Scientists are trying to find new ways to measure the link between racial inequity and premature birth, says Furman public health researcher Shaniece Criss.
A $3.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health could help her research team find a way to do just that, she said.
“Health disparities with preterm births have been present in our society for so many generations,” said Criss, who is assistant professor of health sciences.
“This research gives us the opportunity to look at how our social environment impacts pregnancy outcomes,” she added, “and can give us insight into how our country can reduce these disparities.”
The grant was awarded to Thu Nguyen from the University of California at San Francisco, who is the principal investigator.
Criss, who is a research consultant on the project, works with Nguyen as part of a collaborative of researchers from around the country called Big Data for Health Equity that examines disparities in health.
As a qualitative researcher on the project, she will be designing and conducting online focus groups. While quantitative research focuses on statistics, qualitative research looks to understand the meaning of experiences, she said.
The focus group participants will describe their daily lives and experiences with race, said Criss, adding that up to 200 people representing racial groups from all over the country will provide input.
“We’re going to look at making a measurement for area-level racial bias on Twitter and linking it to adverse birth outcomes,” she said. “The previous work
