Faculty Profile

headshot of A. Serdar Atav, PhD

A. Serdar Atav, PhD

Professor

Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences

Background

As a scholar, Serdar Atav's research is primarily focused on health promotion and disease prevention in the context of public health policy as it relates to vulnerable populations. His involvement with active health professionals informs him that the best practitioners not only respond to policy, but also help to shape policy and practices based on their insights derived from observed needs to achieve social justice. Atav offers his skills and expertise to transform such observations into meaningful research with the potential to change policy and practice.

An interest in the analysis and evaluation of public health policy has always been a part of Atav's academic career. As an undergraduate student, he helped build and analyze the first national health and education policy data set for Turkey. He focused on health policy during his doctoral work in the United States, further strengthening his research and quantitative analysis methods. This combination of interests led Atav to the diverse role he has now as a non-nurse faculty member and researcher at the Decker School of Nursing.

Atav's publications, presentations, grants, consulting efforts and other community-oriented projects reflect his focus on vulnerable populations and his strengths in policy, quantitative methods, evaluation and data analysis.

Education

  • PhD, political science, Binghamton University
  • MA, political science, Binghamton University
  • BA, political science and business administration, Bogaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey

Research Interests

  • Vulnerable populations
  • Opioid use and misuse
  • Medicaid
  • Affordable Care Act
  • Health applications of system dynamics modeling

Teaching Interests

  • Health policy
  • Global health
  • Research methods
  • Applied statistics

Awards

  • Best of Blue: CAAPI (Collaborative Appropriate Antibiotic Prescribing Initiative). Best Practices in Quality Improvement Partnerships. Awarded by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield (National)
  • Best of Blue: CAAPI (Collaborative Appropriate Antibiotic Prescribing Initiative) Special Jurors’ Award: Methodological Design. Awarded by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield (National)
  • Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2002-2003