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Sandy Slater, Ph.D., is research assistant professor of health policy and 
administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Slater’s research 
interests include school and community-level studies designed to examine 
and reduce modifiable disease risk factors, such as physical inactivity, obe-
sity, tobacco use, and substance abuse in minority and underserved popula-
tions. She is principal investigator on an NIH grant to study how the built 
environment and related policies influence adolescent physical activity and 
ultimately overweight and obesity. As part of the grant she is examining the 
importance of school and community physical activity settings and oppor-
tunities for physical activity on youth physical activity levels, overweight, 
and obesity. She is also coinvestigator on a national study funded by the 
RWJF’s Bridging the Gap program, which aims to improve understanding 
of how policies, practices, and other environmental factors affect youth diet 
and physical activity. Dr. Slater was recently named a 2012-2013 University 
of Illinois at Chicago Institute for Health Research and Policy research fel-
low for her ongoing commitment to the institute’s research quality, intellec-
tual community, and interdisciplinary mission. Dr. Slater received an M.S. 
in public service management from DePaul University and a Ph.D. in public 
health sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago.