AcademyHealth Data and Policy Fellows Reflect on ARM Firsts, Student Engagement, and Building Connections
Dr. Leia Belt and Kamaria Kaalund offer takeaways from the 2024 Annual Research Meeting in Baltimore.
Leia Belt, Ph.D., is the Health Data Fellow at AcademyHealth, where she works with the advocacy team to advance health services research (HSR). With expertise in sociology and public health, Dr. Belt leads RFI writing, blog posts, and contributes to ongoing research initiatives. Her research is dedicated to quantifying the impact of structural inequalities, with interests spanning various domains, including the examination of structural racism within health, AI/ML, technology, and higher education curricula.
Dr. Belt is a health equity scholar who currently serves as a postdoctoral scholar for the Du Bois S.E.R.V.E. Project at the University of California, Merced. She holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies, specializing in Medical Sociology and Social Epidemiology from the University of Iowa. Her work is characterized by a Du Boisan mixed-methods approach, with a distinctive emphasis on community engagement and the use of unique and interactive visualizations. This approach integrates her interests in art and love for her communities to co-facilitate meaningful change.
Dr. Belt earned her undergraduate degree at Kent State University and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. Her public scholarship has been published in New Thinking, The Boston Globe’s The Emancipator, and The Messenger. She is active in numerous associations and consortia, such as The OpEd Project, Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research (MCUAAAR), Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science (IAPHS), Association of Black Sociologists (ABS), and Iowa Black Doula Collective (IBDC).
Authored by Leia Belt, M.A., Ph.D.
The Legacy of Sundown Towns: A Persistent Force of Structural Inequities in Health
As we marked the sixty-one-year anniversary of the March on Washington yesterday August 28th—a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement—it’s an important time to reflect on the legacy of exclusionary practices and their impact on modern health care inequities. By understanding and addressing the history of sundown towns, we can more effectively reach and support historically oppressed and underserved communities.
Breastfeeding Can Help Save New Black Moms — Who Are Nearly 3 Times More Likely To Die
AcademyHealth Public Voices fellows offer ways to improve Black maternal mortality and perinatal health through breastfeeding and programs to support Black lactation professionals.