Jeffrey R. Backstrand
backstjr@umdnj.edu
973-972-9731
SSB GA 58

Jeffrey R. Backstrand is Associate Professor of Urban Health at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey. He received his B.A. in Physical Anthropology from Pomona College, and an MA and Ph.D in Medical Anthropology from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Backstrand is a specialist in quantitative research methods, and has considerable knowledge and experience in the areas of public health nutrition and nutritional epidemiology. He is a fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology, and former chair of the Public Health Nutrition Research Interest Group of the American Society of Nutrition. In 2001, Dr. Backstrand was a member of the Institute of Medicine's Subcommittee on the Technical Specifications of a High-Energy Dense Emergency Food Product. He has also supervised the evaluation of the Connecticut WIC program's Project ReNew, a statewide initiative to improve cultural sensitivity and customer service by WIC personnel. Dr. Backstrand is the author of 27 peer reviewed articles, plus numerous reports. His current research investigates the causes of black-white disparities in birth outcomes. He is also supervising the development of a GIS database to document geographic disparities in health in Greater Newark.