A social epidemiologist, Datta aspires to inform health-related interventions and health-related policy. She did post-doctoral work in social epidemiology as a Kellogg Scholar in Health Disparities and Alonzo Yerby fellow in the Department of Society, Human Development and Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. Datta received her doctorate from the Harvard School of Public Health in cancer epidemiology, and her master’s degree from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.