Biography

Dr. Eduardo J. Gómez is an Associate Professor in the College of Health at Lehigh University. A political scientist by training, his research focuses on the politics of global health policy reform. His first book, Contested Epidemics: Policy Response in Brazil and the U.S. and what the BRICS Can Learn, was published with Imperial College Press in 2015. Dr. Gómez published his second book, Geopolitics in Health: Confronting Obesity, AIDS, and Tuberculosis in the Emerging BRICS Economies, with Johns Hopkins University press in 2018.

Dr. Gómez is currently under contract with Johns Hopkins University press to complete a new book, tentatively titled Junk Food Politics, that explains the political, social, and regulatory policy influence of junk food industries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa.

His research has been funded by the Rockefeller, George Soros, and Tinker Foundations, as well as King’s College London, Rutgers, and Brown University. Dr. Gómez’s research has appeared in a myriad of scholarly peer-reviewed journals, policy journals, and magazines. Dr. Gómez is also a frequent contributor to major media outlets, such as CNN and BBC, on topics ranging from global health to US-Latin American relations.

Prior to joining the faculty at Lehigh University, Dr. Gómez was an Associate Professor at King’s College London, an Assistant Professor at Rutgers University, and prior to that, a pre-doctoral researcher in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard School of Public Health. He has previously worked for Oxfam, the RAND Corporation, World Bank, IMF, George Soros Foundation, and the Inter-American Dialogue. Dr. Gómez was elected to Term Membership at the Council of Foreign Relations in 2009. He is a veteran of the United States Air Force, having served at the United States Air Force Academy. He holds a PhD and MA in political science from Brown University, a MA degree in International Relations from the University of Chicago, and a BA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia.

Academic Positions

  • Present2020

    Associate Professor

    Lehigh University, College of Health

  • 20202013

    Associate Professor (UK Senior Lecturer)

    King’s College London, Department of International Development

  • 20132008

    Assistant Professor

    Rutgers University, Department of Public Policy

Education & Training

  • Ph.D. 2008

    Ph.D. in Political Science

    Brown University

  • M.A. 2008

    Master of Arts in Political Science

    Brown University

  • M.A. 2001

    Master of Arts in International Relations

    University of Chicago

  • M.A. 1997

    Master of Arts in Foreign Affairs

    University of Virginia

  • B.A. 1997

    Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Affairs

    University of Virginia

Honors, Awards and Grants

  • 2018
    King's College London, Nominated for Teaching Excellence Award, School of Global Affairs

    Nominated for the 2018 College-wide Teaching Excellence Award, School of Global Affairs, Department of International Development

  • 2017
    King’s College London, Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy
    £1,500 research grant for research grant application and book project on environmental health politics.
  • 2017
    King’s College London, Nominated for Teaching Excellence Award
    School of Global Affairs.
  • 2017
    King’s College London, King’s Worldwide Global Engagement
    £1,700 for travel to Padjadjaran University, Indonesia, to present research and finalize a research grant proposal on the politics of inequality and malnutrition in Indonesia.
  • 2016
    King’s College London, Nominated for Teaching Excellence Award
    School of Global Affairs.
  • 2016
    King’s College London, King’s Worldwide Global Engagement
    £1,500 for travel to UNAM in Mexico City as a KCL faculty representative seeking to establish academic research and teaching partnerships.
  • 2015
    King’s College London, King’s Worldwide Global Engagement Research Grant
    (with Clare Herrick and David Reubi), for travel expenses to attend a conference and present research at the University of California, San Francisco £7,011.00.
  • 2014
    Oxfam, Research Grant
    PI - Research grant for study of health spending and inequality in India, China, Russia, and Indonesia, $11,000
  • 2014
    Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Charity Foundation, London
    Research and evaluation of project “Establishing an Integrated Approach to Optimizing Medicines Use,” £5,600
  • 2014
    King's College London, King’s Worldwide Initiative Travel Grant
    Travel Grant, to visit the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, to present research and pursue collaborative relations, £1,300
  • 2013
    Rutgers University, Centers for Global Advancement and International Affairs, Research Grant
    Research grant for project titled “Health in Vespasiano, Brazil,” $8,000 (CO-PI, with Maureen Donaghy and Susan Norris (declined due to move)
  • 2013
    Rutgers University, Centers for Global Advancement and International Affairs, Research Grant
    Research grant for project titled “Rutgers University-Universidade Catolica de Brasília Research Network,” $10,000 (Co-Investigator, with Charles Walters (PI), declined due to academic move)
  • 2009
    Council on Foreign Relations
    Elected to Term Membership (2009-2014)
  • 2008
    University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, The Carolina Post-Doctoral Program
    2 year post-doctoral position (declined)
  • 2008
    Brown University, Bernard E. Bruce Award for Academic Achievement
    Academic award given by the Dean of the Graduate School, Brown University
  • 2006
    American Political Science Association, Centennial Fellow
    Centennial Fellow for dissertation research on health politics and policy in the U.S. and Brazil
  • 2004
    American Political Science Association, Travel Grant
    Latino Fund Travel Grant for attendance at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association
  • 2003
    Brown University, Pre-Dissertation Research Grant, $2,000
    Thomas J. Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University
  • 2003
    Harvard University, Pre-doctoral Fellow
    Invited as a visiting scientist in residence at the Harvard School of Public Health, Politics & Governance Group
  • 2003
    Tinker Foundation, Research and Travel Grant (2001-2002)
    Research and travel grant for fieldwork in Argentina and Brazil
  • 2001
    Brown University, Irene Diamond Graduate Fellowship
    First year fellowship for doctoral studies
  • 2000
    University of Chicago, Honors Distinction Award for Masters Thesis
    Committee on International Relations, Division of Social Sciences, Honor Distinction award for MA thesis on the ``Political Economy of Debt Restructuring in Brazil.``
  • 1999
    University of Chicago, Travel grant
    Center for Latin American Studies travel grant for conference attendance
  • 1996
    University of Virginia, Jefferson Society
    Elected to membership, Thomas Jefferson Literary & Debating Society
  • 1992
    U.S. Air Force, Honor Student Medal
    United States Air Force, Technical School, Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas