Education

PhD Epidemiology, University of London (UK), 1981
MSc Mathematical Statistics, University of Sussex (UK), 1971
BA/MA Mathematics, University of Cambridge, 1974

Contact

206-667-4793

Bio

Dr. Shirley Beresford is Professor of Epidemiology, with additional appointments in Health Services and in Nutritional Sciences and is also Full Member in the Public Health Sciences division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She is Senior Associate Dean in the School of Public Health, and is an elected member of the Washington State Academy of Sciences and a member of their Board of Directors.

Dr. Beresford has more than forty years of experience in socio-medical and epidemiological research. Her passion for methodological rigor, commitment to public health and keen interest in working with colleagues to identify new or adapt existing methodologies to improve inference in critical issues in public health have defined her career. She is well known for her leadership role in the Women’s Health Initiative, particularly of the Dietary Modification Advisory Committee and of the WHI Seattle Clinical Center. She remains active in that study as part of the Publications and Presentations Committee and of the Clinical Coordinating Center.

For more than 25 years, Dr. Beresford has worked actively in the area of health effects of folic acid, which has had significant impact. She acted as consultant to the CDC, to the Spina Bifida Association of America and as advisor to the Food and Drug Administration during the period leading up to the mandatory fortification of enriched flour and grain products with synthetic folic acid.

She has made many significant contributions to population health in studies directed at understanding patterns of health determinants and in interventions that reduce disparities in health outcomes. Dr. Beresford has directed five different worksite randomized trials of community and individual interventions to improve dietary choices and reduce obesity, especially among blue collar worksites. 

Dr. Beresford's work in socioeconomic disparities in obesity has contributed to her strong reputation in complex study design and applied analytic methods, e.g. in studies in collaboration with Latinas and with members of the Navajo Nation. She has published more than 200 articles on chronic disease with nutritional, behavioral or socio-behavioral areas of focus.

Dr. Shirley Beresford is Professor of Epidemiology, with additional appointments in Health Services and in Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health, and is also Full Member in the Public Health Sciences division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She is Senior Associate Dean in the School of Public Health, and is an elected member of the Washington State Academy of Sciences and a member of their Board of Directors.

Dr. Beresford has more than forty years of experience in socio-medical and epidemiological research. Her passion for methodological rigor, commitment to public health and keen interest in working with colleagues to identify new or adapt existing methodologies to improve inference in critical issues in public health have defined her career. She is well known for her leadership role in the Women’s Health Initiative, particularly of the Dietary Modification Advisory Committee and of the WHI Seattle Clinical Center. She remains active in that study as part of the Publications and Presentations Committee and of the Clinical Coordinating Center.

For more than 25 years, Dr. Beresford has worked actively in the area of health effects of folic acid, which has had significant impact. She acted as consultant to the CDC, to the Spina Bifida Association of America and as advisor to the Food and Drug Administration during the period leading up to the mandatory fortification of enriched flour and grain products with synthetic folic acid.

She has made many significant contributions to population health in studies directed at understanding patterns of health determinants and in interventions that reduce disparities in health outcomes. Dr. Beresford has directed five different worksite randomized trials of community and individual interventions to improve dietary choices and reduce obesity, especially among blue collar worksites. 

Dr. Beresford's work in socioeconomic disparities in obesity has contributed to her strong reputation in complex study design and applied analytic methods, e.g. in studies in collaboration with Latinas and with members of the Navajo Nation. She has published more than 200 articles on chronic disease with nutritional, behavioral or socio-behavioral areas of focus.