BIOGRAPHY

Toni Miles, MD, PhD is the first, African American, tenured Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at University of Georgia. Dr. Miles is a highly productive writer (> 150 publications), mentor, teacher, and administrator. She has a national reputation in the field of minority aging, chronic disease, and health care policy. She is a Fellow in both the American Public Health Association (1993) and the Gerontological Society of America (2001); and served as a staffer for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee between 2008 to 2010 working on the Affordable Care Act.The genius of Dr. Miles’ current research is that it reframes bereavement as an issue impacting the population health of the community across the age spectrum. As a result of her leadership, Georgia is first state to measure prevalence of new bereavement among adults aged 18 years and older using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey. This measurement predates the pandemic and provides state agencies the estimates needed to plan resources. The research leading to BRFSS was supported with extramural grants from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Centers for Disease Control, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, the Georgia Department of Community Health, and private foundations. The reach of these activities extends into the workforce – a needed and novel application. Bereavement is a factor that contributes to society-wide instability. Responding to this factor has direct application to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

MEDIA APPEARANCES

Articles