Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility

I endeavor to incorporate equity into everything I do — Think, Teach, and Do.

Think — The focus of my work is on health insurance and social safety net policies, which are inherently closely linked to equity and health. I perform rigorous evaluation of policies and campaigns to determine which are most effective and communicate what I learn beyond the research community to policymakers and the public so they can advocate for and implement evidence-based and/or equitable policies. Often a lack of evidence is used to uphold a status quo that is a legacy of racist and discriminatory systems, unwittingly using science as a weapon to maintain them, which we should resist at every turn.

Teach — I help train underrepresented scholars and bring their voices into the scientific and policymaking arenas. I support first-generation scholars, like me, and scholars of color that are coming up behind me, making the hidden curriculum more visible and investing the time that could make a difference for their career trajectory. I have served as a Terrier F1RSTS Advocate, BUSPH FirstGen Mentor, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholars Alumni Community Pillar, also have been recognized as a Provost Mentor Fellow for my commitment to inclusive mentoring. I have advocated for students from non-traditional and underrepresented backgrounds, knowing that reversing inequities in academia and research requires vision and investment. The safe choice is rarely the equitable one, but we can't keep doing things the same way and expect different outcomes.

Do — I continue educating myself on the history and theories of race, class, and inequality, and aim to partner with scholars of different identities when conducting research involving communities that I do not represent. Having, and instilling in students, humility and deep respect for the people who our work is informed and/or affected by should always guide our actions. We continue to fight for acknowledgment that systemic racism has causal impacts on health through differences in education, policing, and other factors, providing an understanding upon which policies and institutions can be reimagined equitably. We clearly have much work to do on this front as the education of American history, universal access to voting, science, and public health have all become politicized and deeply polarized.

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