Biplab Datta, PhD 
Assistant Professor, Institute of Public and Preventive Health and in the Department of Population Health Sciences | Augusta University
Augusta, GA, UNITED STATES
Dr. Datta’s research explores the niche areas in the junction of public health and economics.
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Biography
Dr. Biplab Datta joined Augusta University in 2020 as Assistant Professor in the Institute of Public and Preventive Health and in the Department of Population Health Sciences. He also has a joint appointment in the Hull College of Business. Prior to joining Augusta University he served as a Prevention Effectiveness Fellow Economist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Dr. Datta’s research explores the niche areas in the junction of public health and economics. His works broadly cover the socioeconomic, demographic, and behavioral determinants and risk factors of non-communicable diseases (NCDs); the socioeconomic burden of NCD health conditions and associated treatment costs; access and affordability of NCD-related healthcare; and health system preparedness for managing NCDs.
He has a particular interest in investigating the impacts of certain disease conditions on individual/household’s economic decision-making. His research generates evidence on how NCD treatment costs are associated with household resource allocation, consumption displacements, poverty and impoverishment. His works also examine disparities in health risks such as tobacco use and the heterogeneous impact of health policies across socioeconomic groups. He has a special interest in investigating the role of psychosocial factors such as household environment and life course events such as adolescent childbearing in hypertension and other disease outcomes. The far-reaching goals of his research are to facilitate strategic interventions for NCD prevention and control, and strengthening the health systems for effective management of both infectious and non-infectious diseases.
Areas of Expertise (6)
Global Health
Health Economics
Non-Communicable Diseases
Healthcare Financing
Socioeconomic Determinants of Health
Health Disparity
Accomplishments (8)
Student Fellow of the Public Choice Society
2016
E.D. (Jack) Dunn Fellowship, Georgia State University
2016
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Fellowship
2015, 2016
The Quantitative Economics Award, Georgia State University
2015
Honor of Excellence, Notre Dame Abritti Dal (Recitation Club)
2009
GRA Outstanding Award, Georgia State University
2014, 2015
Award of Honor, Department of Economics, University of Dhaka
2008
Best Budding Economist of South Asia, 5th South Asian Economics Students’ Meet
2008
Education (4)
Georgia State University: Ph.D., Economics 2017
Simon Fraser University: M.A, Economics 2011
University of Dhaka: M.S.S., Economics 2009
University of Dhaka: B.S.S., Economics 2008
Links (3)
Media Appearances (7)
It’s Time to Treat Housing Insecurity as a Health Risk
Wired UK online
2022-10-07
So it’s not one factor alone that likely contributes to cancer disparities, but rather the joint impact of race, ethnicity, housing, and other different factors acting together, argues Biplab Datta, assistant professor at the Institute of Public and Preventive Health at Augusta University. A potential solution is identifying populations that are at greater risk from cancer, he says, and if housing insecurity is higher among a population or location, then critical improvements—such as improving cancer screening and quality of care, and reducing stress—should be pursued in those places, through policy.
Cost of cancer treatment can impact health of survivors
Yahoo! online
2022-09-15
“When you have catastrophic financial consequences from fighting cancer, what do you do? You cut back,” says Dr. Biplab Datta, an author on the study and health economist at the Augusta University Institute of Public and Preventive Health in a press release. “You don’t shop at the local grocery store. You don’t go to local restaurants. You cannot spend your money in the community, which also impacts other people living in the community. It’s a domino effect.”
New study shows child marriage could cause long-term hypertension
JAGWire online
2022-08-11
“The finding that child marriage is a risk factor for hypertension later in life adds to the long list of reasons why we need to prevent these marriages from happening,” said Datta. “Furthermore, those who already were married at a young age are in need of standard hypertension care.
One on One with Richard Rogers | How healthy are we?
WRDW tv
2023-02-05
Let’s get real- just how healthy are we? A new report, Healthy Georgia, says where you live can make a difference. Dr. Biplab Datta talks one on one with Richard Rogers to break it down for us.
FOX54 Mornings: Augusta University releases Healthy Georgia report
WFXG tv
2023-02-06
Augusta University released its annual Healthy Georgia report. It is a one-of-a-kind report in the state of Georgia and it shows how Georgia ranks in the southeast and the entire United States when it comes to health issues. The report looks at issues from smoking to obesity and high cholesterol. The report will end up in the hands of state legislators to help them potentially direct funding and resources to certain areas.
The Means Report
WJBF tv
2023-02-19
Dr. Biblop Datta joins us to talk about the Healthy Georgia Report. Researchers at Augusta University’s Institute of Public and Preventive Health compile the annual assessment. Dr. Datta discusses how Georgia compares to other parts of the country in several health categories. Please watch this interview, then join us for The Means Report. We are on Monday afternoons at 12:30 on WJBF NewsChannel 6.
New health research at Augusta University aims impact Georgia public health
WJBF tv
2023-02-22
New health research shows Georgians are doing well compared to the rest of the southeast and in the nation in some areas. There are also areas where improvements can be made. For the second year in a row, Augusta University has published Healthy Georgia- an extensive report on the state of Georgia’s public health. Dr. Biplab Datta, assistant professor at Augusta University’s Institute of Public and Preventative Health, tells us that one major finding is that urban populations and younger Georgians aged 18-49 are showing higher rates of cardiovascular diseases.
Articles (4)
Early Marriage in Adolescence and Risk of High Blood Pressure and High Blood Glucose in Adulthood: Evidence from India
Women2022 Adolescence, the transition phase to adulthood, is a critical period for physical and psychological development. Disruptions during this period, such as getting married, could result in various adverse short- and long-term health outcomes. This study aimed to assess the differential risk of two common chronic conditions—high blood pressure and high blood glucose—in adult women (20–49 years) who were married during different stages of adolescence (10–19 years) compared to women who were married in their youth (20–24 years). Using the most recent nationally representative data from India, we separately assessed the odds in favor of having the two chronic conditions for women who were married during early (10–14 years), middle (15–17 years), and late (18–19 years) adolescence. We found that an earlier age at marriage during adolescence was associated with a higher risk of chronic conditions later in life. Women who were married during early adolescence were respectively 1.29 and 1.23 times more likely (p < 0.001) to have high blood pressure and high blood glucose compared to women who were married in their youth. These findings highlight the importance of preventing underage marriage among adolescent females to address the risk of downstream chronic health consequences as adults.
The risk of hypertension among child brides and adolescent mothers at age 20 s, 30 s, and 40 s: Evidence from India
Journal of Human Hypertension2022 Hypertension in reproductive age women, particularly in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs) is an area that is less explored. This study assesses the risk of hypertension in relation to two critical women’s health issues in the LMICs – child marriage and adolescent childbearing. The health consequences of these issues have been primarily studied in the context of reproductive health. There is a dearth of evidence on the long-term health outcomes associated with these early life events. The current study, by linking child marriage and adolescent motherhood with hypertension in young adult and early middle-aged women, is commensurate with the body of literature that examines the link between potentially early adversity and later life risk of chronic health outcomes. Using the most recent data on 582,358 women aged 20 to 49 years from India, this study examined whether child brides and adolescent mothers at age 20 s, 30 s, and 40 s had a higher risk of having hypertension compared to women who were not married before age 18 years or did not give birth by age 19 years in respective age groups. Estimating multivariable logistic regressions, we found that child brides and adolescent mothers were about 1.2 times more likely to have hypertension later in life. The elevated risk of hypertension among child brides and adolescent mothers were evident at every age group. These results were robust after controlling for various sociodemographic, anthropometric, and behavioral characteristics as well as across urban and rural, and poor and non-poor subgroups.
Stolen childhood taking a toll at young adulthood: The higher risk of high blood pressure and high blood glucose comorbidity among child brides
PLOS Global Public Health2022 Despite notable progress being made in preventing child marriage, a significant proportion of women worldwide are still married before reaching adulthood. Though many aspects of child marriage have been widely studied, little is known on the later life health outcomes of child brides, let alone the critical need for healthcare during adulthood. This paper examines whether child brides at a young adult age bear a greater risk of high blood pressure (HBP) and high blood glucose (HBG) comorbidity than those who were married as adults. Using nationally representative data from India, we categorized married young adult (aged 20-34 years) women in four categories: neither HBP nor HBG, HBP only, HBG only, and both HBP and HBG. We estimated multinomial logistic regressions to obtain unadjusted and adjusted relative risk ratios in favor of these mutually exclusive outcomes for the child marriage indicator. Around 0.5% of the women in our sample had high blood pressure and high blood glucose comorbidity. While the prevalence of comorbidity was 0.4% among women who were married as adults, comorbidity was 40% higher (p < 0.000) among women who were married as children. The relative risk of the comorbidity among child brides was 1.4 (95%CI: 1.2–1.7) times that of their peers who were not married as children. The findings, thus, suggest that child brides at young adult age are at greater risk of having high blood pressure and high blood glucose comorbidity. Concerted public health efforts, therefore, are necessary to improve their long-term health and wellbeing.
Inequities in routine preventive care utilization among persons with overweight/obesity in the United States: An analysis of nativity, racial and ethnic identity, and socioeconomic status
Science DirectBiplab Kumar Datta, Stephen S. Coughlin, Ben Majeed
2023-03-13
Extant literature documented various health disparities among immigrants and racial and ethnically marginalized individuals in the United States. However, health disparities in the intersection of nativity and race are generally less visited. This cross-sectional study assessed utilization of routine preventive care among adults with overweight/obesity at the junction of their nativity, racial/ethnic identity, and socioeconomic status (i.e., income and education). Pooling data on 120,184 adults with overweight/obesity from the 2013–2018 waves of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), we estimated modified Poisson regressions with robust standard errors to obtain adjusted prevalence rates of preventive care visit, receiving flu shot, and having blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose screened. We found that immigrant adults with overweight/obesity had lower rates of utilization of all five preventive care services. However, these patterns varied by racial and ethnic sub-populations. While White immigrants had comparable rates of cholesterol and blood glucose screening, they had 2.7%, 2.9%, and 14.5% lower rates of preventive care visit, blood pressure screening, and getting a flu shot respectively, compared to native-born Whites. These patterns were similar for Asian immigrants as well. Black immigrants, on the other hand, had comparable rates of getting a flu shot and blood glucose screening, and had 5.2%, 4.9%, and 4.9% lower rates of preventive care visit, blood pressure screening, and cholesterol screening respectively. Lastly, the rates of utilization among Hispanic immigrants were significantly lower (ranging from 9.2% to 20%) than those of their native-born counterparts for all five preventive care services. These rates further varied by education, income, and length of stay in the US, within the racial and ethnic sub-groups. Our findings thus suggest a complex relationship between nativity and racial/ethnic identity in relation to preventive care utilization among adults with overweight/obesity.
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