About Anna Nelson, DrPH, MPH

Dr. Anna Nelson is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health at Loma Linda University, with decades of professional experience across the former Soviet Union, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the United States. Her work centers on health education, lifestyle medicine, and whole-person well-being within diverse cultural and institutional contexts.

Early in her career, Dr. Nelson participated and then led complex, community-based health education initiatives across the former Soviet Union, coordinating stakeholders, logistics, and multidisciplinary teams within diverse international settings. Building on this foundation, she later served as Associate Health Ministries Director for the Southern Union Conference in the Euro-Asia Division, where she supervised health education and humanitarian projects across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Her work in these regions included program oversight, capacity building, and support of community-based health initiatives, including lifestyle centers.

Dr. Nelson has also taught and supported academic programs in multiple international settings, including ten years of service with Loma Linda University programs in Saudi Arabia through the School of Allied Health Professions, where she contributed to instruction, academic records oversight, and program operations. Her international experience further includes professional engagement in Southeast Asia, primarily through presentations and educational workshops.

In her role as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Dr. Nelson provides academic leadership grounded in decades of experience spanning teaching, research, and applied public health work in international and U.S. settings.

Her scholarly and professional interests include traffic safety, child and adolescent health, health behavior change, and lifestyle management. Across her academic, research, and leadership roles, her work reflects a holistic approach to health that integrates physical, mental, social, and spiritual dimensions, consistent with Loma Linda University’s mission to “make man whole.”