Clare Barrington Joins Rutgers School of Public Health

Clare Barrington, Ph.D., M.P.H., will join the Rutgers School of Public Health as professor and chair of the Department of Health Behavior, Society, and Policy this September. 

Barrington is a social and behavioral scientist whose research examines how social and structural factors shape health and well-being. Using mixed-methods approaches, she studies how the conditions in which people live, work, and build relationships affect health. She also examines how public health interventions can better respond to those realities.

“I am honored to join the Health Behavior, Society and Policy faculty, staff, and students to advance public health training, research, and practice,” said Barrington. “The department is well positioned to improve understanding of critical public health issues at the community, state, national, and global levels and to collaboratively design and assess innovative and holistic responses.”

Barrington has undertaken extensive work in Latin America, with research focusing on the development and adaptation of multilevel interventions that promote holistic health and well-being, particularly among people living with HIV and diabetes. She has also worked on evaluations of structural interventions, such as cash transfer programs, to better understand how improving social and economic conditions can impact health. 

Prior to joining Rutgers, Barrington was a professor in the Department of Health Behavior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health. She was also a fellow with the Carolina Population Center. At Gillings, she taught courses in qualitative data analysis, mixed methods, and professional development. Barrington also served as the doctoral program director in her department for seven years. 

Barrington’s areas of expertise include social and structural determinants of health, multilevel interventions, HIV, gender and sexuality, qualitative research, and mixed methods. Her work brings together public health research and practice to understand not only who experiences poorer health outcomes, but the social, economic, and structural conditions that produce those outcomes — and what can be done to change them.

“After a robust and highly competitive national search that featured an exceptional group of finalists, we are delighted to welcome Dr. Clare Barrington to the Rutgers School of Public Health,” said Perry N. Halkitis, dean of the Rutgers School of Public Health. “Her scholarship aligns closely with our commitment to humanizing public health by recognizing people as multifaceted individuals whose health is shaped by the complex interplay of biological, social, and structural factors. Dr. Barrington assumes leadership of the Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy from Dr. Paul Duberstein, whose exceptional leadership over the past seven years has significantly expanded the department's footprint and established multiple nationally recognized areas of excellence. We are deeply grateful for his many contributions and are confident that Dr. Barrington will build on this remarkable foundation as we continue to strengthen the department and advance a more human-centered vision of public health.” 

Barrington earned her bachelor’s degree in Health and Society and Development Studies from Brown University. She received both her M.P.H. and Ph.D. in International Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.