Yan Wang, PhD

Assistant Professor, Epidemiology

College of Public Health & Health Professions
University of Florida

Yan Wang, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Florida.

Dr. Wang has training and expertise in both psychology and epidemiology. She received her MS and PhD in Child and Family Studies from Syracuse University in 2013.

She joined the Department of Epidemiology as a postdoctoral research associate in 2014, working on NIH funded projects on risk behaviors among rural-to-urban migrants in China. In 2016, she was promoted to Research Assistant Scientist.

With an interdisciplinary perspective, her research focuses on leveraging advanced methodology and new technology (e.g., wearable sensor) to improve health behavior monitoring and intervention. One of her current research projects focuses on improving alcohol use monitoring using a wearable alcohol biosensor and ecological momentary assessment.

Dr. Wang has also worked on a number of NIH funded projects including those on mental health and risk behaviors among rural-to-urban migrants in China, alcohol use and marijuana use among persons living with HIV/AIDS in Florida, and advanced quantum modeling on sexual risk behaviors. 

One of her research papers, “Stress and Alcohol Use in Rural Chinese Residents: A Moderated Mediation Model Examining the Roles of Resilience and Negative Emotions” published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence has been recognized by the Matilda White Riley Early Stage Investigator Honor Program, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (NIH/OBSSR).