I’m Rebekah.
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Chicago. My research involves conceptualizing and measuring racism, unpacking the relationships between racism, housing, and health, and highlighting how the field of public health perpetuates racism.
Education + Training
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Health Behavior + Maternal and Child Health
University of California at Los Angeles
Ph.D., Community Health Sciences
Doctoral Minor, Urban Planning
American University
M.A., Sociology; Graduate Certificate, Social Research
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
B.A., Sociology; B.A., Political Science; Minor, Social and Economic Justice
Employment
Assistant Director, Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, 2016 – 2017
Graduate Education Diversity Intern, American Evaluation Association, 2016
Training and Capacity Building Manager, Black AIDS Institute, 2015 – 2016
Evaluation Coordinator, Black AIDS Institute, 2013 – 2015
Publications
Peer-reviewed
Gailey, S., Cross, R. I., Bruckner, T. A., & Messer, L. C. (Forthcoming). Characteristics associated with downward residential mobility among birthing persons in California. Social Science & Medicine.
Jimenez, T., Restar, A., Helm, P. J., Cross, R. I., Barath, D., & Arndt, J. (2020). Fatalism in the context of COVID-19: Perceiving coronavirus as a death sentence predicts reluctance to perform recommended preventative behaviors. SSM-Population Health, 100615. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2020.100615
Cross, R.I. (2018). Commentary: Can Critical Race Theory Enhance the Field of Public Health? A Student’s Perspective. Ethnicity & Disease, 28(Suppl 1):267-270. https://doi.org/10.18865/ed.28.S1.267
Book Sections
Cross, R. I., Butler B. N., Roberson M. L. (Forthcoming 2022). The Past, Present, and Future of Black Women in Health Policy. In S.Y. Evans, (eds.). Black Women and Public Health: Regenerative History, Practice, and Planning. SUNY Press.
Cross, R.I (2019). Appendix B: Selected Measures of Racism. In Ford, D. Griffith, M. Bruce, and K. Gilbert (eds). Racism: Science & Tools for the Public Health Professional. Washington, DC: APHA Press. https://doi.org/10.2105/9780875533049appB
Public
Cross, R.I. (2019). Black, Pregnant, and Studying the Impact of Racism on Health. Blog Post on Center for the Study of Racism, Social Justice, & Health Blog. https://www.racialhealthequity.org/blog/black-pregnant-and-studying-racism
Research
Graduate Student Researcher (PI: Dr. Terence Keel), UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, 2019 – current.
Graduate Student Researcher (PI: Dr. Chandra L. Ford), Center for the Study of Racism, Social Justice & Health, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, 2017 – current
Graduate Student Researcher (PI: Dr. Courtney S. Thomas), Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, 2017 – 2018
Graduate Research Assistant (PI: Dr. Maria De Jesus), School of International Service, American University, 2012 – 2013
Graduate Research Assistant (PI: Dr. Kim Blankenship), Center on Health, Risk and Society, American University, 2011 – 2012
Presentations
Select Conferences
Brittney Butler, Cross, R. I., Brigette Davis, Tongtan Chantarat and Rachel R. Hardeman (Moderator). Structural Racism and Health Inequities: Lessons Learned from the Last Decade and New Innovations Moving Forward. A Panel discussion at the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting. June 14-17, 2021. Virtual Conference.
Brittney Butler, Cross, R. I., Brigette Davis, Tongtan Chantarat and Rachel R. Hardeman (Moderator). Structural Racism and Health Inequities: Lessons Learned from the Last Decade and New Innovations Moving Forward. A Panel discussion at the 6th Annual RacismLab symposium. University of Michigan. February 24, 2021. Virtual Symposium.
Cross, R.I, Brittney Butler, Samuel Baxter, Hawi Teizazu, and Brigette Davis. An Adjusted Lens: An Examination of Structural Racism in Population Health Research and Policy. A Panel discussion at the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science (IAPHS). October 1-4, 2019. Seattle, WA.
Israel, R. African American HIV University, Science and Treatment College: a model to address HIV-related stigma and low health literacy in Black communities. Poster presentation at the 21st International AIDS Conference, Durban, South Africa (July 17-22, 2016).
Israel, R. HIV University: Increasing HIV and Health Literacy in the Black HIV Workforce. African Diaspora Networking Zone. Panel presentation at the 20th International AIDS Conference, Melbourne, Australia (July 20-25, 2014).
Invited Talks & Course Lectures
Cross, R. I. Structural Racism, Critical Race Theory and Public Health: A Disciplinary Self-Critique. Structural Oppression Seminar Series, University of Minnesota, April 2021
Cross, R. I. Using the Elaboration Model to Build Testable Conceptual Models for Public Health Research. Course: Psychosocial Factors in Health-Related Behaviors, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, November 2020
Cross, R. I. Measuring Racism for Research on Older Adults. Course: Aging and Social Policy, School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, September 2020
Cross, R. I. Future of Black American Health, Critical Race Theory and Beyond. Course: Black American Health, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, April 2020
Cross. R. I. Housing and Health in the U.S.: What’s Racism Got to do with It?, Course: Multicultural Health, Division of Public Health, California State University, Dominguez Hills, November 2017
Awards
Jean Stone Dissertation Fellowship, Center for the Study of Women, University of California, Los Angeles, 2021
University Credit Union Scholarship, Los Angeles, CA, 2021
Eugene and Sallyann Fama Fellowship, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, 2020 – 2021
Health Policy Research Scholars Dissertation Award, 2020
UCLA Graduate Council Diversity Fellowship, 2020
UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate Research Grant, University of California, Los Angeles, 2019 – 2020
Institute of American Culture Social Justice Graduate Fellowship, University of California, Los Angeles, 2019 – 2020
Graduate Research Mentorship (GRM) Fellowship, University of California, Los Angeles, 2017 – 2018
Health Policy Research Scholars Predoctoral Fellowship, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2017 – 2021
Graduate Summer Research Mentorship (GSRM) Fellowship, University of California, Los Angeles, 2017
Student Research Award, Public Health Student Association, University of California, Los Angeles, 2017
University Fellowship, Department of Community Health Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, 2016 - 2017
Carolina Covenant Scholarship, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2007 – 2011