Alison Huang, PhD

Associate Director, Science Philanthropy Accelerator for Research and Collaboration (SPARC) team, Milken Institute Strategic Philanthropy

Alison Huang, PhD, is an associate director on the Science Philanthropy Accelerator for Research and Collaboration (SPARC) team at Milken Institute Strategic Philanthropy. An epidemiologist by training, she works with the SPARC team to advise foundations and philanthropists on research areas for impactful investment, particularly around mental health. Huang’s scientific expertise lies at the intersection of mental, social, and cognitive health across the life course.

Prior to joining the Milken Institute, Huang was a program officer at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) within the National Institutes of Health, where she managed a global grant portfolio and guided institutional investment in translational research related to mental well-being and healthy longevity. She also served on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health as the scientific lead of the Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders study, a hearing intervention clinical trial. Her research investigated the link between hearing loss and intervention with mental and cognitive health outcomes in older adults.

Huang received a PhD in mental health and an MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a BS in neuroscience from the University of Michigan. She is based in the Institute’s Washington, DC, office.