[2][3] He is known for researching issues related to social determinants of health, such as the effectiveness of needle exchange programs.
[4][5] With Sandro Galea, he has also researched psychological responses to the September 11 attacks among residents of New York City.
[6][7] Vlahov was born and raised in Washington, D.C.[3] He is the son of William Vlahov, a Queens-born dentist, and Helga Wolfsohn, a Jewish woman who grew up in Hamburg, Germany and fled the country for England on Kristallnacht.
While working at the New York Academy of Medicine, he also conducted a study of psychological reactions to the September 11 attacks.
[2][3] Before joining UCSF in 2011, he also served as a professor of clinical epidemiology at the Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health, and the senior vice president for research at the New York Academy of Medicine.