Scott Brown, PhD

Scott Brown, PhD

Associate Research Professor
Department of Public Health Sciences
Email: s.brown5@miami.edu  

University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine
1120 NW 14th Street, Suite 1065
Miami, FL 33136
(305) 243-4410

Scott C. Brown, Ph.D. is an environmental health scientist and Research Associate Professor in the UM Miller School of Medicine Department of Public Health Sciences, with a secondary appointment in the School of Architecture. He is Project Director of the UM Built Environment, Behavior and Health Research Group, and for 16 years, has led cross-sectoral, cross-disciplinary federally-funded research studies (NIH, HUD, CDC) to understand those built (physical) environmental policies and strategies that promote health for the most vulnerable residents (i.e., older adults; children; the poor), particularly those at risk for physical inactivity, social isolation, age-related cognitive decline, and behavioral health problems. He is Principal Investigator (PI) on a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Evidence for Action (RWJF E4A) grant examining health impacts of greening (tree-planting) initiatives on cardiovascular health in low-income Miami neighborhoods, and is PI on an Ed & Ethel Moore Alzheimer’s Research Grant from the State of Florida evaluating impacts of greenness and greening initiatives on Alzheimer’s disease incidence, and is PI on a UM Sylvester Cancer Center Pilot Grant investigating greenness’ relationship to cancer. As PI on a US HUD grant, he published the first studies to link block-level greenness (vegetative presence such as tree canopy) to lower risk of chronic conditions (e.g., diabetes; cardiovascular disease; Alzheimer’s disease), using “big data” on ~250k Medicare beneficiaries.
He is Co-Leader of one of 11 inaugural teams selected by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Design+Health Research Consortium. Previously, he completed postdoctoral fellowships in cognitive aging and behavioral health at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research and Division of Rheumatology. The overarching goal of his research is to inform policies pertaining to the built environment to enhance health across the lifespan, in the most underserved populations and communities.