Graduate Women In Science

My research focuses on the causes and consequences of racial inequities in reproductive health. I am particularly interested in understanding why Black people capable of pregnancy experience the worst reproductive health outcomes of any racial/ethnic group and how we can implement meaningful structural and institutional changes to improve these injustices.  

What is your education/career background?

I am a proud graduate of Florida A&M, a historically black college and university (HBCU) where I received my BA in economics. From there, I went on to attend the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill for graduate school, where I received my doctoral degree in economics. While my focus was health economics, I didn’t feel that I knew a lot about health! To address this lack of knowledge, I joined the Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholars (postdoctoral program) here at UW-Madison to learn more about population health, and later participated in the T32 Health Disparities postdoctoral program where I gained more knowledge about health disparities and community-engaged research. These experiences prepared me very well to tackle the challenges of an interdisciplinary career path, where I integrate ideas and insights from economics, psychology, epidemiology, and sociology to understand complex issues related to reproductive health inequities.

What advice do you have for women/underrepresented groups pursuing an education/career in STEM?

First, I think it’s important avoid putting the onus on scholars from historically excluded groups to figure out how to navigate systems that can be hostile to their very wellbeing. It is the job of institutions that claim to want to be inclusive to implement policies and procedures to make sure that talented scholars are able to do important work.

That said, I think one important thing that’s important to have is community. I’ve greatly benefitted from group and individual coaching because it has helped me to understand that I’m not alone in my experiences. I’ve also learned the importance of balancing my priorities—when you’re an ‘only’ or ‘near-only’, there can be a tendency for some colleague to see you as the minority representation. I think it’s important to have sponsors and mentors that help you navigate these potential pitfalls and do service that is meaningful and complements, rather than impedes the research and teaching that will help you achieve a successful dissertation defense, promotion and/or tenure, and more importantly, help you live a meaningful life outside of the academy/think tank/governmental job, etc.

What do you enjoy most about your career/current role?

There are lots of things I love about my job. Research is of course the thing that I love to do most. While research is obviously my first love, one thing that I have discovered more recently is that I adore teaching medical students. I never thought of myself as a medical education person, but I love it because I can see how my teaching can influence students’ lives (and those of their future patients) in very short order. So far, I’ve taught classes on race and obstetrics and gynecology and abortion and society, and it’s such a joy to see my students learn and grow.

What does diversity, inclusivity, and equity look like to you in your job sector? How do you incorporate DEI in your position?

DEI is a loaded term nowadays and I think this is because there has been successful bad faith attempts to make it so. I wish our institutions were more forthright in calling out the weaponization of diversity because we are all the poorer for its loss. While I don’t necessarily engage in formal DEI work, I’m particularly committed to improving the representation of historically excluded scholars. While most people think about this with respect to race, I also think that gender, disability, and neurodiversity are also important to consider. I do so because when we have diverse teams, we improve the rigor, significance, and translational potential of research. In short, to get the science right, I strongly believe that we must ensure that people from disproportionately affected groups are leading and contributing to scholarly and policy conversations related to population health inequities.

How does that look for me? First, I try to make sure I’m incorporating universal learning principles and practices in my classrooms, including flexible deadlines, captioning in online classes, and providing students with varying modalities to turn in assignments. In my research, I’ve successfully pushed for more inclusive reproductive health surveys, including a focus on the experiences of Black, transgender, and/or disabled populations, and making sure that I collaborate with and prioritize the expertise of scholars with lived experiences from these groups. My work is so much better for it and I’m grateful.

What is your favorite way to unwind?

I love reading science fiction, fantasy, and fantasy/historical romance novels. Although I haven’t been able to do it in recent years due to the pandemic and my hectic schedule, I adore salsa dancing and would love to get back it soon. I was also able to get back into kayaking last summer and can’t wait to jump back in the water.

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