About me
Richard M. Carpiano is Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Riverside, where he is also Faculty Director of the Science to Policy (S2P) training program. Dr. Carpiano studies how social and economic conditions contribute to the health of adults and children. A substantial focus of his research concerns social, behavioral, attitude, and policy factors underlying vaccination uptake and coverage (and refusal or delay). As part of this work, he served as a member of the Lancet's Commission on Vaccine Refusal, Acceptance, and Demand in the United States. Dr. Carpiano’s research- and policy-related activities also center on pandemic preparedness and response. He is a co-principal investigator of Resilient, a team initiative focused on improving pandemic preparedness through fostering community resilience and has served as a member of the California Council on Science and Technology’s COVID-19 Steering Committee, which aims to link science and technology expertise to state policy-makers regarding how California can be more resilient to public health threats.
Dr. Carpiano engages extensively with news media on a wide range of public health and sociological topics and is a former co-editor (with Brian Kelly of Indiana University) of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, published by the American Sociological Association.
Dr. Carpiano received his Ph.D. and M.Phil. in Sociomedical Sciences (with concentration in Sociology) from Columbia University, his M.P.H. from Case Western Reserve University, and M.A. and B.A. in Sociology from Baylor University. From 2004-2006, he was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar at University of Wisconsin-Madison.