Ferdinand, Alva Associate Professor

Dr. Alva O. Ferdinand is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management and the deputy director of the Southwest Rural Health Research Center at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health. She is generally interested in the impact of laws on public health outcomes. She has been actively developing a research agenda that incorporates her interest in public health policy issues. She has examined such issues as the impact of tax-exemption status on the provision of community benefits among various hospital ownership types, the relationship between neighborhood built environments and physical activity, and the effects of texting-while-driving bans on roadway safety. She has additionally examined variations in the burden of chronic diseases across the urban-rural continuum including cancer and diabetes. Dr. Ferdinand holds a law degree from the Michigan State University College of Law and a doctor of public health degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.