BU Named Editorial Home of Flagship Medical Sociology Journal
Journal of Health and Social Behavior (JHSB), the flagship medical sociology journal of the American Sociological Association, will be edited by a team of Boston University and Boston-area social scientists for a three-year term (2023-25). Deborah Carr, professor of sociology and director of the Center for Innovation in Social Science, was appointed editor-in-chief by ASA in March 2022. Her editorial team will include deputy editors: Neha Gondal, Joseph Harris, and Andrew Stokes from Boston University, Wen Fan and Sara Moorman from Boston College, and Tiffany Joseph, from Northeastern University. The deputy editors (DEs) will work with the editor-in-chief in guiding the content and direction of the journal.
The editorial team brings methodological and substantive expertise reflecting the core of medical sociology, and related subfields. Deborah Carr uses longitudinal survey data to understand social influences on health and well-being over the life course, with an emphasis on stressors including bereavement, economic adversity, and stigma.
Neha Gondal (CISS affiliate, Department of Sociology, and Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences) uses cutting-edge social network methods to understand health and health behaviors, including the spread of COVID-19 and the diffusion of health behavior. Dr. Gondal will serve as DE on manuscripts employing network and data science approaches.
Joseph Harris (CISS affiliate, Department of Sociology and Global Development Policy Center) is a prominent scholar of global health and health policy, and Vice Chair of the International Studies Association’s Global Health Section. He is author of the book Achieving Access: Professional Movements and the Politics of Health Universalism. Dr. Harris will serve as DE on manuscripts focused on global health, health care systems, and professions.
Andrew Stokes (CISS affiliate, School of Public Health and Department of Sociology) is a prolific scholar who applies demographic techniques to population health, focusing on social determinants of health over the life course. Dr. Stokes will focus on manuscripts using quantitative approaches to examine social factors in health, one of the largest areas of JHSB submissions.
The team also includes outstanding scholars from neighboring schools Boston College and Northeastern University. Drs. Fan, Joseph, and Moorman are regular participants and presenters at the Boston-Area Health Scholars group coordinated by Carr. The group brings together medical sociologists from the greater Boston area for research and professional development workshops.
Wen Fan (Department of Sociology, Boston College) is a leading scholar of work-family intersections and health, and the impacts of macrosocial conditions on health in the U.S., and China. Dr. Fan will serve as DE on manuscripts focused on work-family and macrosocial influences on health, and quantitative approaches to global health.
Tiffany Joseph (Department of Sociology and Institute for Health Equity and Social Justice Research, Northeastern University) is recognized for her qualitative work exploring health disparities, and how public policies exacerbate health disadvantages for immigrant and minoritized populations. Dr. Joseph will serve as DE on manuscripts using qualitative methods and focused on social determinants of health and U.S. health policy.
Sara Moorman
(Department of Sociology, Boston College) is a distinguished scholar of aging and the life course who has published widely on death and dying, and early-life influences on adulthood health with a focus on cognitive health and dementia. She is the author of the 2020 book Dying in Old Age. Dr. Moorman will serve as DE on manuscripts focused on cognitive health, early life influences, and dyadic approaches.
The editorial team will be supported by editorial assistant Meghann Lucy (CISS graduate affiliate and PhD candidate in sociology). Meghann is a medical sociologist whose research focuses on hoarding disorder. She has extensive experience teaching undergraduate medical sociology courses. Before starting graduate school at BU, she worked as an editor at the medical news service of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation.
The JHSB editorial board, whose members review manuscripts regularly for the journal, includes Jessica Simes (Boston University), Jason Rodriquez (University of Massachusetts-Boston), and Siri Suh (Brandeis University). Dr. Simes (CISS affiliate and Sociology) is an expert in crime and incarceration, and their implications for health. She is the author of the award-winning book Punishing Places: The Geography of Mass Imprisonment. Dr. Rodriquez is an expert on qualitative methods and long-term care, and Dr. Suh researches global maternal and reproductive health.
JHSB is a quarterly medical sociology journal that publishes empirical and theoretical articles that apply sociological concepts and methods to the understanding of health and illness and the organization of medicine and health care. The journal had a 10% acceptance rate in 2021, and a 5.179 impact factor (five year impact: 5.633). Authors should submit their work here, and should reach out to jhsb@bu.edu to volunteer as a peer reviewer.
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