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Karen B. ​Sokal-Gutierrez, MD, MPH

Health Sciences Clinical Professor Emerita, Interdisciplinary Programs
  • Researcher, Health Research for Action Center
  • Faculty, UCB-UCSF Joint Medical Program
  • Associated Faculty, Berkeley Food Institute
  • Associated Faculty, Center for Global Public Health
Karen Sokal-Gutierrez is a Clinical Professor at the School of Public Health. She is a physician trained in pediatrics, preventive medicine, and public health/maternal-child health. She teaches and is a research advisor for medical students, public health graduate students, and undergraduates. Her research advocacy focuses on interventions to improve early childhood health, nutrition, and oral health, particularly for underserved populations, globally and locally.
Phone: (510) 459-3227
Address: University Hall #570-B
Berkeley, CA 94720

Biography

Karen Sokal-Gutierrez is a Clinical Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary MPH program, Faculty in the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program, and Researcher with the Health Research for Action Center. She is a physician trained in pediatrics, preventive medicine, and public health/maternal-child health. She received her BS degree from Yale University, MD from the University of California San Francisco, and MPH from the University of California Berkeley; and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Her work focuses on interventions and advocacy to improve early childhood health and development and reduce health disparities, locally and globally. She has served as a physician in community health clinics, public health program administrator, consultant to childcare and preschool programs, and writer for a parenting website. She has worked in global health for over 40 years, including for the past 15 years directing a family of mixed-methods studies on early childhood nutrition and oral health in El Salvador, Ecuador, Vietnam, Nepal, and India.

Research Interests

  • Early childhood health, development, and safety
  • Early childhood nutrition and oral health, locally and globally
  • Maternal-child health
  • Children's health in childcare/preschool
  • Parenting education
  • Reducing health disparities
  • Health education for low-literacy populations

Education

  • MD – University of California, San Francisco
  • MPH – University of California, Berkeley
  • BS – Yale University

Publications

Courses Taught

    • Summer, Fall, Spring | PBHLTH 292
    • Interdisciplinary MPH Program Seminar
    • Fall, Spring | UGIS 192
    • Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program

Additional Information

Project Videos:

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