Rate My Professor Shira Goldenberg

Dr. Shira Goldenberg is an Associate Professor in the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the School of Public Health at San Diego State University. She holds the position of Epidemiology Track Director for the Joint Doctoral Program and serves as Co-Director of the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health, Epidemiology track. Goldenberg's academic journey began with a BA in Ecological Determinants of Health from McGill University in 2004, followed by an MS in Epidemiology from the University of British Columbia in 2008, and culminated in a PhD in Public Health with a focus on Global Health from the University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University in 2011. Her career at SDSU includes promotion to Associate Professor, as announced in 2023, and she also holds an appointment as Associate Adjunct Professor in the VC-Health Sciences Schools at UCSD.

Goldenberg's research centers on social epidemiology, with specializations in HIV/STI prevention, sexual and reproductive healthcare access, migrant and border health, women's health, social and structural determinants of health, substance use, and community-based research. Her expertise extends to migrant health, HIV, sexual health, reproductive health, gender-based violence, immigration, asylum seekers, health and human rights. She leads projects such as Investigating Maternal and Infant Health among Refugee and Asylum-Seeking Women, a collaboration with San Diego State University, Al Otro Lado, and El Colegio de la Frontera Norte. Goldenberg has secured significant funding, including a $615,668 exploratory grant from the National Institute of Mental Health in 2023 to pilot-test and adapt a novel mental health prevention intervention for migrant mothers, and Established RSCA funding for examining intersectional impacts of asylum deterrence on mental and sexual/reproductive health. Key publications include 'Global epidemiology of HIV among female sex workers: influence of structural determinants' (The Lancet, 2015), 'Structural constraints and migrant agency as intersecting influences on pregnant and parenting asylum-seeking women's sexual, reproductive, and mental health during forced migration: A qualitative study at the Mexico-US border' (Women's Health (Lond), 2026), and '"It's Unjust to Treat Pregnant People this Way": Obstetric Violence Among Pregnant and Postpartum Asylum-seekers at the Mexico-U.S. Border' (J Immigr Minor Health, 2026). Her scholarship advances understanding of health inequities among marginalized populations, informing interventions and policy.