Alexis Merdjanoff

Alexis Merdjanoff is an assistant professor of social and behavioral sciences at New York University’s School of Global Public Health and director of research at the Center for Public Health Disaster Science. She is a public health sociologist who explores how population health is affected by exposure to disasters and climate change. Her work lies at the intersection of extreme weather, health disparities, and the preparedness, recovery and resilience of socially vulnerable populations. The goal of her research is to understand the factors that shape the preparedness, recovery, and resilience of individuals and communities exposed to acute disasters, including floods, hurricanes, and wildfires, as well as slow onset climate disasters such as sea-level rise and coastal erosion.

Merdjanoff has extensive experience studying the long-term recovery and resilience of populations exposed to disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, as well as the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Reflecting her commitment to interdisciplinary climate research, she was named an Early Career Faculty Innovator fellow at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. More recently, she received an Early Career Research fellowship from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Gulf Research Program. She is currently working on a grant funded by the National Institute on Aging to examine how older adults can successfully age in high-risk environmental areas. She holds a BS in sociology from New York University, and MA and PhD in sociology from Rutgers University.