Rita Hamad, MD, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor
Dr. Hamad is the Associate Director of the Center for Health Equity. She is also a member of the steering committee of the UCSF Population Health Data Initiative, serving as the Faculty Lead for the development of data infrastructure to advance population health research on campus. She previously served as the Policy Lead of the UCSF Preterm Birth Initiative, spearheading an agenda to reduce disparities in preterm birth by addressing its upstream determinants. Dr. Hamad mentors trainees at all levels in population health research, and she supervises family medicine residents at the Family Health Center at San Francisco General Hospital. She also serves on the Communications Committee of the Interdisciplinary Association of Population Health Sciences.
Education
Honors and Awards
- Outstanding Impact in Health & Social Justice Alumni Award, UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program, 2022
- James C. Puffer, M.D./American Board of Family Medicine Fellowship, National Academy of Medicine, 2020-2022
- Irene Perstein Award, UCSF, 2018-2021
- Hellman Fellowship, UCSF, 2018-2020
Websites
Publications
Karasek D, Batra A, Baer RJ, Butcher BDC, Feuer S, Fuchs JD, Kuppermann M, Gomez AM, Prather AA, Pantell M, Rogers E, Snowden JM, Torres J, Rand L, Jelliffe-Pawlowski L, Hamad R. Estimating the effect of timing of earned income tax credit refunds on perinatal outcomes: a quasi-experimental study of California births. BMC public health 2023. PMID: 37936102
Jensen NK, Frøslev T, Foverskov E, Glymour M, Sørensen HT, Hamad R. The association of neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics with cardiovascular health: A quasi-experimental study of refugees to Denmark. Health & place 2023. PMID: 37844523
Chiang AY, Batra A, Hamad R. Promoting health equity through poverty alleviation policy: Factors associated with receipt of the 2021 U.S. Child Tax Credit in a nationwide sample. Preventive medicine 2023. PMID: 37776907
Schwartz GL, Chiang AY, Wang G, Kim MH, White JS, Hamad R. Testing mediating pathways between school segregation and health: Evidence on peer prejudice and health behaviors. Social science & medicine (1982) 2023. PMID: 37716183
Assaf RD, Hamad R, Javanbakht M, Arah OA, Shoptaw SJ, Cooper ZD, Gorbach PM. Associations of U.S. state-level COVID-19 policies intensity with cannabis sharing behaviors in 2020. Research square 2023. PMID: 37577641
Raphael E, Barton M, Jaradeh K, Dieterich C, Hamad R. Comparing the health of refugee and asylee patients with that of non-refugee immigrant and US-born patients in a large Urban clinic. BMC public health 2023. PMID: 37501106
Hamad R, Yeb J, Jackson K, Gosliner W, Fernald LCH. Potential mechanisms linking poverty alleviation and health: an analysis of benefit spending among recipients of the U.S. earned income tax credit. BMC public health 2023. PMID: 37468839
Kathryn A Phillips, Deborah A Marshall, Loren Adler, Jose Figueroa, Simon F Haeder, Rita Hamad, Inmaculada Hernandez, Corrina Moucheraud, Sayeh Nikpay. Ten health policy challenges for the next 10 years. 2023. PMID:
Mooney AC, Jackson KE, Hamad R, Fernald LCH, Hoskote M, Gosliner W. Experiences of distress and gaps in government safety net supports among parents of young children during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study. BMC public health 2023. PMID: 37287030
Guan A, Batra A, Seligman H, Hamad R. Understanding the Predictors of Low Take-Up of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): A Nationwide Longitudinal Study. Maternal and child health journal 2023. PMID: 37286848
Hamad R, Collin DF, Gemmill A, Jackson K, Karasek D. The Pent-Up Demand for Breastfeeding Among US Women: Trends After COVID-19 Shelter-in-Place. American journal of public health 2023. PMID: 37200599
Collin DF, Guan A, Hamad R. Predictors of WIC Uptake Among Low-Income Pregnant Individuals: A Longitudinal Nationwide Analysis. The American journal of clinical nutrition 2023. PMID: 37088228
Jackson KE, Hamad R, Karasek D, White JS. Sugar-sweetened beverage taxes and perinatal health: A quasi-experimental study. American journal of preventive medicine 2023. PMID: 36966893
Raphael E, Azar KMJ, Gu D, Shen Z, Rubinsky A, Wang M, Pantell M, Lyles CR, Fernandez A, Bibbins-Domingo K, Pressman A, Nasrallah C, Hamad R. Racial and sociodemographic predictors of COVID-19 compared with influenza, appendicitis, and all-cause hospitalization: retrospective cohort analysis. Ethnicity & health 2023. PMID: 36907661
Collin DF, Pulvera R, Hamad R. The effect of the 2009 revised U.S. guidelines for gestational weight gain on maternal and infant health: a quasi-experimental study. BMC pregnancy and childbirth 2023. PMID: 36803304
Park S, Marcus GM, Olgin JE, Carton T, Hamad R, Pletcher MJ, COVID-19 Citizen Science Study Consortium. Unreported SARS-CoV-2 Home Testing and Test Positivity. JAMA network open 2023. PMID: 36696115
Batra A, Jackson K, Hamad R. Effects Of The 2021 Expanded Child Tax Credit On Adults' Mental Health: A Quasi-Experimental Study. Health affairs (Project Hope) 2023. PMID: 36623218
Kim MH, Foverskov E, Frøslev T, White JS, Glymour MM, Hainmueller J, Pedersen L, Sørensen HT, Hamad R. Neighborhood disadvantage and the risk of dementia and mortality among refugees to Denmark: A quasi-experimental study. SSM - population health 2022. PMID: 36589275
Hamad R, Gosliner W, Brown EM, Hoskote M, Jackson K, Esparza EM, Fernald LCH. Understanding Take-Up Of The Earned Income Tax Credit Among Californians With Low Income. Health affairs (Project Hope) 2022. PMID: 36469822
Wang G, Seligman H, Levi R, Hamad R. Impact of fruit and vegetable benefits on pregnancy outcomes among WIC participants: a natural experiment. Translational behavioral medicine 2022. PMID: 36073737
Guan A, Batra A, Hamad R. Effects of the revised WIC food package on women's and children's health: a quasi-experimental study. BMC pregnancy and childbirth 2022. PMID: 36324108
Foverskov E, White JS, Frøslev T, Sørensen HT, Hamad R. Risk of Psychiatric Disorders Among Refugee Children and Adolescents Living in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods. JAMA pediatrics 2022. PMID: 36094528
Brown EM, Fernald LCH, Hamad R, Hoskote M, Jackson KE, Gosliner W. Pandemic-related socioeconomic disruptions and adverse health outcomes: a cross-sectional study of female caregivers. BMC public health 2022. PMID: 36221110
Hamad R, Lyman KA, Lin F, Modrow MF, Ozluk P, Azar KMJ, Goodin A, Isasi CR, Kitzman HE, Knight SJ, Marcus GM, McMahill-Walraven CN, Meissner P, Nair V, O'Brien EC, Olgin JE, Peyser ND, Sylwestrzak G, Williams N, Pletcher MJ, Carton T. The U.S. COVID-19 County Policy Database: a novel resource to support pandemic-related research. BMC public health 2022. PMID: 36217102
Wang G, Schwartz GL, Kershaw KN, McGowan C, Kim MH, Hamad R. The association of residential racial segregation with health among U.S. children: A nationwide longitudinal study. SSM - population health 2022. PMID: 36238814
Karasek D, Raifman S, Dow WH, Hamad R, Goodman JM. Evaluating the Effect of San Francisco's Paid Parental Leave Ordinance on Birth Outcomes. International journal of environmental research and public health 2022. PMID: 36231264
Schwartz GL, Wang G, Kershaw KN, McGowan C, Kim MH, Hamad R. The long shadow of residential racial segregation: Associations between childhood residential segregation trajectories and young adult health among Black US Americans. Health & place 2022. PMID: 36063651
Torres JM, Alcala E, Shaver A, Collin DF, Franck LS, Gomez AM, Karasek D, Nidey N, Hotard M, Hamad R, Pacheco-Werner T. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and birth outcomes in California: a quasi-experimental study. BMC public health 2022. PMID: 35906553
Pulvera R, Collin DF, Hamad R. The effect of the 2009 WIC revision on maternal and child health: A quasi-experimental study. Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology 2022. PMID: 35871753
Hamad R, Galea S. The Role of Health Care Systems in Bolstering the Social Safety Net to Address Health Inequities in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA 2022. PMID: 35704339
Kim MH, Schwartz GL, White JS, Glymour MM, Reardon SF, Kershaw KN, Gomez SL, Collin DF, Inamdar P, Wang G, Hamad R. School racial segregation and long-term cardiovascular health among black adults in the US: A quasi-experimental study. PLoS medicine 2022. PMID: 35727819
Foverskov E, White JS, Norredam M, Frøslev T, Kim MH, Glymour MM, Pedersen L, Sørensen HT, Hamad R. Neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage and psychiatric disorders among refugees: a population-based, quasi-experimental study in Denmark. "It's not the doctor - it's me." How self-blame obscures language and other structural barriers to diabetes care mong low-income Latinos with limited English Proficiency. 2022. PMID: 35597890
Wang G, Schwartz GL, Kim MH, White JS, Glymour MM, Reardon S, Kershaw KN, Gomez SL, Inamdar PP, Hamad R. School Racial Segregation and the Health of Black Children. "It's not the doctor - it's me." How self-blame obscures language and other structural barriers to diabetes care mong low-income Latinos with limited English Proficiency. 2022. PMID: 35434734
Jackson KE, Yeb J, Gosliner W, Fernald LCH, Hamad R. Characterizing the Landscape of Safety Net Programs and Policies in California during the COVID-19 Pandemic. "It's not the doctor - it's me." How self-blame obscures language and other structural barriers to diabetes care mong low-income Latinos with limited English Proficiency. 2022. PMID: 35270441
Hamad R, Ruffini K, Bitler M, Currie J. Leveraging the Urgency of Economic Disparities Driven by the COVID-19 Pandemic to Strengthen the U.S. Safety Net. "It's not the doctor - it's me." How self-blame obscures language and other structural barriers to diabetes care mong low-income Latinos with limited English Proficiency. 2022. PMID: 35402855
Hamad R, Glymour MM, Calmasini C, Nguyen TT, Walter S, Rehkopf DH. Explaining the variance in cardiovascular disease risk factors: A comparison of demographic, socioeconomic, and genetic predictors. "It's not the doctor - it's me." How self-blame obscures language and other structural barriers to diabetes care mong low-income Latinos with limited English Proficiency. 2021. PMID: 34799480
Hoskote M, Hamad R, Gosliner W, Sokal-Gutierrez K, Dow W, Fernald LCH. Social and Economic Factors Related to Healthcare Delay Among Low-Income Families During COVID-19: Results from the ACCESS Observational Study. Journal of health care for the poor and underserved 2022. PMID: 36341673
Raifman JR, Raderman W, Skinner A, Hamad R. Paid Leave Policies Can Help Keep Businesses Open And Food On Workers’ Tables "It's not the doctor - it's me." How self-blame obscures language and other structural barriers to diabetes care mong low-income Latinos with limited English Proficiency. 2021. PMID:
Batra A, Karasek D, Hamad R. Racial Differences in the Association between the U.S. Earned Income Tax Credit and Birthweight. Women's health issues : official publication of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health 2021. PMID: 34654624
Irish AM, White JS, Modrek S, Hamad R. Paid Family Leave and Mental Health in the U.S.: A Quasi-Experimental Study of State Policies. American journal of preventive medicine 2021. PMID: 34294424
Seligman HK, Hamad R. Moving Upstream: The Importance of Examining Policies to Address Health Disparities. JAMA pediatrics 2021. PMID: 33779711
Shields-Zeeman L, Collin DF, Batra A, Hamad R. How does income affect mental health and health behaviours? A quasi-experimental study of the earned income tax credit. Journal of epidemiology and community health 2021. PMID: 33990398
Collin DF, Shields-Zeeman LS, Batra A, White JS, Tong M, Hamad R. The effects of state earned income tax credits on mental health and health behaviors: A quasi-experimental study. Social science & medicine (1982) 2021. PMID: 33740636
Batra A, Hamad R. Short-term effects of the earned income tax credit on children's physical and mental health. Annals of epidemiology 2021. PMID: 33621630
Guan A, Hamad R, Batra A, Bush NR, Tylavsky FA, LeWinn KZ. The Revised WIC Food Package and Child Development: A Quasi-Experimental Study. Pediatrics 2021. PMID: 33495370
Riley AR, Collin D, Grumbach JM, Torres JM, Hamad R. Association of US state policy orientation with adverse birth outcomes: a longitudinal analysis. Journal of epidemiology and community health 2021. PMID: 33408163
Arons A, Pomeranz J, Hamad R. Identifying Novel Predictors of State Legislative Action to Address Obesity. Journal of public health management and practice : JPHMP 2019. PMID: 31415263
Hamad R. Natural and Unnatural Experiments in Epidemiology. Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.) 2020. PMID: 33003148
Hamad R, Öztürk B, Foverskov E, Pedersen L, Sørensen HT, Bøtker HE, White JS. Association of Neighborhood Disadvantage With Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Events Among Refugees in Denmark. JAMA network open 2020. PMID: 32821923
Hamad R, Penko J, Kazi DS, Coxson P, Guzman D, Wei PC, Mason A, Wang EA, Goldman L, Fiscella K, Bibbins-Domingo K. Association of Low Socioeconomic Status With Premature Coronary Heart Disease in US Adults. JAMA cardiology 2020. PMID: 32459344
Collin DF, Shields-Zeeman LS, Batra A, Vable AM, Rehkopf DH, Machen L, Hamad R. Short-term effects of the earned income tax credit on mental health and health behaviors. Preventive medicine 2020. PMID: 32735990
Chiang J, Arons A, Pomeranz JL, Siddiqi A, Hamad R. Geographic and Longitudinal Trends in Media Framing of Obesity in the United States. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) 2020. PMID: 32475076
Raphael E, White JS, Li X, Cederin K, Glymour MM, Sundquist K, Sundquist J, Hamad R. Neighborhood deprivation and mental health among immigrants to Sweden. Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.) 2020. PMID: 31977591
Lee BC, Modrek S, White JS, Batra A, Collin DF, Hamad R. The effect of California's paid family leave policy on parent health: A quasi-experimental study. Social science & medicine (1982) 2020. PMID: 32179364
Raphael E, Gaynes R, Hamad R. Cross-sectional analysis of place-based and racial disparities in hospitalisation rates by disease category in California in 2001 and 2011. BMJ open 2019. PMID: 31662392
Hamad R, Niedzwiecki MJ. The short-term effects of the earned income tax credit on health care expenditures among US adults. Health services research 2019. PMID: 31566732
Hamad R, Collin DF, Baer RJ, Jelliffe-Pawlowski LL. Association of Revised WIC Food Package With Perinatal and Birth Outcomes: A Quasi-Experimental Study. JAMA pediatrics 2019. PMID: 31260072
Hlatky MA, Hamad R. Disentangling the Effects of Socioeconomic Factors on Outcomes Among Patients With Heart Failure. Volume 7 of Issue 9. JACC. Heart failure 2019. PMID: 31466672
Hamad R, Batra A, Karasek D, LeWinn KZ, Bush NR, Davis RL, Tylavsky FA. The Impact of the Revised WIC Food Package on Maternal Nutrition during Pregnancy and Postpartum. American journal of epidemiology 2019. PMID: 31094428
Hamad R, Nguyen TT, Bhattacharya J, Glymour MM, Rehkopf DH. Educational attainment and cardiovascular disease in the United States: A quasi-experimental instrumental variables analysis. Volume 16 of Issue 6. PLoS medicine 2019. PMID: 31237869
Hamad R, Nguyen TT, Glymour MM, Vable A, Manly JJ, Rehkopf DH. Quality and quantity: The association of state-level educational policies with later life cardiovascular disease. Volume 126. Preventive medicine 2019. PMID: 31195021
Vable AM, Nguyen TT, Rehkopf D, Glymour MM, Hamad R. Differential associations between state-level educational quality and cardiovascular health by race: Early-life exposures and late-life health. Volume 8. SSM - population health 2019. PMID: 31249857
Hamad R, Brown DM, Basu S. The association of county-level socioeconomic factors with individual tobacco and alcohol use: a longitudinal study of U.S. adults. Volume 19 of Issue 1. BMC public health 2019. PMID: 30971249
Hamad R, Templeton ZS, Schoemaker L, Zhao M, Bhattacharya J. Comparing demographic and health characteristics of new and existing SNAP recipients: application of a machine learning algorithm. Volume 109 of Issue 4. The American journal of clinical nutrition 2019. PMID: 30949659
Hamad R, Collin DF, Rehkopf DH. Estimating the Short-Term Effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit on Child Health. Volume 187 of Issue 12. American journal of epidemiology 2018. PMID: 30188968
Hamad R, Modrek S, White JS. Paid Family Leave Effects on Breastfeeding: A Quasi-Experimental Study of US Policies. American journal of public health 2018. PMID: 30359107
Vable AM, Eng CW, Mayeda ER, Basu S, Marden JR, Hamad R, Glymour MM. Mother's education and late-life disparities in memory and dementia risk among US military veterans and non-veterans. Volume 72 of Issue 12. Journal of epidemiology and community health 2018. PMID: 30082424
Hamad R, Elser H, Tran DC, Rehkopf DH, Goodman SN. How and why studies disagree about the effects of education on health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies of compulsory schooling laws. Volume 212. Social science & medicine (1982) 2018. PMID: 30036767
Glymour MM, Hamad R. Causal Thinking as a Critical Tool for Eliminating Social Inequalities in Health. Volume 108 of Issue 5. American journal of public health 2018. PMID: 29617596
Pomeranz JL, Siddiqi A, Bolanos GJ, Shor JA, Hamad R. Consolidated state political party control and the enactment of obesity-related policies in the United States. Volume 105. Preventive medicine 2017. PMID: 28865810
Hamad R, Rehkopf DH, Kuan KY, Cullen MR. Predicting later life health status and mortality using state-level socioeconomic characteristics in early life. Volume 2. SSM - population health 2016. PMID: 27713921
Hamad R, Tuljapurkar S, Rehkopf DH. Racial and Socioeconomic Variation in Genetic Markers of Telomere Length: A Cross-Sectional Study of U.S. Older Adults. Volume 11. EBioMedicine 2016. PMID: 27566956
Hamad R, Walter S, Rehkopf DH. Telomere length and health outcomes: A two-sample genetic instrumental variables analysis. Volume 82. Experimental gerontology 2016. PMID: 27321645
Hamad R, Cohen AK, Rehkopf DH. Changing national guidelines is not enough: the impact of 1990 IOM recommendations on gestational weight gain among US women. Volume 40 of Issue 10. International journal of obesity (2005) 2016. PMID: 27200502
White JS, Hamad R, Li X, Basu S, Ohlsson H, Sundquist J, Sundquist K. Long-term effects of neighbourhood deprivation on diabetes risk: quasi-experimental evidence from a refugee dispersal policy in Sweden. Volume 4 of Issue 6. The lancet. Diabetes & endocrinology 2016. PMID: 27131930
Hamad R, Rehkopf DH. Hamad and Rehkopf Respond to "Income and Health: Financial Credits as Instruments". Volume 183 of Issue 9. American journal of epidemiology 2016. PMID: 27056960
Hamad R, Rehkopf DH. Poverty and Child Development: A Longitudinal Study of the Impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit. Volume 183 of Issue 9. American journal of epidemiology 2016. PMID: 27056961
Basu S, Hamad R, White JS, Modrek S, Rehkopf DH, Cullen MR. The EARN-Health Trial: protocol for a randomised controlled trial to identify health effects of a financial savings programme among low-income US adults. Volume 5 of Issue 10. BMJ open 2015. PMID: 26443663
Hamad R, Modrek S, Cullen MR. The Effects of Job Insecurity on Health Care Utilization: Findings from a Panel of U.S. Workers. Volume 51 of Issue 3. Health services research 2015. PMID: 26416343
Hamad R, Fernald LC. Microcredit participation and women's health: results from a cross-sectional study in Peru. Volume 14. International journal for equity in health 2015. PMID: 26242582
Hamad R, Rehkopf DH. Poverty, Pregnancy, and Birth Outcomes: A Study of the Earned Income Tax Credit. Volume 29 of Issue 5. Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology 2015. PMID: 26212041
Hamad R, Modrek S, Kubo J, Goldstein BA, Cullen MR. Using "big data" to capture overall health status: properties and predictive value of a claims-based health risk score. Volume 10 of Issue 5. PloS one 2015. PMID: 25951622
Modrek S, Hamad R, Cullen MR. Psychological well-being during the great recession: changes in mental health care utilization in an occupational cohort. Volume 105 of Issue 2. American journal of public health 2015. PMID: 25521885
Hamad R, Pomeranz JL, Siddiqi A, Basu S. Large-scale automated analysis of news media: a novel computational method for obesity policy research. Volume 23 of Issue 2. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) 2014. PMID: 25522013
Moseson H, Hamad R, Fernald L. Microcredit participation and child health: results from a cross-sectional study in Peru. Volume 68 of Issue 12. Journal of epidemiology and community health 2014. PMID: 25180005
Hamad R, Fernald LCh, Karlan DS. Health education for microcredit clients in Peru: a randomized controlled trial. Volume 11 of Issue 1. BMC public health 2011. PMID: 21261988
Hamad R, Fernald LC. Microcredit participation and nutrition outcomes among women in Peru. Volume 66 of Issue 6. Journal of epidemiology and community health 2010. PMID: 21051776
Fernald LC, Hamad R, Karlan D, Ozer EJ, Zinman J. Small individual loans and mental health: a randomized controlled trial among South African adults. Volume 8. BMC public health 2008. PMID: 19087316
Hamad R, Fernald LC, Karlan DS, Zinman J. Social and economic correlates of depressive symptoms and perceived stress in South African adults. Volume 62 of Issue 6. Journal of epidemiology and community health 2008. PMID: 18477753