Faculty Collective-Edith Chen
Edith Chen is a second generation Chinese American originally from Texas, and professor in the Asian American Studies Department. Trained as a sociologist, her emerging teaching and research interests include Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, immigration, and health, with a focus on type II diabetes and obesity. Currently, she's on the steering committee of the APIOPA (Asian Pacific Islander Obesity Prevention Alliance). APIOPA's mission is to empower Asian and Pacific Islander (API) communities to improve their health by proactively addressing social, cultural, environmental, and political factors that contribute to the growing rates of obesity among API residents in Los Angeles County. Currently, she's interested in examining how generation, ethnicity, language and residential assimilation are contributing to the growing rates of type 2 diabetes and obesity in the AAPI population through quantitative and qualitative analysis. Specifically, it will examine how generation, ethnicity, and residential assimilation impact their health outcomes.