GETTING AN EQUITABLE START
Hello! I am a clinical, biocultural medical anthropologist who is interested in optimizing maternal health and improving birth outcomes in the US and Hispanix/Latinx communities!
About Me
I joined the Anthropology faculty at the University of Alabama in the fall of 2019. As an academic and birth and postpartum doula, I study perinatal health and birth outcomes using an applied, biocultural anthropological approach. My research focuses on identifying the intersections between perinatal health outcomes and structural inequities. In Puerto Rico, I conducted a mixed-methods research project on maternal perceptions of stress and timing of delivery by triangulating ethnographic research methods with structured surveys and hair cortisol sampling. I have also worked in public health as a program coordinator for a culturally and socially-matched doula program for Medicaid priority populations in Oregon.
As an anthropologist, I use the critical medical anthropological framework of syndemics to understand the complex relationship(s) between the lived experience of pregnant individuals, structural inequities, and poor outcomes. I prioritize conducting community-led research, where researchers and community partners work collaboratively to identify and construct research projects that not only benefit the academic community but also provide useful information and tools for the community partners themselves.
My additional areas of research include:
- Perinatal stress
- Doula care, collaborative maternity care
- Birth equity
- Developmental origins of health and disease
- Trauma-informed care
- Healthcare reform
- Decolonizing anthropology
Other websites:
Sylff Fellows
Diversity Fellows; National Center for Institutional Diversity
Prospective Students
I would like to work with students who have an interest in clinical medical and/or biocultural anthropology, public health, perinatal health, and/or health systems reform.
Graduate Students:
- 2021 Rabeya Khatun, PhD Student, Research Interests: political economy, maternal and infant health in Bangladesh, cesarean birth
- 2020 Emily Locke, MA/MPH Student, Research Interests: Perinatal health, critical medical anthropology, social justice and community engaged research, syndemics, lactation support
Current Research Assistants:
- Mia Liacopoulos (Undergraduate): Chemistry and criminology
- Emily Locke (MA/MPH): See above
- Emmily Mobley (Undergraduate): Maternal and infant health in Alabama, delivery of care, lactation
- Alex Meyer (Undergraduate):Perinatal health and doula care
- Jordan Myer (Undergraduate): Content forthcoming
- Olivia Radcliffe (MA/MPH): Community-based participatory action research, eldercare and support, eco-syndemics, and community-led/influenced health practices
- Jean Ryu (Undergraduate): Trans and nonbinary health care, reproductive healthcare access, and sexual health education
- Lillian Slaughter (Undergraduate): Maternal and infant health in Alabama
- Matthew Pappalardo (Undergraduate/Accelerated Masters Program Student): Content forthcoming
Courses
Fall 2021 Semester
ANT 440: Culture
ANT 102: Introduction to Anthropology
IDMD 101: Medical Foundations I
Spring 2021 Semester
ANT 612: Anthropology of Hormones
Fall 2020 Semester
ANT 476/576: Nutritional Anthropology
ANT 102: Introduction to Anthropology
Spring 2020 Semester
ANT 102: Introduction to Anthropology
ANT 413/513: Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean
Fall 2019 Semester
ANT 440: Culture
Curriculum Vitae
Publications
Manuscripts:
Cheyney, M.J., Henning, M., Horan, H., Ferguson, M., & Bovbjerg, M. 2019. “From Policy to Practice: Women’s Experiences of Breastfeeding-Friendly Worksites, Part 1.” Clinical Lactation. doi: 10.1891/2158-0782.10.3.104
Cheyney, M.J., Henning, M., Horan, H., Ferguson, M., & Bovbjerg, M. 2019. “From Policy to Practice: Women’s Experiences of Breastfeeding-Friendly Worksites, Part 2.” Clinical Lactation. doi: 10.1891/2158-0782.10.3.113
Horan, H., Cheyney, M., Nako, E., and Bovbjerg, M. 2020. Maternal Stress and the ZIKV Epidemic in Puerto Rico. Journal of Critical Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2020.1808189
Traci, M.A., Horan, H., Russette, H., Goe, R., Ware, D., et al. 2020. Improving mammography access for women with disabilities: Outcomes of the CDC’s right to know campaign. Front Womens Health 5: doi: 10.15761/FWH.1000188
Horan, H., Cheyney, M., Caldari, V., and Piovanetti, Y. 2021. “La crisis de la atención de maternidad: Experts’ perspectives on the syndemic of poor maternal and infant health outcomes in Puerto Rico”. Human Organization. https://doi.org/10.17730/1938-3525-80.1.2
Albright, D. L., McDaniel, J. T., Suntai, Z., Horan, H., & York, M. 2021. Pregnancy and binge drinking An intersectionality theory perspective using veteran status and racial identity. Journal of Maternal and Child Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-021-03171-x
Albright, D. L., McDaniel, J. T., Suntai, Z., Horan. H., & Hirsch, B. Is subjective cognitive decline associated with behavioral health outcomes among mothers? Women’s Health Issues. Under review.
Hernandez-Reif, M., Horan, H., Nickelson, J., Lee, A., Godoy, G., et al. Collaborating and Partnering with Community Members to Effect Health Change for Mothers, Children, and Families in Rural West Alabama. Journal of Community Practice. Under review.
Horan, H., Cheyney, M., Gomez-Torres, E., Eick, G., Bovbjerg, M., and Snodgrass, J. Hair Cortisol Concentrations Across the Childbearing Year in Puerto Rico. American Journal of Human Biology. Under review. Horan, H., Ryu, J., Stone, J., and Thurston, L. Hair Cortisol Concentrations Across the Childbearing Year in Puerto Rico. Birth. Under review.
Contributions:
Horan, H. with B. Ruder and C.L. Everson. 2018. “A Daya’s Omen: Chronicling Melissa Cheyney as a Scholar, Postmodern Midwife and Activist.” In Ways of Knowing About Birth, edits by Robbie Davis-Floyd, 249-254. Long Grove, Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc.