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Ying-Ying Meng remembered as kind researcher who mentored public health scholars

Ying-Ying Meng, the former director of research at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, died April 11. She was 68. (Courtesy of Mike Fricano/UCLA Center for Health Policy Research)

By Reese Dahlgren

May 16, 2024 10:20 p.m.

Ying-Ying Meng, the former director of research at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, died April 11. She was 68.

Meng, who began working at the center in 2000, also served as a senior research scientist and the co-director of the CHPR’s Chronic Disease Program. Her work focused on a holistic analysis of inequities in health care and health care delivery, as well as collecting large-scale data to understand the effects of environments on chronic disease outcomes, said Ninez Ponce, the center’s current director, in an email to CHPR staff. Meng authored more than 100 publications and received honors for her work, including a World Health Organization Fellowship.

Meng grew up in Shanghai and studied English and literature at Fudan University before pursuing her master’s and doctoral degrees in health policy and administration from UC Berkeley, according to the CHPR. Meng is survived by her husband Guidong Xie and their two children.

She was a pioneer in researching the link between environmental exposures such as air pollution and health outcomes, said Susan Babey, a senior research scientist and Meng’s co-director of the Chronic Disease Program. The two of them collaborated frequently on research projects ranging from tobacco prevention to air pollution, she said.

“Ying-Ying was both very thoughtful but also very persistent,” Babey said. “If she really believed that something was the right way to approach a problem, then when there were challenges, she would try and come up with other ways to overcome those challenges. But she always did it in a very considerate and thoughtful way.”

The work Meng produced helped people understand terms such as health disparities and health equity, Ponce told the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research in a separate interview. Meng led many major grants at the center and conducted pivotal studies on subjects such as environmental health, air pollution, asthma, smoking behaviors and tobacco policies, Ponce added in the emailed statement.

A recent study led by Meng examined disparities in smoking behavior associated with California’s tobacco policies using data from the California Health Interview Survey, concluding that people living in areas with low neighborhood socioeconomic status benefited less from these policies. Yu Yu, a postdoctoral researcher who was mentored by Meng for three years, said the use of data from this survey was an important aspect of Meng’s research.

“Dr. Meng was a very great advocate for environmental health to CHIS data,” Yu said. “Before Dr. Meng, I don’t want to say nobody used it, but I think few people used it.”

Meng’s work bridged two important public health disciplines, which are environmental health and health care policy, said Nadereh Pourat – the associate director of the Center for Health Policy Research and the director of the Health Economics and Evaluation Research Program – in an emailed statement. Pourat added that Meng provided evidence about the impact of environmental pollution on health, which was key to promoting change and action.

Ponce said in the email to CHPR that in addition to being an excellent researcher, Meng supported not just coworkers but mentees in becoming public health scholars. Yu added that Meng was not only an advisor and mentor to her but also an inspiration.

“She also mentored and advised and guided me to personal growth, not just to finish the work,” Yu said.

Yu said Meng always supported her goals as a researcher by involving her in the decision-making process, adding that Meng was open-minded and also navigated challenges in a constructive and kind manner.

Many people whom Meng supervised spoke about how she was a caring and supportive mentor, Pourat added in an emailed statement.

“She was kind and friendly to everyone,” Pourat said in the statement. “She had a heart warming smile which put everyone at ease. She was also tenacious when it came to getting results and cared immensely about what she did.”

Babey said Meng’s welcoming personality and generous nature helped ease her own transition to work in public health, adding that Meng prioritized the learning of students and interns.

Babey said she remembers Meng as someone she could always count on and someone who looked after the well-being of everyone with whom she worked.

“I’m really thankful that I had the opportunity to work with her for so many years,” Babey said. “But I wish there could have been many more years.”

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