Division of General Internal Medicine

Education:
B.S. (Biomedical Sciences, Philosophy)
University of Michigan, 1991.
M.D. (Medicine)
University of Michigan Medical School, 1994.
M.A. (Sociology)
University of Chicago, 2000.
Ph.D. (Sociology)
University of Chicago, 2003.

Post-Graduate Training
Intern in Medicine, University of Chicago, 1994-1995.
Resident in Medicine, University of Chicago, 1995-1997.
Fellow, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, University of Chicago, 1997-1999.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, 1999-2001.

Certifications
American Board of Internal Medicine (recertified, 2007), 1997.

Permanent link

> School of Medicine > Faculty > Details

Description of Research Expertise

Medical Sociology
Social Stratification
Social Epidemiology
Health Services Research

Dr. Chang's research integrates perspectives from medicine, sociology, and epidemiology to study relationships between health and various aspects of socio-cultural life. Much of her research has focused on obesity, engaging topics such as historical shifts in the medical conceptualization of obesity; the role of health in class stratification; secular trends in the relationship between obesity and poverty; and the relationship between weight status and key features of the residential environment (e.g., racial segregation, income inequality, and neighborhood disorder). Current work examines the reciprocal relationship between weight status and SES over the life cycle; how obesity and poverty cycle across generations; and the influence of weight status on the quality of medical care.

Dr. Chang is the recipient of a Career Development Award from the NIH / NICHD, a Measy Foundation Award, a New Investigator Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and a Physician Faculty Scholars Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She is also Principal Investigator of an R01 from the NIH / NHLBI and a Merit Award from the Veterans Health Administration. In 2008, Dr. Chang received the Award for Outstanding Junior Investigator of the Year from the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM).

Selected Publications

Alley, Dawn E. and Virginia W. Chang: Metabolic Syndrome and Weight Gain in Adulthood. Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences (in press).

Mehta, Neil K. and Virginia W. Chang: Mortality Attributable to Obesity among Middle-Aged Adults in the United States. Demography (in press).

Chang, Virginia W., Amy E. Hillier, and Neil K. Mehta: Neighborhood Racial Isolation, Disorder, and Obesity. Social Forces 87(4): 2063-2092, 2009.

Myrskylä, Mikko and Virginia W. Chang: Weight Change, Initial BMI, and Mortality Among Middle- and Older-Aged Adults. Epidemiology 20(6): 840-848, 2009.

Chang, Virginia W. and Diane S. Lauderdale: Fundamental Cause Theory, Technological Innovation, and Health Disparities: The Case of Cholesterol in the Era of Statins. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 50(3): 245-260, 2009.

Chang, Virginia W.: Affect and Heart Disease. British Medical Journal 337(7660): a177, 2008 Notes: Invited Editorial.

Krueger, Patrick M. and Virginia W. Chang: Being Poor and Coping with Stress: Health Behaviors and the Risk of Death. American Journal of Public Health 98(5): 889-896, 2008.

Mehta, Neil K. and Virginia W. Chang: Weight Status and Restaurant Availability: A Multilevel Analysis. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 34(2): 127-133, 2008.

Werner, Rachel M. and Virginia W. Chang: The Impact of Clinical Complexity on Measured Performance and Satisfaction with Care. Journal of General Internal Medicine 23(11): 1729-1735, 2008.

Alley, Dawn E. and Virginia W. Chang: The Changing Relationship of Obesity and Disability, 1988-2004. JAMA 298(17): 2020-2027, 2007.

Doshi, Jalpa A., Daniel Polsky, and Virginia W. Chang: Prevalence and Trends in Obesity among Aged and Disabled U.S. Medicare Beneficiaries, 1997-2002. Health Affairs 26(4): 1111-1117, 2007.

Meich, Richard A., Shiriki K. Kumanyika, Nicolas Stettler, Bruce G. Link, Jo C. Phlelan, and Virginia W. Chang: Trends in the Association of Poverty with Overweight among U.S. Adolescents, 1971-2004. JAMA 295(20): 2385-2393, 2006.

Chang, Virginia W.: Racial Residential Segregation and Weight Status among U.S. Adults. Social Science & Medicine 63(5): 1289-1303, 2006.

Chang, Virginia W. and Diane S. Lauderdale: Income Disparities in Body Mass Index and Obesity in the United States, 1971-2002. Archives of Internal Medicine 165(18): 2122-2128, 2005.

Chang, Virginia W.: Conceiving Risk, Bearing Responsibility: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome & the Diagnosis of Moral Disorder. American Journal of Sociology 110(5): 1513-1515, 2005 Notes: Invited Book Review.

Chang, Virginia W. and Nicholas A. Christakis: Income Inequality and Weight Status in U.S. Metropolitan Areas. Social Science & Medicine 61(1): 83-96, 2005.

Long, Judith A., Virginia W. Chang, Said A. Ibrahim, and David A. Asch: Update on the Health Disparities Literature. Annals of Internal Medicine 141(10): 805-812, 2004.

Chang, Virginia W. and Nicholas A. Christakis: Self-perception of Weight Appropriateness in the U.S. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 24(4): 332-339, 2003.

Chang, Virginia W. and Nicholas A. Christakis: Medical Modeling of Obesity: A Transition from Action to Experience in a 20th Century American Medical Textbook. Sociology of Health & Illness 24(2): 151-177, 2002.

Iwashyna, Theodore J. and Virginia W. Chang: Racial and Ethnic Differences in Place of Death: United States, 1993. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 50(6): 1113-1117, 2002.

Iwashyna, Theodore J., Virginia W. Chang, James X. Zhang, and Nicholas A. Christakis: The Lack of Effect of Market Structure on Hospice Use. Health Services Research 37(6): 1531-1551, 2002.

Chang, Virginia W. and Nicholas A. Christakis: Extent and Determinants of Discrepancy between Self-Evaluations of Weight Status and Clinical Standards. Journal of General Internal Medicine 16(8): 538-543, 2001.