Florence J. Hoffert-Dallo, Ph.D, M.P.H.

Educational Background: 
Ph.D.; Preventive Medicine & Community Health; University of Texas Medical Branch
MPH; Epidemiology; University of Michigan
M.S.; Middle Eastern Studies; University of Michigan
B.S.; Biology; University of Michigan 

Teaching Interests: 
Culture and health
Epidemiology
Research Methods 

Research/Scholarship: 
Dr. Hoffert-Dallo has published over 60 manuscripts, several book chapters, and served as section editor on a book focused on the health of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) populations, who, as of March 2024, received their own race/ethnicity designation in the U.S. Census. Prior to 2024 and ever since they have been immigrating to the US (~1880s), MENA were classified as “white” by the federal government. For the past 25 years, Dr. Hoffert-Dallo has made it her life's work to understand, educate and help improve the health of the MENA community. Using ancestry and surname data from the U.S. Census, national health studies, state specific surveys and hospital data sets, she disaggregated MENA from whites to uncover the burden of chronic and infectious diseases and their associated risk factors. In collaboration with community health organizations, she also collected primary data to obtain information that was not available on previously collected surveys. Given the new standard, Dr. Hoffert-Dallo will be expanding her research efforts to obtain and analyze robust epidemiological data to ensure that MENA communities receive the resources and budget allocations to elevate their health and well-being. She was a Kellogg health disparities scholar and has received funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation, and the Health Resources and Services Administration.