Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Director of the Doctoral Program in Epidemiology

Overview

William C. Goedel, PhD [he/him] is an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health. He is a social epidemiologist, with significant methodological expertise in the use of geographic information systems (GIS) to guide public health practice. His research uses spatial analytical techniques to quantify the burden of many of the United States’ most pressing public health challenges across neighborhoods to identify areas that are overburdened and underserved. This applied research is often conducted in close collaboration with the Rhode Island Department of Health, covering a range of conditions, including asthma, cancer, COVID-19, drug overdose, and vaccine-preventable diseases. From 2021 to 2025, he was the primary academic partner for the Rhode Island Department of Health’s efforts as part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Initiative to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities Among Populations at High-Risk and Underserved. As a faculty affiliate at the Pandemic Center, he leads efforts to increase capacities for data-driven decision-making among staff at local health departments and their community partners.

Dr. Goedel also leads a program of research in historical epidemiology, which aims to leverage archival records to shed new light on public health challenges of the past 200 years. Current work supported by a seed award from the Office of the Vice President of Research is examining the epidemiology to the Great Influenza Epidemic (1918–1920) in Providence, Rhode Island. He is the inaugural recipient of the Faculty Fellowship in University History at the John Nicholas Brown Center for Advanced Study, where he is researching the origins and development of public health education at Brown University.

He currently teaches “Epidemiology of Hope: Historical Perspectives on Public Health in the Ocean State” (PHP 0080), “Fundamentals of Epidemiology” (PHP 0850), and “Foundations of Spatial Analysis in Public Health” (PHP 2015). As a scholar of teaching and learning, Dr. Goedel is interested in the implementation and evaluation of graduate admissions review processes and novel grading systems that value both a learner’s accomplishments to date and their potential for growth over time regardless of their background. He also serves as the director of the doctoral program in epidemiology. He was the recipient of the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching in Public Health in May 2024. He is the co-editor of the upcoming seventh edition of Friis and Sellers’ Epidemiology for Public Health Practice.

He received his undergraduate degree with a joint major in global public health and sociology from New York University’s College of Global Public Health in 2017 and his doctoral degree in epidemiology from Brown University’s School of Public Health in 2020.

Brown Affiliations

Research Areas

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