Yulin Hswen, ScD, MPH, BS
Epidemiology & Biostatistics
Dr. Yulin Hswen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Bakar Computational Health Institute at the University of California, San Francisco. She also serves as an Associate Editor of JAMA and JAMA Network, where she leads strategy for integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into multimedia and medicine. Dr. Hswen earned her Doctorate in Social and Computational Epidemiology from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Dr. Hswen’s research lies at the intersection of the digital environment and population health, focusing on how online networks and large-scale social systems influence behaviors, beliefs, and health outcomes. Her work examines the dynamic interactions between digital platforms, media narratives, and societal norms, leveraging cutting-edge AI tools to capture and analyze complex data streams that reveal patterns in population behavior.
Dr. Hswen has published extensively in leading journals, including The New England Journal of Medicine, The American Journal of Public Health, Preventive Medicine, Nature npj Digital Medicine, Nature Human Behavior, Nature Scientific Data, JAMA Network Open, and JAMA. Her work has been featured in CBC News, Bloomberg News, Nature Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal.
Dr. Hswen's research seeks to uncover hidden patterns and authentic drivers of behavior, using unconventional data sources and advanced machine learning methodologies. By analyzing unstructured and "underground" online social networks, she identifies unfiltered attitudes, beliefs, and emotions that influence health-related behaviors. Her work applies advanced AI techniques, including natural language processing (NLP) and predictive modeling, to detect emerging social trends, misinformation, and behavioral risks with the goal of advancing population health initiatives.
A former Deputy Editor of the Harvard Public Health Review and member of editorial boards for Nature Scientific Reports and Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Dr. Hswen has also been a Kennedy Fellow at Harvard University, a Chateaubriand STEM Fellow, and a researcher supported by the Embassy of France and the French National Research Agency. Prior to joining UCSF, she was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Aix-Marseille School of Economics (AMSE), where she explored the use of behavioral economics to optimize the adoption and implementation of public health interventions.
Dr. Hswen's innovative application of AI to analyze social networks, behaviors, and digital data has positioned her as a leader in computational epidemiology and the integration of advanced technologies into public health. Her work continues to push the boundaries of AI's role in uncovering actionable insights that inform disease prevention and health promotion.
You can view a list of her publications here.
Have any questions? E-mail her at [email protected].