FOCUS
Each individual’s road from youth to adulthood has its challenges, yet an ideal society is one that allows all to grow into their fullest potential. However, for people of color, this road is made more difficult by structural racism embedded in the institutions encountered throughout development. Racism ingrained in our school systems, neighborhoods, occupations, and criminal justice system, creates roadblocks across the course of our lives, which ultimately leads to poor health for people of color. Since these systems are connected, improving one domain may not be sufficient to close racial health gaps. Brigette’s research focuses on understanding how racist policies and practices in everyday institutions compound over the life course to produce health disparities. Using transdisciplinary research, she hopes to quantify the overall impact of racism on health outcomes in adulthood, while identifying critical periods of opportunity and resilience at all stages of development.
MORE ABOUT BRIGETTE
Brigette is from Saint Louis, Missouri, where she has been inspired and reinvigorated by her community’s passion, resolve, and commitment to grassroots activism. She’s worked as an analyst and epidemiologist in governmental, private, and academic settings prior to pursing a PhD. As a scholar and advocate, Brigette works to produce research that will be used across sectors that produce the social determinants of health—using transdisciplinary knowledge, policy change, and activism to achieve health equity.
