Michael Desjardins, MA, PhD

Dr. Desjardins is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH). He also holds a joint appointment in the Department of Oncology in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where he also serves as the Assistant Director of Data Science for Community Outreach and Engagement in the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Desjardins is a core faculty member in the Spatial Science for Public Health Center, the Center for Gun Violence Solutions, and the Drug Dependence and Epidemiology Training Program (DDET). He is a formally trained spatial epidemiologist and geographic information scientist with vast experience and expertise in spatial modeling, spatial statistics, mixed-methods, and geovisualization. Dr. Desjardins has published 60 peer-reviewed articles, mainly focusing on cancer epidemiology, injury prevention, retrospective and prospective analyses of infectious disease (e.g., dengue, STIs, cholera, and COVID-19), mixed-method approaches, spatial methods development, and addressing uncertainty in geospatial health studies. His research in cancer (colorectal, breast, and gynecologic), injury prevention, and disease surveillance is centered around his commitment to reducing health disparities and improving access to supportive resources that foster well-being. Dr. Desjardins is particularly driven to examine the ways that neighborhood environments and local activity spaces shape opportunities for healthy behaviors, influence exposure to health risks, and contribute to differences in health outcomes. Through this work, he strives to generate evidence that informs strategies improving resource distribution and the development of healthier communities, especially for those who have been historically underserved.

Dr. Desjardins is the former chair of the Health and Medical Geography Specialty Group (HMGSG) of the American Association of Geographers (AAG), Special Issues Editor for Health & Place, guest editor of the Journal of Maps’ Special Issue on visualizing health data, and Health & Place's Special issue on longitudinal analysis in geospatial health. He currently is an editorial board member for Health & Place, and Cartography and Geographic Information Science. He was awarded the 2026 Emerging Scholar in Health and Medical Geography from the American Association of Geographers. Dr. Desjardins is an organizing committee member for the 2024 and 2026 International Medical Geography Symposium, the United States representative for the International Geographical Union's Commission on Health and Environment, co-instructor of four courses in the spatial analysis for public health core at Hopkins, and has given over 45 invited lectures about his research. Dr. Desjardins' research has been funded by a variety of internal and external research grants (e.g., NIH, NSF, Maryland Department of Health), Finally, he has co-advised three PhD students and a postdoctoral fellow, advised over 15 master's students, and has served on numerous doctoral dissertation committees.

The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center

Spatial Science for Public Health Center

Center for Gun Violence Solutions

Center for Injury Research and Policy

Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Data Analysis Center (DAC)

Spatial Science for Public Health Center