Akiko S. Hosler
PhD - University at Albany
MA - University at Albany
CGS - Mount Holyoke College
BA - Doshisha University
Dr. Hosler’s research has two major areas of focus. The first area is diabetes and its associated metabolic disorders. Dr. Hosler has uncovered the excess burden of type 2 diabetes and determinants of disparities in diabetes self-management and care in various populations, including Puerto Rican, Russian, Guyanese, and Indian immigrants in the U.S., and suggested public health intervention strategies for those groups. She also conducted epidemiological investigations of gestational diabetes and diabetes prescription drugs to fill research gaps, and also provided evidence for the effectiveness of large-scale diabetes/metabolic syndrome intervention programs in New York State and Japan. The other area of focus is the built environment and its impact on health. Dr. Hosler has led more than a dozen community-canvassing assessment studies of the food/nutrition, tobacco, and walking environments in Upstate New York. She has developed unique built environment research methods, and by linking the built environment data to health survey data, she demonstrated how the built environment contributes to disparities in dietary behavior, obesity, smoking, exercise walking, and public health service utilization. Currently, she is investigating how the regional food system affects food insecurity/hunger, dietary behavior, and nutrition-related chronic diseases through collaboration with multidisciplinary colleagues and community partners.
Research Interests
- Diabetes and metabolic syndrome
- The food/nutrition environment and its impact on health
- Health disparities
- Policy, systems, and environmental change strategies
- Community-engaged research