Peter James, ScD, MPH

Dr. James is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of California Davis School of Medicine, as well as an Associate Professor at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. Trained in environmental health and epidemiology, Dr. James' research focuses on estimating the influence of spatial factors, including exposure to nature, the built environment, the food environment, air pollution, light pollution, noise, and socioeconomic factors, on health behaviors, mental health, cognitive function, and chronic disease. He leads the Built Environment Assessment through Computer VisiON (BEACON) project in the Nurses' Health Study 3, where he uses deep learning algorithms, Google Street View images, smartphone GPS, and wearable devices to examine built and natural environment influences on health behaviors and cardiovascular disease risk.