Dawn M. Holman, MPH

Dawn M. Holman, MPH

Dawn M. Holman, MPH, is a behavioral scientist in the Epidemiology and Applied Research Branch of CDC’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control. Her work is focused on opportunities to reduce cancer risk through community-level strategies that make it easier for people to adopt healthy behaviors and reduce harmful exposures at every stage of life.

Ms. Holman leads a collaboration with the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors to develop resources that empower public health practitioners and community leaders to implement evidence-based strategies to reduce cancer risk in their communities and address health inequities. She also leads efforts to develop communication materials that explain how social determinants of health influence cancer risk and highlight opportunities for action to advance health equity.

Ms. Holman leads the Division’s skin cancer prevention efforts, including use of national data to examine sun-protective behaviors, indoor and outdoor tanning, and sunburn among U.S. adolescents and adults and trends over time in the incidence of skin cancer. She led the development of CDC’s Melanoma Dashboard, annual Skin Cancer Prevention Progress Reports, and other skin cancer prevention resources. In addition, Ms. Holman served as a lead writer for the Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent Skin Cancer and as a member of the coordination team for The Community Guide review of community-level interventions to prevent skin cancer.

Ms. Holman completed her undergraduate education at the University of Georgia with a bachelor of science and earned her master of public health from Emory University. Before coming to CDC, Ms. Holman worked at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University as the project coordinator of the Pool Cool program, a research-based, sun-safety education program designed for use at outdoor swimming pools.

Recent articles Ms. Holman has first-authored include—

Ms. Holman has led the production of five supplemental journal issues—

Ms. Holman offers her perspective in the blog post, The Bright Side of Going Dark.