Linda Cottler, PhD, MPH, is associate dean for research at the College of Public Health and Health Professions and dean’s professor and founding chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the College of Public Health and Health Professions and the College of Medicine at the University of Florida. Cottler is involved in studies in several major areas with public health importance, including the development of culturally reliable and valid measures for identifying substance use, abuse and dependence, along with psychiatric disorders and their risk factors; innovative methods for conducting national surveys of high risk behaviors; and community-based, peer-delivered interventions to change HIV risk behaviors and substance abuse. The Cottler lab has focused its work on underrepresented populations, including prescription drug misusers, out-of-treatment drug users and heavy drinkers, female sex workers and criminal justice populations. She developed the community engagement program HealthStreet in St. Louis and brought it to the University of Florida in 2011. HealthStreet uses a storefront location and Community Health Workers to meet people where they live, work and play, assessing the community’s health needs and linking people to services they need as well as opportunities to participate in research studies. Cottler’s work directly relates to reducing disparities for health research and health services.