Dr. Ruopeng An is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 2013. Before that, he worked as an Assistant Policy Analyst at the RAND Corporation since 2008 and obtained his PhD degree in Policy Analysis from the RAND Graduate School in 2013. In 2014 he received the Glenn A. Gotz Award in Economics Analysis from the RAND Corporation, and was twice the recipient of the RAND Impact Award in 2009 and 2011. In 2015 he received the Judy K. Black Early Career Research Award from the American Academy of Health Behavior. This award “recognizes early-career health behavior research that is innovative and rigorous and that makes an important contribution to science or practice.” Trained as a health policy analyst, Dr. An has advanced quantitative analysis skills in the field of applied econometrics, cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis, and spatial analysis. Nearly all his peer-reviewed publications involved quantitative analysis using data from randomized controlled trials, large cross-sectional/longitudinal surveys, administration data, insurance data, electronic medical records, etc. Dr. An’s research examines obesity epidemiology and population-level interventions on weight-related behaviors and outcomes, and health disparities in dietary intakes and mental health throughout the life course with specified interests in older adults and people with disabilities. As the author of 57 peer-reviewed journal articles, Dr. An’s work has been published in journals such as American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Social Science & Medicine, Preventive Medicine, PLOS ONE, American Journal of Health Behavior, Preventing Chronic Disease, Public Health Nutrition, Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Disability and Health Journal, Psychiatric Services, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, etc., and featured in numerous media outlets such as Time, New York Times, Forbes, Los Angeles Times, NBC, CBS, NPR, CNN, Reuters, Fox, ABC, The Atlantic, USA Today, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, etc. Dr. An serves in the Review Board of the American Journal of Health Behavior since 2012, and is a reviewer for 37 journals in the field of public health, medicine and health economics.

obesity epidemiology and population-level interventions on weight-related behaviors and outcomes, and health disparities in dietary intakes and mental health throughout the life course with specified interests in older adults and people with disabilities.