What are the psychobiological mechanisms by which racism gets into the human body? Can we measure the impact racism has as a social determinant of health? How has the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted California’s minority communities? What impacts has immigration had on our understandings of diversity and democracy?
These are the types of questions UC Berkeley professors Amani Allen and Cristina Mora have explored over the years. For Allen, a Berkeley public health expert, that research has led to closer examination of racial and ethnic disparities in health status, including those brought on by disparities in the U.S. public health system. Similarly, Mora has become a leading voice for statewide COVID policy reform, and an advocate for the study of race and politics in the U.S.