Alumni Profiles: Doctoral
Siri Suh, PhD, MPH
Graduation Year: 2014
Degree/Concentration: PhD/Sociology
Current Position: Assistant Professor in Sociology, Brandeis University
1 . WHERE DO YOU CURRENTLY WORK AND WHAT TYPE OF WORK DO YOU DO THERE?
I’m an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Brandeis University. My research interests bridge the fields of global maternal and reproductive health, population and development, and feminist and postcolonial studies of science, medicine, and technology. I received my MPH from the Department of Population and Family Health in 2004 and my PhD in Sociomedical Sciences in 2014.
My research explores how post-abortion care statistics from government hospitals in Senegal contribute to global reproductive governance. Drawing on an ethnography of Senegal's post-abortion care program, I illustrate how medical workers, health officials, and NGO personnel selectively establish evidence about the kinds of women who receive life-saving obstetric care in hospitals; what post-abortion care technologies accomplish in these facilities; and the impact of post-abortion care on the epidemiology of maternal mortality.
At Brandeis University, I teach graduate and undergraduate courses on health and illness, reproduction, the bio/necropolitics of health and medicine in the African Diaspora, and social research methods.
2. WHAT MADE YOU INTERESTED IN PURSUING THIS WORK? WHY DO YOU ENJOY IT?
My current research project on post-abortion care was kindled during my work as a public health professional during the mid-2000s with Management Sciences for Health (MSH) in Senegal, where induced abortion is prohibited under any circumstance and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has supported family planning since the early 1980s. At the time, MSH was contracted by the USAID to support the Senegalese Ministry of Health in increasing contraceptive prevalence and reducing maternal mortality. Part of MSH’s portfolio included supporting the Ministry in training, supervision, and monitoring and evaluation related to post-abortion care. Given that the Mexico City Policy (also known as the Global Gag Rule) had been reactivated by President George W. Bush at this time, my MSH colleagues were reluctant to engage in any research or advocacy on abortion beyond the clinical aspects of post-abortion care. I applied to the SMS PhD program because I was eager to do the research I was unable to pursue while working with MSH due to the political constraints of the Mexico City Policy. My dissertation research explored what it meant for Senegalese health professionals to provide post-abortion care and to manage the national post-abortion care program in a context where abortion is altogether forbidden and the USAID remains one of the most generous donors of reproductive health aid.
3. HOW HAS THE "SMS LENS" (SEEING PUBLIC HEALTH AS EMBEDDED IN SOCIAL/CULTURAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL CONTEXTS) INFLUENCED YOUR PROFESSIONAL ATTITUDES AND APPROACHES IN ADDRESSING ISSUES IN YOUR WORK?
My research locates women’s reproductive health outcomes and experiences within transnational politics of maternal and reproductive health. I explore how and why abortion has been isolated from national and global policies and strategies related to maternal and reproductive health, and how post-abortion care has been defined as the best evidence-based solution to the problem of unsafe abortion. Although I focus a great deal on how national and global stakeholders deploy evidence to establish the legitimacy of post-abortion care as a maternal mortality reduction intervention, I also attend to how women bear the burden of transnational abortion politics not only through their experiences with clandestine abortion, but also the discriminatory treatment they may encounter if they seek care for complications at health facilities. Drawing on the work of Bruce Link and Jo Phelan, I consider social identities like gender, race, class, age, and nationality as “fundamental causes” of abortion mortality and morbidity. Young, low-income women in developing countries face a disproportionate risk of experiencing unsafe abortion because of discriminatory abortion laws and a lack of resources that would facilitate access to safe, albeit clandestine, abortion. As one of the most generous donors of family planning aid, the USAID exacerbates these risks through anti-abortion policies like the Mexico City Policy and the Helms Amendment.
4. HOW HAVE YOU APPLIED THE SKILLS YOU LEARNED IN YOUR SMS COURSES TO YOUR CURRENT WORK?
My SMS courses trained me to be an interdisciplinary scholar. My research draws on the fields of anthropology, sociology, science and technology studies (STS), women's and gender studies, African studies, demography, and epidemiology. Although my courses on health, medicine, and reproduction are anchored in the field of medical sociology, they offer students perspectives from other relevant disciplines.
5. HOW HAVE YOUR INTERESTS IN PUBLIC HEALTH CHANGED (OR NOT) SINCE YOU WERE AT MAILMAN?
No, they haven’t changed! As a scholar and teacher, I am remain committed to addressing health inequalities as a matter of social justice.
Alexander Martos
Graduation Year: 2018
Degree: DrPH
Current Position: Project Manager - Kaiser Permanente
1 . WHERE DO YOU CURRENTLY WORK AND WHAT TYPE OF WORK DO YOU DO THERE?
My current position is as a Project Manager at Kaiser Permanente’s Los Angeles Medical Center. I support a wide variety of projects. In one, I oversee the work of five outpatient departments as they design and evaluate pilot programs for their most complex needs programs. Through my work on the medical center’s LGBT Care Committee, I support LGBT-focused clinical trials, as well as the integration of LGBT-specific services throughout the medical center. The work is highly diverse and spans all levels of service and care within both inpatient and outpatient departments.
2. WHAT MADE YOU INTERESTED IN PURSUING THIS WORK? WHY DO YOU ENJOY IT?
My dissertation was focused on lesbian, gay, and bisexual healthcare access and utilization. I saw this position as an opportunity to better understand one way in which healthcare is offered in the United States while specifically exploring opportunities to improve healthcare for LGBT people.
3. HOW HAS THE "SMS LENS" (SEEING PUBLIC HEALTH AS EMBEDDED IN SOCIAL/CULTURAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL CONTEXTS) INFLUENCED YOUR PROFESSIONAL ATTITUDES AND APPROACHES IN ADDRESSING ISSUES IN YOUR WORK?
Medicine is every bit as embedded in social, cultural, economic, and political contexts as health itself. In my LGBT-related work, we are particularly mindful of the relationship the medical field has had with LGBT communities over time, and the need for our medical center to establish itself as a trusted community resource rather than just a healthcare provider. The “SMS lens” that was applied to my dissertation research greatly benefited my own understanding of these issues and continues to influence the approach I take in my work today.
4. HOW HAVE YOU APPLIED THE SKILLS YOU LEARNED IN YOUR SMS COURSES TO YOUR CURRENT WORK?
Many of the skills learned in my coursework continue to be relevant. Depending on the project at-hand, I am applying elements of survey research, qualitative methods, intervention evaluation, and health economics, to name a few.
5. HOW HAVE YOUR INTERESTS IN PUBLIC HEALTH CHANGED (OR NOT) SINCE YOU WERE AT MAILMAN?
My interests have always centered on intervention research and LGBT health. I continue to engage in both of these areas today, but have become particularly interested in how to maintain fidelity to, and rigorously evaluate, interventions within a complex medical system.
6. ADVICE FOR CURRENT STUDENTS?
Life’s twists and turns took me away from the east coast after only two years in SMS. I had completed my coursework but still had much to sort through in terms of my dissertation research. The biggest piece of advice I can offer, given my own journey through the program, is to know what is at the core of your passion and be comfortable with a pivot. No single, highly specific topic will make or break a career. Opportunities will arise that may take you in a different direction than you had originally believed, but as long as you can still find a connection to your passion, take the dive into the unknown. Ultimately, it is the practical skills and the work ethic you learn along the way that make the biggest difference.