Sara Timen

Program Associate

Ph: 212-584-7681

Timen@NYSHealth.org

Sara Timen joined the New York State Health Foundation in May 2007 with a background in education, research and evaluation, and public health policy. Ms. Timen most recently worked as a nutrition policy intern in the Cardiovascular Disease Department at the New York City Department of Health, where she developed and implemented article 81.08, which amended the city health code and will ensure that New York City food service establishments are trans fat-free. She surveyed local food service establishments and city residents, researched health impacts, and performed both qualitative and quantitative data analyses to measure cardiovascular related illness from trans fats in New York City.

Prior to her work at the Department of Health, Ms. Timen was a Teach For America corps member where she spent two years teaching at the Adam Clayton Powel Middle School, IS 172, in Harlem. At IS 172, Ms. Timen taught middle school math and science and developed a school-wide nutrition and wellness curriculum. While teaching, Ms. Timen received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to collaborate with Columbia Presbyterian physicians to create a school-wide diabetes and hyperlipidemia prevention program. As a result of her efforts in developing this program, Ms. Timen was awarded a New Visions of Public Schools Award from the Pfizer Foundation.

Ms. Timen worked at Group Health Incorporated (GHI) where she educated and managed leaders to conduct smoking cessation workshops with youths in the South Bronx and Harlem. She also researched and evaluated the effectiveness of smoking cessation programming in reducing smoking-related illness in East Harlem. Prior to her work at GHI, Ms. Timen was also a Center for the Health of Urban Minorities fellow where she worked at Columbia University’s Center for Community Health Partnerships. As a research consultant, Ms. Timen co-authored a report describing the impact of community health workers from five Community Voices’ sites and their efforts to mobilize national, State, and local resources to address community health care concerns. Ms. Timen also developed culturally tailored diabetes and obesity prevention programs for local schools.

Ms. Timen holds a master's degree in Public Health degree from Columbia University and in Education from Fordham University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Timen currently serves on the Clinton Foundation’s Harlem Apple Pi, a team of teachers and physicians who consult on improving health curriculum in New York.