Carol N. D’Onofrio

Carol D'Onofrio (February 24, 1936 – April 14, 2020) was an American public health researcher who was Emeritus Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health. Her career focused on improving the health of underserved communities, in particular through curtailing the use of tobacco and alcohol.

Early life and education D'Onofrio was born in Conrad, Montana. She grew up in Enterprise, Oregon and was a high school student at Walla Walla, Washington. D'Onofrio completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Washington. D'Onofrio dedicated her career to the creation and assessment of public health programs for people from marginalized communities. She studied dependencies on tobacco and alcohol, the availability of breast and cervical cancer screening and the improvement of access to palliative care.

D'Onofrio led the United States' first randomized controlled trial on preventing young people from smoking or chewing tobacco. The study involved young people from 38 counties in California. Together with Joan Bloom, D'Onofrio studied breast cancer in young women, and found that women with disabilities were largely ignored from local breast screening initiatives. This observation motivated D'Onofrio to launch Breast Health Access for Women with Disabilities, an initiative that became a national model.

Academic service D'Onofrio served on the advisory board of the Ethnic Health Institute, with whom she worked on health promotion campaigns that looked to address ethnic disparities. Fellow of the National Society for Public Health Education

Selected publications (thesis)

Personal life D'Onofrio had cancer and died in April 2020. She had two children and four grandchildren.