Faculty Profile

I joined the Health Management and Policy department in 2016. Previously, I was an Assistant Professor of Global Health at Emory University and previous to that a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar at the University of Michigan. My research and teaching lies generally at the intersection of demography, epidemiology, and sociology. 

• 2009 PhD (with Distinction), Demography, University of Pennsylvania 
• 2005 M.A., Demography, University of Pennsylvania 
• 2001 M.Sc. (with Merit), London School of Economics and Political Science 
• 1997 B.A., Oberlin College

I have active areas of research in aging and disability, immigrant health, race/ethnic health disparities, mortality, obesity, cigarette smoking, and the chronic diseases of older age.

• Mehta Neil and Mikko Myrskylä. 2017. “The Population Health Benefits of a Healthy Lifestyle: Life Expectancy Increased and Onset of Disability Delayed.” Health Affairs
• Mehta, Neil, Shivani Patel, Mohammed Ali, K.M. Venkat Narayan. 2017. “Preventing Disability: The Influence of Modifiable Risk Factors On State And National Disability Prevalence.” Health Affairs
• Elo, Irma, Neil Mehta, Samuel Preston. 2017. “The Contribution of Weight Status to Black-White Differences in Mortality.” Biodemography and Social Biology
• Mehta, Neil, Irma Elo, Sari Stenholm, Arpo Aromaa, Markku Heliövaara, Seppo Koskinen. 2017. “International Differences in the Risk of Death from Smoking and Obesity: The Case of the United States and Finland.” Social Science and Medicine - Population Health
• Engelman, Michal, Bert Kestenbaum, Megan Zuelsdorff, Neil Mehta, Diane Lauderdale. 2017. “Work Disability among Native-Born and Foreign-Born Adults: On Origins, Health, and Social Safety Nets.” Demography
• Mehta, Neil, Irma Elo, Michal Engelman, Diane Lauderdale, Bert Kestenbaum. 2016. “Life Expectancy among U.S.-born and Foreign-born Older Adults in the United States: Estimates from Linked Social Security and Medicare Data.” Demography
• Mehta, Neil and Samuel Preston. 2016. “Are Major Behavioral and Sociodemographic Risk Factors for Mortality Additive or Multiplicative in Their Effects?” Social Science and Medicine
• Patel, Shivani, Mohammed Ali, K.M. Venkat Narayan, Neil Mehta. 2016. “County-level Variation in Cardiovascular Disease Mortality in the United States in 2009-2013: Comparative Assessment of Contributing Factors.” American Journal of Epidemiology
• Mehta, Neil, James House, Michael Elliott. 2015. “Dynamics of Health Behaviors and Socioeconomic Differences in Mortality in the United States.” Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
• Mehta, Neil, Irma Elo, Karen Siegel, Nicole Ford. 2015. “Obesity among U.S.- and Foreign-born Blacks by Region of Birth.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine
• Patel, Shivani, Munir Winkel, Mohammed Ali, K.M. Venkat Narayan, Neil Mehta. 2015. “Cardiovascular Mortality Associated With 5 Leading Risk Factors: National and State Preventable Fractions Estimated From Survey Data.” Annals of Internal Medicine

• Population Association of America
• Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Sciences