Dr. Kristen Peek is Senior Vice President and the Founding Dean of the School of Public and Population Health at the University of Texas Medical Branch.
A sociologist and social epidemiologist by training, Dr. Peek has built a distinguished career at the intersection of research, education, and institutional leadership, with a sustained commitment to advancing population health and strengthening the health of communities across Texas and beyond.
Dr. Peek’s research focuses on the social and environmental drivers of health, with particular emphasis on stress, aging, and patterns of health across underserved populations. Her work has advanced understanding of how social relationships, lived environments, and broader contextual factors shape health outcomes over the life course. A long-standing NIH-funded investigator with more than two decades of continuous support, she has led and contributed to major studies examining aging, stress-related biological processes, and the influence of environment and community on health.
In addition to her research, Dr. Peek is a nationally recognized educator and academic leader with extensive experience in mentoring and training the next generation of scientists and clinicians. She has held multiple senior leadership roles at UTMB across three schools, including Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Director of the MD/PhD Combined Degree Program in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, as well as interim Chair Department of Preventive Medicine and Population Health in the John Sealy School of Medicine. In 2023, she founded UTMB’s fifth school - the School of Public and Population Health.
She is the recipient of numerous honors, including the University of Texas System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, and has been recognized with endowed academic chairs for her contributions to education and research. Her leadership reflects a deep commitment to building academic programs, advancing research excellence, and developing a highly skilled public health workforce in the State of Texas and beyond.
Affiliations
- UTMB Sealy Center on Aging
- Gerontological Society of America
- Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin
- International Association for Population Health Sciences
- Association for Prevention Teaching and Research
- Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health
- Journal of Aging and Health
- Journal of Applied Gerontology