Debarchana Ghosh, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, University of Connecticut, USA. Deb’s research employs an interdisciplinary approach to investigate health and environmental issues. She combines health and medical geography concepts and theories with geospatial technologies such as GIScience, modeling, machine learning, and statistics to study exposure, risk, and epidemiology of health outcomes. Deb served on the Board of HMGSG since 2009 and is currently Chairperson.
Dr. Debarchana Ghosh completed her Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in Geography from Presidency College and Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. Her Master’s thesis focused on effect of exposure to electronic mass media on the knowledge and use of prenatal care services among Indian women. She then came to the U.S. in 2005 to pursue her Ph.D in Geography from the University of Minnesota and completed her degree in the summer of 2009. Her dissertation is titled A Geospatial Analysis of West Nile Virus in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area of Minnesota. Debs began her professorial career at Kent State in August, 2009.
With an overall research focus on health geography and spatial analysis, Dr. Ghosh’s specific interests include spatiotemporal modeling of diseases (chronic and infectious), toxic releases, pollution, and their association with unsustainable use of urban and environmental resources, environmental justice, and health disparities and access to health programs. Her current projects include:
1) Identifying and analyzing life in food deserts in Northeast Ohio;
2) Development of spatial social networks to assess and evaluate HIV/AIDS intervention programs in India;
3) Assessing the quality of knowledge and awareness of HIV/AIDS among Indian women using National Family Health Survey data of India (2005-06); and
4) A Geospatial Analysis of Psychiatric Mental Health Advanced Practice Nurses in the United States.
Her teaching interests include Geographic Information Science, Health and Medical Geography, and spatial statistics.
Debs may be contacted at debarchana.ghosh@gmail.com;
Updated: June 2012
Health and Medical Geography 