About

Jo Ivey Elizabeth Boufford is a Clinical Professor of Global Health at the New York University School of Global Public Health and a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine. She is President Emeritus of The New York Academy of Medicine and served as the Immediate Past President of the International Society for Urban Health from 2017 to 2019. Her previous roles include serving as Dean of the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at NYU from June 1997 to November 2002, and as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from November 1993 to January 1997, where she also served as Acting Assistant Secretary. She represented the U.S. on the Executive Board of the World Health Organization from 1994 to 1997. Boufford has held senior positions in the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation and currently serves on several boards, including the United Hospital Fund, the NYS Public Health and Health Planning Council, the National Hispanic Health Foundation, and the Health Effects Institute. She is a member of the US National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Public Administration, and is a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. Her educational background includes a BA in Psychology from the University of Michigan, where she graduated magna cum laude, and an MD with distinction from the University of Michigan Medical School. Her research focuses on aging, health disparities, urban health, public health policy, and health systems, with numerous publications in these areas.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Medicine
• Sociology
• Economics
• Law
• Geography
• Economic growth
• Environmental health
• Pathology
• Virology
• Business
• Economy
• Telecommunications
• Economic geography
• Regional science
• Demography
• Engineering
• Public administration

Selected publications

• Social isolation and cardiovascular disease: mediation by health behaviours and metabolic risk factors in a 22-year survey follow-up

  medRxiv · 2025-08-19

  preprintOpen access

  Abstract Background Social isolation is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Few studies have explored whether this is mediated by health behaviours or metabolic risk factors in a longitudinal design. Methods Employees of the City of Helsinki (Finland) who turned 40, 45, 50, 55, or 60 years old were invited to participate in a Phase 1 survey in 2000–2 with four follow-ups up to 2022. The five phases were divided into three observation periods with three time points. Using a Bayesian predictive approach with logistic regressions, we estimated the effect of social isolation (living alone, meeting friends/relatives, social support, marital status) at the first time point on the risk of CVD in the third time point, with and without mediation by five health behaviours and four metabolic risk factors reported at the second time point. Results Among 5 403 participants (81% women, mean 49 years old in Phase 1) contributing 10 175 observations, a total of 846 (18%) participants reported a CVD in Phases 3–5. The total effect of social isolation on the risk of CVD was 1.01 (risk ratio; 90% credible interval 0.77–1.29), and the mediated effect through all mediators jointly was minimal along with other indirect pathways. Social isolation was associated with physical inactivity (prevalence ratio [PR] 1.41, 1.24–1.58) and low fruit and vegetable consumption (PR 1.47, 1.22–1.74). Conclusion Both the total and mediated effects of social isolation on CVD risk were modest. Social isolation should be considered when aiming to improve physical activity or nutrition in older populations.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The emergence of a modern paradigm for urban health

  F1000Research · 2025-10-06

  articleOpen access

  <ns3:p>The importance of urban health in achieving population and planetary health goals is increasingly recognized. Cities offer important opportunities to improve health and wellbeing while also presenting significant challenges. As our understanding of, and evidence, for the importance of determinants of health beyond health care have grown, the need for urban health policies and actions that transcend disciplinary and sectoral boundaries and involve multiple stakeholders in urban decision-making has become clearer. Current urban health practice builds on decades of conceptual and operational work. This paper traces the evolution of the urban health paradigm through research, policy and practice in recent decades. We suggest that, despite the proven utility of urban health as a paradigm and its conceptual and practical evolution for effective urban health governance, significant challenges remain, especially related to implementing the systems approaches needed to improve health and wellbeing amidst the complexity of urban dynamics.</ns3:p>

  PublisherDOI

• The emergence of a modern paradigm for urban health

  F1000Research · 2024-09-02 · 4 citations

  preprintOpen accessCorresponding

  <ns3:p>The importance of urban health in achieving global and planetary health goals is increasingly recognized. Cities offer important opportunities to improve health while also presenting significant challenges. As our understanding of and evidence for the importance of determinants of health beyond health care have grown, the need for urban health policies and actions that transcend disciplinary and sectoral boundaries and involve multiple stakeholders in urban decision-making has become clearer. Current urban health practice builds on decades of conceptual and operational work. This paper traces the evolution of the urban health paradigm through research, policy and practice in recent decades. We suggest that, despite the proven utility of urban health as a paradigm and its conceptual and practical evolution for effective urban health governance, significant challenges remain, especially related to implementing the systems approaches needed to improve health amidst the complexity of urban dynamics.</ns3:p>

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Fostering capacity building and multidisciplinary urban health research in Latin America

  Cities & Health · 2023-01-02 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The IAP Young Physician Leaders (YPL) Program with Jo Ivey Boufford,M.D.

  2022-01-26

  datasetSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• A new whole-of-city strategy for addressing cardiovascular population health

  Cities & Health · 2021 · 15 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Business
  • Economic growth

  People in low- and middle-income countries experience heart disease at alarming rates. As urbanization accelerates, cities can drive innovative partnerships to improve prevention and management of heart disease, bringing government, business and civil society together. Through Better Hearts Better Cities, we pioneered a people-centered and multisector initiative, guided and owned by local city authorities, to address cardiovascular disease and its underlying causes within the context of rapid urbanization, reaching millions of people. Cities across the world can apply its strategy, consisting of six pillars named CARDIO, shorthand for Care, Access, policy Reform, Data and digital, Intersectoral collaboration and local Ownership.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• COVID-19, Cities and Health: A View from New York

  Urban health and wellbeing · 2021

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Sociology
  • Economic geography
  PublisherDOI

• COVID-19 reveals the systemic nature of urban health globally

  Cities & Health · 2020 · 14 citations

  • Political Science
  • Political Science
  • Medicine

  Statement by the scientific committee* of the International Science Council’s Programme on Urban Health and Wellbeing, on critical elements of urban health action in response to the epidemic.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• What Needs to Be Done on the Hospital Front

  2019-07-09

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  This chapter focuses on four major issues-— the burden of responsibility for care, the models of care, the effects on providers of care, and finally the economics of care. Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) is a major provider of health services in New York City, handling half of all ambulatory and emergency room visits, half of all inpatient psychiatric services, and a third of all inpatient drug detoxification services as well as about 10-15 percent of outpatient drug treatment slots in the city. Public hospitals, especially those located in urban areas, are leaders in confronting Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and increased drug abuse. HHC's patient population reflects this and tragic challenge. The tragedy of AIDS poses a particular set of challenges and problems for all hospital providers, public and private. The care for AIDS patients often requires the full resources of an acute care facility.

  PublisherDOI

• Harness Urban Complexity for Health and Well-Being

  Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2018-04-26 · 6 citations

  book-chapterOpen access

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Frequent coauthors

• Marc N. Gourevitch

  New York University

  12 shared

• Cynthia Summers

  Primary Care Development Corporation

  12 shared

• Thomas Cannell

  SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

  11 shared

• Susan Parnell

  EarthTech International (United States)

  8 shared

• Rose Marie Martinez

  National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

  7 shared

• Franz Gatzweiler

  Institute of Urban Environment

  7 shared

• Indira Nath

  Tamil Nadu Agricultural University

  4 shared

• Gergely Toldi

  Starship Children's Health

  4 shared

Awards & honors

• Honorary Doctorate of Science, Toledo University, Toledo, OH…
• Honorary Doctorate of Science, Pace University, New York, NY…
• Top 100 Most Influential Women, Crain's New York Business (2…
• Honorary Doctorate of Science, New York Medical College, Val…
• Honorary Doctorate of Science, State University of New York,…