College Overview
* (COPH C Overview faculty)
Russell Kirby, PhD, MS
Distinguished University Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences
Marrell Endowed Chair
Contact Info
- Office: LRC 115
- Academic Email: kirbyr@usf.edu
- Academic Phone: (813) 396-2347
- View My C.V. | View My Website
Education
- MS, University of Wisconsin, 1991
- PhD, Geography, University of Wisconsin, 1981
- MS, Geography, University of Wisconsin, 1977
- BA Honors, University of Wisconsin, 1974
- US, Undergraduate Studies, Elmhurst College, 1972
Discipline
Maternal & Child Health
Specialization
- Perinatal Epidemiology
- Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
- Epidemiology and Prevention
- GIS and Spatial Analysis
Biography
Dr. Kirby is a doctorally-trained human geographer with extensive training and experience in public health practice, academic medicine, and academic public health. From 1981 to 1991, Dr. Kirby worked as a health statistician, focusing on maternal and child health in two state public health agencies, Wisconsin and Arkansas. From 1989-2002, he was a professor in two medical schools, The Department of Pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Milwaukee Clinical Campus, University of Wisconsin Medical School, rising from the rank of instructor to professor during the period. From 2002-2008, Dr. Kirby was professor and vice chair of the Department of Maternal and Child Health in the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Joining the USF faculty in 2008, Dr. Kirby is the Marrell Endowed Chair at the College of Public Health, with a joint appointments in several departments in the College of Medicine. While his research interests in maternal and child health are quite broad, he focuses on population-based research in birth defects and developmental disabilities epidemiology and prevention, as well as on risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Research Interests
- Epidemiology and prevention of birth defects and developmental disabilities (e.g. syndrome, cerebral palsy, autistic spectrum disorders)
- Population-based research focused on risk and protective factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes
- Application of geographic information systems and spatial analysis in maternal and child health
- Population health informatics, record linkage and data integration