INQUIRING MINDS

Kyrah Brown was a public health worker before she even knew the field existed. The College of Nursing and Health Innovation assistant professor has long understood the power of community action, thanks to an upbringing that emphasized both the value and the necessity of civic engagement.


Kyrah Brown

on her journey to health equity research and advocacy


Kyrah Brown

What drew you to public health advocacy?

My family is very community-engaged—they had us advocating at city hall and involved in civic engagement from a very young age. Growing up in a marginalized neighborhood, I remember being interested in advocacy around the health issues and living conditions my neighborhood was facing.

It wasn’t until the end of my undergraduate degree and start of graduate school that I understood that what I was supporting was public health. Taking it a step further, it was around that time that I found out about community psychology. That’s what led me down this path to work in collaboration with communities to improve their living conditions.

Your recent research focuses on Black maternal health. What drew you to that issue?

During my time in graduate school in Wichita, Kansas, about 10% of the population was Black. The area was getting a lot of attention because Black infant mortality rates were extremely high at that time. That’s where it got on my radar.

It connected personally for me. My baby brother was stillborn when I was 10, and I didn’t know anyone else who had experienced stillbirth or infant death. We have always actively grieved and celebrated him; for our family, this was not stigmatizing at all. But it was only during my time in Wichita that I began to meet more Black families who experienced the same thing my family had, and at a much broader scale.

You launched the Maternal and Reproductive Health Equity Research Lab when you joined UTA in 2018. What motivated you to take that step?

I’ve always wanted to lead a research team, and UTA really provided the capacity and infrastructure for me to do so. When I was a graduate student, my research mentor was a Black woman who led our research team. I take inspiration from her model of mentorship and team development, where you have students developing the skills they need to thrive in the workforce.

UTA gave me the support, foundation, and resources I needed to fully create the Maternal and Reproductive Health Equity Research Lab and mold it into something I wanted it to look like.

What do you hope to accomplish through the lab’s work?

First, we want to generate high-quality research that examines the socio-structural factors and influences on Black women’s reproductive health across the lifecourse. That’s very broad because there are so many facets to it, whether we are talking about health care or the built environment and how it impacts reproductive health.

Second, we want to lend our expertise and support to community organizations that are trying to ask questions about what is happening where they live by providing research tools and evidence that helps them find answers. These organizations are trying to promote legislation and policy that ensures all people have access to safe, affordable, high-quality care and support. And at the same time, many are developing innovative, culturally appropriate ways to respond to the growing reproductive health needs in our community and beyond.

What can the rest of us do to help create a better future for maternal health care?

Individuals can volunteer their time to support an organization’s delivery of programs and services. And of course, they can donate or provide financial support to organizations—particularly grassroots, community-based organizations—to help advance the life-changing work that they are already doing. This is important because it ensures community-driven solutions to dismantling inequities in maternal and reproductive health.

 

Inquiry Magazine 2024

Full Issue