Kalani Phillips, MPH, is a PhD candidate in the Department of Health, Society, and Behavior at UC Irvine's Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health. Grounded in community-driven research methods and reproductive justice, her research examines how state and institutional policies translate into real access to sexual and reproductive healthcare and survivor support services for students across California colleges and universities.
Her dissertation, Beyond Mandates, studies disparities in awareness, trust, and utilization of campus services across the UC, CSU, and community college systems. She is also a researcher in Survivors + Allies, a student-led organization that advocates and conducts research for and with survivors of sexual and interpersonal violence, whose 2021 study was cited in 11 California Assembly bills in 2024, and which currently sponsors the HEAR Survivors Act (AB 2212). She is committed to building health systems that are evidence-based and accountable to the communities they serve.