Ross Hammond uses advanced computational modeling to understand and find practical solutions for critical public health and social science issues. His work encompasses a broad range of public health topics including obesity etiology and prevention, food systems, physical activity and childhood development, tobacco control, behavioral epidemiology, and the broader social determinants of health such as crime, corruption, segregation, trust and decision-making.

Hammond serves or has recently served on committees providing public health expertise and guidance to the National Cancer Institute, the FDA Center for Tobacco Products, the Lancet Commission on Obesity, and the National Academy of Sciences' Food and Nutrition Board. He also directs the Center on Social Dynamics & Policy at the Brookings Institution, which applies systems science to inform policy choices.

Hammond serves as the chair of the Systems Science for Health Equity (SS4HE) concentration for the School of Public Health. He teaches an annual course on Agent-Based Computational Modeling through the School of Public Health doctoral program (also open to advanced MPH students), and co-leads the Systems Science for Social Impact summer training institute.