Research Scientist
Kaiser Permanente
Dr. Deborah Cohen (MD, MPH) is a Research Scientist at Kaiser Permanente, Southern California. She studies how environmental factors influence the health of communities and affect health disparities. Her work focuses on improving the food environment, which is currently designed to promote the overconsumption of nutrient-poor foods. She is currently developing and evaluating interventions to promote a healthier diet, including one study to standardize portions in restaurants and another to assess the impact of meal planning and grocery delivery to support weight loss. She has also examined physical activity environments and how the management and design of neighborhood parks and playgrounds can support more people to be physically active. She is the Principal Investigator of 2 related studies, one on playground design and another on park prescriptions. She is author of A Big Fat Crisis: The Hidden Influences Behind the Obesity Epidemic—and How We Can End It and co-author of Prescription for a Healthy Nation: A New Approach to Improving Our Lives by Fixing Our Everyday Worlds.