Brittney Francis, PhD, MPH

Dr. Brittney Francis (she/her) is a social epidemiologist whose research explores how various interpersonal, institutional and systemic factors (i.e. structural racism, capitalism, cisheteronormativity, etc.) impact the development, diagnosis, and management of maternal hypertension for Black women globally, one of the leading causes of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Dr. Francis is currently a research scientist at the Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights. Dr. Francis received her PhD in Epidemiology from Ohio State University, is an alumnus of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholars Program, and the immediate past president for the Society for the Analysis of African American Public Health Issues. Policy and advocacy is a central component of her work in an effort to address what mechanisms can be used to shift power structures and to create more equitable distribution of resources and opportunities. She also uses her research to provide expert testimonies to state and federal legislatures, write op-eds and develop policy briefs on issues related to health equity. She has been published in numerous journals including the American Journal of Epidemiology, featured in news outlets like The Boston Globe and Miami Herald, and has built a platform on TikTok to educate the health professionals about how various structural determinants harm health for marginalized populations.