Over the past 15 years, Chia-Ching Chen, M.A., M.S., Ed.D., CHES, has accomplished and demonstrated professional growth through teaching, research, scholarly activities, and services to the school and the community. She advocates for community-based health education and incorporates cross-cultural teaching and research with an eye towards applying it to public health issues for individuals, families, and communities. Dr. Chen has educated a variety of students across different disciplines and is an effective and approachable instructor who adapts to the learning styles of her students. As a behavioral scientist, she strives to identify strategies to advocate for a better quality of life through health promotion and disease prevention.  

Dr. Chen has served as journal editor and as a frequent federal grant reviewer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) Extramural Research Program Office (ERPO), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), and Office of Population Affairs (OPA). She has served as a technical and subject matter expert for Office of Population Affairs for a project that aims to systematically examine classroom context and primary messaging strategies that can be better aligned for improved precision of delivery for teen pregnancy prevention programs in group-based settings.

Education

• B.A., Economics, Chinese Culture University
• M.S., Health Behavior Studies, Columbia University
• M.A., Health Education, Columbia University
• Ed.D., Health Behavior Studies, Columbia University

Honors and Awards

• Delta Omega Faculty Award for Outstanding Public Health Performance in Scholarship, Teaching, Research, and the Quality of Publications, New York Medical College Delta Alpha Chapter of Delta Omega, Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health, 2021
• Honorable mention for the APHA A&PH Nobuo Maeda International Research Award, 2016

Research

Most of Dr. Chen’s research is conducted through an interdisciplinary collaboration. Many of her publications focus on improving accessibility to healthcare services, eliminating health disparities, and identifying psychosocial determinants associated with individual level outcomes among different socioeconomics groups. 

Another focus of research that Dr. Chen finds intriguing is teen pregnancy prevention, which continues to affect youth of color disproportionately, especially those who reside in low income and under-resourced communities. She has conducted several community-based intervention studies to identify effective ways to educate youth to achieve optimal adolescent health. Dr. Chen applies the rain-the-trainer approach to train graduate students to deliver evidenced-based health education curricula to at-risk adolescents in diverse communities that are federally funded research. 

Publications

• Chen CC, Hyde DC. "Understanding of exact equality emerges after and builds on symbolic number knowledge." Cognition, 264(), (2025) 106226. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2025.106226
• Chen CC, Huang HY, Wu TY, et. al. "Association between wet-bulb globe temperature with gastroesophageal reflux disease in different geographic regions in a large Taiwanese population study." Scientific reports, 15(1), (2025) 21339. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-07073-8
• Chen CC, Chen CW, Shaya J, et. al. "A novel S-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst, Yb(6)Te(5)O(19.2)/g-C(3)N(4): synthesis, characterization, photocatalytic activity, and mechanism." Scientific reports, 15(1), (2025) 22132. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-04935-z
• Chen CC, Chen SC. "Comparative Analysis of Circulating and Synovial Immune Cells in Early Untreated Rheumatoid Arthritis and their relationship with molecular pathology and disease outcomes: Comment on the Article by Rivellese et al." Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.), (), (2025) . doi: 10.1002/art.43304
• Chen SC, Chen CC. "Systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease risk is associated with long-term exposure to fine particulate matter: Comment on the Article by Geslin et al." Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.), (), (2025) . doi: 10.1002/art.43301
• Ting TL, Chen CC. "Uncovering the Hidden Disability Burden of Peripheral Artery Disease from Elevated Fasting Plasma Glucose." European journal of vascular and endovascular surgery : the official journal of the European Society for Vascular Surgery, (), (2025) . pii: S1078-5884(25)00586-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ejvs.2025.06.053
• Chen PY, Cheng CY, Chen CC, et. al. "Galectin-1 in Cardiovascular Pathogenesis: Unraveling Dual Roles and Mechanistic Insights in Emerging Research." Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania), 61(6), (2025) . doi: 10.3390/medicina61061020

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Teaching Responsibilities

• Behavioral and Social Factors in Public Health
• Principles and Technique of Behavior Change
• Introduction to Health Education
• Health Communication and Social Marketing
• Health Promotion Strategies