We are pleased to welcome Elizabeth Diemer, PhD, as an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics.
Dr. Diemer is an epidemiologist with a strong research focus on psychiatric disorders, particularly in childhood. She specializes in causal inference methods, including instrumental variable approaches, to better evaluate the prevention and treatment of various health conditions, especially psychiatric disorders. Her research explores the influence of genetic and early-life factors on mental health, contributing valuable insights to the field.
With 17 coauthored publications—including 8 as first or senior author—her work has been featured in top methodologic and clinical journals, such as Epidemiology, JAMA Psychiatry, Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and European Journal of Epidemiology. Notably, her research has informed US Preventive Services Task Force recommendationson eating disorder screening.
Dr. Diemer earned her BA in Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis (2014), followed by an SM in Epidemiology (2017) from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a PhD in Epidemiology (2021) from Erasmus University Rotterdam. She continued at Harvard as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2021–2023) and later as a Research Associate (2023–present) in CAUSALab.
In her new faculty role, Dr. Diemer will serve as methodologic leader for applied clinical epidemiology studies in pediatric populations, particularly in pediatric and adolescent mental health—a key motivation for her joint recruitment with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). She will also teach causal inference methods to PhD in Epidemiology and Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology (MSCE) students and mentor students and postdocs.
With her expertise in causal inference and mental health epidemiology, Dr. Diemer brings valuable skills that will strengthen the missions of the DBEI, CHOP, and the Center for Causal Inference. Please join us in welcoming Dr. Diemer to our faculty!