Dr. Thelma Mielenz

Biography

Dr. Thelma Mielenz completed her doctoral training in epidemiology at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Public Health and has participated in AHRQ NRSA pre- postdoctoral fellowships at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. She is a behavioral consequential epidemiologist and Principal Investigator of a behavioral-change project funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), specifically the only funded project in New York state during that round. Dr. Mielenz is the Director of the Education Core at the Columbia University Center for Injury Epidemiology and Prevention, which is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She also serves as the co-Principal Investigator for the LongROAD study, which focuses on older adult drivers, as well as collaborating with the NIH National Institute on Aging on translational research regarding pain and life. Her research interests include healthcare redesign that focuses on clinical-community linkages to deliver preventive services, community-evidence-based programs to prevent disability and falls, and psychometric outcomes to measure pain, function, and self-efficacy related to physical activity. Dr. Mielenz teaches substantive epidemiology courses related to aging and injury within the Master of Public Health core curriculum at Columbia University.

Research Interests