Faculty and Academic Staff
Professor Abby King, PhD
ABBY KING, PhD, is Professor of Epidemiology & Population Health and of Medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. A clinical psychologist by training, her postdoctoral training has focused on community-based chronic disease prevention and control. She is an internationally respected scientist and award-winning teacher and mentor who has developed, evaluated, and disseminated creative solutions to major public health challenges related to prevention of chronic disease and promotion of health equity in the U.S. and globally.
Dr. King leads an interdisciplinary research team aimed at creating cutting-edge behavioral and technology-enabled programs promoting the healthy lifestyles and environments necessary for living long and productive lives. Her team’s borderless health promotion solutions seek to create health programs that break down barriers related to education, literacy, language, and computer knowledge and access to foster health equity for all.
Dr. King has published more than 460 scientific articles and has served on a number of international and government task forces, including membership on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS) Secretary’s Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for 2020, and Co-Chair of the USDHHS 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Advisory Committee. She has been the recipient of a number of National Institutes of Health research grants and received the award for Outstanding Scientific Contributions in the area of health psychology from the American Psychological Association, in addition to major scientific achievement awards from the Society of Behavioral Medicine (2020) and the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (2019). She is an elected member of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research and past president of the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM), and in 2018 received SBM’s Research to Practice Award. Dr. King is committed to the professional development of junior scientists. She has served as Co-Director of SPRC’s NIH-funded postdoctoral training program since 1992, and in 2003, she received the Society of Behavioral Medicine’s Distinguished Research Mentor award and has twice received SPRC’s Outstanding Teacher award. She also serves as a dual principal investigator of an NIH-funded Training in Advanced Data Analytics for Behavioral & Social Sciences predoctoral training award.