Using data from FIFA, Brown epidemiologists developed a tracking tool aimed at assisting public health experts in the event of an infectious disease outbreak.
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Pandemic Center
William Goedel, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health
Biography
William C. Goedel, PhD [he/him] is an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health. He is a social epidemiologist, with significant methodological expertise in the use of geographic information systems (GIS) to guide public health practice. His research uses spatial analytical techniques to quantify the burden of many of the United States’ most pressing public health challenges across neighborhoods to identify areas that are overburdened and underserved. This applied research is often conducted in close collaboration with the Rhode Island Department of Health, covering a range of conditions, including asthma, cancer, COVID-19, drug overdose, and vaccine-preventable diseases. From 2021 to 2025, he was the primary academic partner for the Rhode Island Department of Health’s efforts as part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Initiative to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities Among Populations at High-Risk and Underserved. As a faculty affiliate at the Pandemic Center, he leads efforts to increase capacities for data-driven decision-making among staff at local health departments and their community partners. For these efforts, he was recognized with the Public Health Impact Award from the Rhode Island Public Health Association.
Dr. Goedel also leads a program of research in historical epidemiology, which aims to leverage archival records to shed new light on public health challenges of the past 200 years. Current work supported by a seed award from the Office of the Vice President of Research is examining the epidemiology to the Great Influenza Epidemic (1918–1920) in Providence, Rhode Island. He is the inaugural recipient of the Faculty Fellowship in University History at the John Nicholas Brown Center for Advanced Study, where he is researching the origins and development of public health education at Brown University.
He currently teaches “Epidemiology of Hope: Historical Perspectives on Public Health in the Ocean State” (PHP 0080), “Fundamentals of Epidemiology” (PHP 0850), and “Foundations of Spatial Analysis in Public Health” (PHP 2015). As a scholar of teaching and learning, Dr. Goedel is interested in the implementation and evaluation of graduate admissions review processes and novel grading systems that value both a learner’s accomplishments to date and their potential for growth over time regardless of their background. He also serves as the director of the doctoral program in epidemiology. He was the recipient of the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching in Public Health in May 2024. He is the co-editor of the upcoming seventh edition of Friis and Sellers’ Epidemiology for Public Health Practice.
Recent News
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is the largest mass gathering event in U.S. history. More than five million tickets have been sold across three countries and 16 cities over 39 days, dwarfing the 3.4 million total attendance at the 2022 World Cup. President Trump championed the hosting bid, created a White House task force for the World Cup that he chairs and accepted FIFA’s inaugural “Peace Prize” at the draw in December. Yet the federal government allocated $625 million for World Cup law enforcement and security, and zero for public health.
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — Less than three weeks from the first FIFA World Cup match, public health experts say they are on high alert for outbreaks of infectious diseases.
"When you are bringing potentially 5 to 7 million fans from over 100 different countries together, the chances that you bring new diseases that are not typically present in the U.S. into the U.S. does increase," Brown University associate professor of epidemiology Dr. William Goedel told NBC 10 in an interview.
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"When you are bringing potentially 5 to 7 million fans from over 100 different countries together, the chances that you bring new diseases that are not typically present in the U.S. into the U.S. does increase," Brown University associate professor of epidemiology Dr. William Goedel told NBC 10 in an interview.
As more than five million fans around the globe prepare to travel to the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, concerns over disease outbreaks are growing.
Dr. William Goedel, an epidemiologist and affiliate faculty at Brown University’s Pandemic Center, created a map to help keep tabs on the movement of teams and fans as they watch 104 tournament games from the opening match June 11 to the final on July 19.
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Dr. William Goedel, an epidemiologist and affiliate faculty at Brown University’s Pandemic Center, created a map to help keep tabs on the movement of teams and fans as they watch 104 tournament games from the opening match June 11 to the final on July 19.
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YouYube | Brown University
Origins of Public Health at Brown University, 1834-1934 - Lecture by William Goedel, at the JNBC
William Goedel, Brown Faculty Fellow in University History, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health, recounts the history of Brown University’s earliest educational offerings in public health in the late 19th and early 20th centuries alongside the school’s long-standing partnerships with Rhode Island’s city and state public health agencies. Goedel also offers a vision for a strengthened academic-government partnership to meet the challenges of protecting and promoting the public’s health in the 21st century.
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Brown Daily Herald
Professor details history of public health at Brown
While the School of Public Health was not officially founded until 2013, public health has remained a pertinent topic since the University’s founding. On Monday, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Faculty Fellow in University History William Goedel PhD’20 hosted a talk on the longer evolution of public health at the University, starting primarily in the 1800s.
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