Lisa M. Powell, PhD

Lisa Powell is Professor and Director of the Health Policy and Administration Division at the UIC School of Public Health and Director of the Illinois Prevention Research Center. Dr. Powell has extensive experience as an applied micro-economist in the empirical analysis of the effects of public policy on a series of behavioral outcomes. Much of her current research is on assessing the importance of economic and environmental factors (such as food prices, sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) and soda taxes; access to food stores, fast-food restaurants, other eating places, and facilities for physical activity; and, television food advertising exposure) on food consumption and physical activity behaviors and as determinants of obesity, including related disparities. Her work has contributed to the policy debates on SSB taxes and child-directed marketing in the U.S. Dr. Powell’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US Department of Agriculture, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Powell is the recipient of the 2013 University of Illinois at Chicago Researcher of the Year Award in the Social Sciences.