Background

Jennifer Cavallari, ScD, is a Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the UConn School of Medicine, where she also serves as the Director of Faculty Development. In addition to her roles at UConn, she is a Co-Director of the Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace (CPH-NEW), one of ten Centers of Excellence for Total Worker Health^® funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Cavallari is trained as both an occupational epidemiologist and an industrial hygienist, working in the field of public health with a focus on worker well-being. “I’m really interested in how we can change work to better support worker well-being in every way,” she says. Her research is centered on understanding how workplace conditions impact health and identifying ways to modify work environments to better support employees’ overall well-being.

Upon completing her undergraduate degree in chemistry at the University of Connecticut, Cavallari began working in the pharmaceutical industry, where she developed an interest in how chemicals can improve health outcomes. As she continued working in a laboratory environment, Cavallari began experiencing health impacts from chemical exposure, sparking a deeper interest in the potential harmful effects of chemicals on one’s health. This shift in perspective led her to pursue a career in public health, allowing her to explore both the benefits and risks of chemical exposures. Cavallari went on to earn her doctorate from the Harvard School of Public Health, where she completed additional training in environmental and occupational epidemiology.

Cavallari spent much of her early career focusing on the health effects of occupational chemical exposures, particularly exposure to chemical hazards such as silica dust and welding fumes in blue collar industries. Once she joined the Department of Public Health Sciences at UConn, she became very interested in other workplace exposures, including noise exposure and the impact it can have on one’s cardiovascular health through stress responses. In recent years, Cavallari’s research has gradually shifted towards understanding the role of stress in occupational health. “So many workers are impacted by stress–both from their jobs and from their lives outside of work,” she says. In response to the increased prevalence of stress in the workplace, her current research is centered on finding ways to reduce stress and improve well-being by changing the structure and conditions of work environments.

Involvement with CSCH

Cavallari joined the Collaboratory as an affiliate due to its strong emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration as well as the shared commitment to health and well-being within school environments. She is particularly interested in educator well-being, recognizing that supporting teachers’ mental health and work conditions has a direct effect on the well-being of students. “When you focus on educator well-being, there’s a clear trickle-down effect on student well-being– it’s all interconnected,” Cavallari says. Being an affiliate gives her the opportunity to collaborate with researchers from various fields who share overlapping goals and perspectives within the field of school and child health.

Her work is most closely connected to CSCH through the Total Teacher Health Project, a five-year research initiative through CPH-NEW. This project takes a holistic approach to educator well-being through initiatives such as the Educator Well-Being Program Toolkit, which uses the Total Worker Health^® model to support educators in identifying the workplace factors that impact their stress and mental health and implementing solutions to improve them. Making these changes not only benefits teachers, but also has a direct impact on students, highlighting the interconnected nature of school health systems.

Cavallari also emphasizes the importance of collaboration in this work. She acknowledges fellow CSCH affiliates Dr. Lisa Sanetti and Dr. Alicia Dugan, whose contributions helped shape and develop the Total Teacher Health Project. The team was recently awarded the 2026 Provost’s Award for Excellence in Community-Engaged Scholarship in the Faculty Team-Research Category, recognizing the impact of their collaborative work.

You can learn more about Cavallari and her work through her UConn Faculty Page and LinkedIn.

Fun Facts

Cavallari is a dedicated yoga enthusiast, who starts every morning with her yoga and meditation routine to help her feel grounded and set her up for a great day.

Undergraduate Researcher Elena Roberts interviewed Jennifer Cavallari and wrote this profile.