Dr. David Allison is a prominent leader in public health research and academic administration, currently serving as Dean, Distinguished Professor, and Provost Professor at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington. He earned his PhD in Psychology from Hofstra University in 1990 and completed post-doctoral training at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Columbia University. Prior to his appointment at Indiana University in 2017, he held distinguished positions at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he served as Director of the NIH-funded Nutrition Obesity Research Center. His career demonstrates a consistent commitment to advancing scientific understanding while building institutional frameworks that support rigorous interdisciplinary research and scholarly excellence.
Dr. Allison has authored more than 660 scientific publications spanning psychology, physiology, epidemiology, statistical methods, clinical trials, and policy analysis, with particular expertise in obesity research and energetics. His scholarly contributions extend to promoting scientific integrity, rigor, reproducibility, transparency, and trustworthiness across research disciplines, recognizing these as foundational to evidence-based public health advancement. He conceived the influential book 'It's About Knowing,' which emphasizes evidence-based knowledge over conjecture as the path to meaningful scientific progress. His work has been recognized by Nature as among the most NIH-funded research globally, with significant impact on how scientists approach methodological rigor and interdisciplinary collaboration.
As an institutional leader, Dr. Allison has transformed the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington from its nascent form into a nationally competitive, established institution through strategic vision and collaborative leadership. His election to the National Academy of Medicine underscores the profound impact of his scholarly contributions, while his Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Mentoring highlights his exceptional commitment to developing future researchers. Dr. Allison champions interdisciplinary approaches to complex health challenges, advocating for academic structures that transcend traditional departmental boundaries to foster innovative thinking. His ongoing work continues to shape both the scientific understanding of obesity and the institutional frameworks that support rigorous, impactful public health research worldwide.
