Shana Charles, PhD

Shana Charles, PhD, MPP, is an associate professor of public health at Cal State Fullerton, a nationally recognized expert on public policy, and a firm believer in promoting community health through good governance. She has more than 25 years of policy experience, from the White House to local community services agencies and in 2022 was elected to the Fullerton City Council.

Charles earned three degrees from UCLA and began working at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR) as a master’s student in 2000. She would later become the director of health insurance studies at the CHPR, co-authoring 20 years of State of Health Insurance in California reports, the flagship project that began under the leadership and mentorship of the late Dr. E. Richard Brown.

A faculty associate at the Center, Charles is currently the cost lead for the California Health Benefits Review Program (CHBRP) project, alongside Associate Center Director Nadereh Pourat, PhD.

"I think CHPR has greatly contributed to the nonpartisan support for public health that we see in California in our state government and has also empowered local governments and health departments throughout the state," says Charles. "Whenever I travel, the rest of the nation is envious of the incredible work that CHPR does to support our public health system. No other group of academics that I've ever worked with is so dedicated to improving public policy and providing real world practitioners with the data they need to make informed, evidence-based decisions."

Recently, her work has focused on examining public health messaging influencing elected officials, racial and ethnic group disparities in health insurance, impacts of health insurance benefit mandates, and discontinuity in coverage and health care among public university students.