Population Studies and Training Center

Chantel Pheiffer is an Assistant Professor in Urban Public Health at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her research investigates the ways in intersecting social identities—most recently gender and migration status—produce health inequalities for marginalized groups. Pheiffer employs longitudinal data and quantitative methods to study health outcomes such as hypertension, obesity, nutrition, and mental health. She has longstanding research collaborations in South Africa, working on the Migrant Health Follow-Up Study (MHFUS) alongside the PSTC’s Dr. Michael White. Her research has been published in Health & Place, Social Science & Medicine, Global Public Health, and BMC Public Health among others. Pheiffer holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Brown University (2022), an A.M in Global Development Policy from Boston University (2014), and a B.A. in Government from Smith College (2009). 

Selected Publications

Ginsburg, C., Myroniuk, T. W., Pheiffer, C. F., Moffett, B. D., & White, M. J. (2024). Internal migration and depressive symptoms: exploring selection and outcomes in a South African cohort. SSM-Mental Health, 6, 100330.

Pheiffer, C.F., McGarvey, S.T., Ginsburg, C. Harawa, S. White M.J., (2024) Dietary Patterns and their Socio-demographic Correlates in the context of Migration and Urbanization Demonstrate Nutrition Transitions in South Africa, Global Public Health, 19(1), p.2375541 

Ginsburg C., Collinson, M., Pheiffer C.F., F.Gómez-Olivé, X., Harawa S.; Ohene-Kwofie D.; McGarvey S.T., Foster A.D, Myroniuk T., Lurie M., Tollman, S.T., White M.J. (2024) Cohort Profile: Migrant Health Follow-Up Study (MHFUS) of internal migration in a South African rural origin population. International Journal of Epidemiology, 53(4) 

Pheiffer, C.F., McGarvey, S.T., Ginsburg, C, and White, M.J., (2023) Urban Residence and Elevated Blood Pressure Among Migrant Women in South Africa. Health and Place, 83, p.103071 

Ginsburg, C., Collinson, M. A., Gómez-Olivé, F. M., Harawa, Pheiffer, C. F., & White, M. J. (2022) The impact of COVID-19 on a cohort of origin residents and internal migrants from South Africa’s rural northeast Social Science & Medicine – Population Health, 17, p.101049

Pheiffer, C. F. (2021) Internal migration, urban living, and non-communicable disease risk in South Africa. Social Science & Medicine, 274, p.113785