity with elevated blood pressure and risk of hypertension among coastal and other populations: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies" (2025, BMJ Global Health), "Global burden and strength of evidence for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and 811 subnational locations, 1990-2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021" (2024, The Lancet), and "Global Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases and Risks, 1990-2022" (2023, Journal of the American College of Cardiology). He has been elected Fellow of the UK Royal Society of Medicine (2022), American College of Epidemiology (2021), UK Royal Society for Public Health (2011), and European Society of Cardiology (2016). Other honors include the Bill Gates Senior Award (2013), Velji/Consortium of Universities for Global Health Faculty Award for Global Health Innovation (2023), and inclusion in the Stanford/Elsevier Top 2% Scientists List (2024). Currently, he serves as a Senior Collaborator in the Global Burden of Disease Initiative and a member of the Expert Panel at the World Cancer Research Fund International.