Assistant Professor

Bio

Dr. Ludmilla Scott teaches Public Health and Environmental Policy courses within the Department of Health Sciences and the Department of Environmental Sciences and Sustainability. She also supervises the recently established Environmental Policy Student Club, Green Action. Dr. Scott is actively engaged in Health Literacy and Health Care Utilization research to identify needs and strategies for improving health outcomes and decreasing health care cost.

Prior to joining ZU, Dr. Scott spent over 20 years working in public health policy to include time on working in the U.S. House of Representatives. During this time she also had the opportunity to work on the Senatorial and Presidential campaigns of President Barack Obama, while working for Congressman John Conyers, Jr. Dr. Scott also served as Commissioner for the Governor of Maryland. She has trained more than 100 community-based organizations throughout the United States on Leadership in Public Health, Government Policy, Program Development and Collaboration. She is actively involved in 'health literacy' and 'tobacco use' research in the UAE and contributes public health related topics for The National, a local newspaper in the UAE.

Office

Abu Dhabi - Khalifa City, FF1-1-013

Phone:

+971-2-599 3830

Email:

Teaching Areas

Epidemiology
Research Methods
Environmental Health
Environmental Policy & Economics

Research and Professional Activities

Affiliations and Collaborations

Collaboration - with Dr. Heba Barazi on Grant Award from NYU Abu Dhabi to support Tobacco Control research

Affiliations

• Member, American Public Health Association, 2002 - present
• UAE Tobacco Control Research Consortium, NYU Abu Dhabi Public Health Research Center, 2014 – present
• Founder/President, Public Health Alumni Chapter 2011-2013
• Lifetime Member, Morgan State University National Alumni Association, 2004 - present
• Member, International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth, 2010 -2011

Honors and Awards

• Appointed Commissioner, Governor’s Commission on Caribbean Affairs, Annapolis, MD 2012 - present
• Alumni of the Year, Public Health Program, Morgan State University, 2012
• President’s Appreciation Award, Morgan State University 2012

My Research Focus:

Zayed University Research 2016 – present

Health Literacy & Health Care Utilization: Prevention strategies have been designed using many behavioral models, health education and health promotion campaigns as well as social marketing in the era of technology. Increasingly, young adults in the UAE are able to access information online, and at the same pace access any type of food without an understanding of potential risk to health. The burden on health care may partially be addressed through a better understanding of health literacy needs and practices where chronic disease is prevalent and a heavy focus is placed on dietary practices as a determinant of lifestyle diseases

There is little evidence that UAE consumers understand food content adequately enough to create significant behavior change among this population. As a young nation, with a rising population of educated young adults, tools to prevent and decrease the onset of disease are imperative to achieving a healthy nation. An effective HL tool, that considers social and cultural aspects that may influence one’s perception of HL, may be of great significance in developing school- and non-school-based health promotion for the UAE. Such a tool may be used to develop initiatives focused on behavior change, and prevention strategies, both personal and program-based.

NYU-Abu Dhabi - Tobacco Control 2014 - present: Current research with Dr. Heba Barazi and collaborators at New York University Abu Dhabi focuses on the behavioral determinants of tobacco use among college students. Tobacco use continues to be the leading global cause of preventable death. It usually starts in adolescence and progresses to full dependence in about one in three who starts the habit at this age. Understanding risk factors and attitudes towards smoking will help tailor prevention approaches. We are investigating attitudes, risk and protective factors and prevalence of smoking among Emirates and evaluating the specific cultural and religious factors that underlie the problem. This knowledge base will contribute to the implementation of tailored prevention approaches to this group

Selected Publications 

• Wikkeling-Scott, L., Ajja, R. & Rikard, R. V. (2018). Health literacy research in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: an integrative review. International Journal of Public Health (IJPH-D-18-00145R1)

• Wikkeling-Scott, L. (2011). The Influence of Mother-Child Communication and Maternal Monitoring on Adolescent Sexual Behavior in African American High School Students. Morgan State University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 3461604.