Maggie Acosta
Senior Research Specialist
Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences
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About
Maggie Acosta is a public health researcher with experience in both rural and urban areas in the United States, India, and Peru. She uses a multi-scalar, mixed methods approach to better understand structural determinants of health and help strengthen health infrastructure. Her vision for health research is to not only study inequities and power, but to leverage the research process itself to enhance community capacity and build power as a central component in achieving health equity. Most recently, she worked in adolescent sexual health with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and in reducing recidivism at the Cook County Department of Corrections. While in Chicago, she has also worked closely with the Chicago Recovery Alliance, a grassroots harm-reduction agency, to reduce drug-related health inequities and build power among people who use drugs. She holds a BA in Neuroscience from Bowdoin College and an MA in Social Sciences with a focus in Medical Anthropology from the University of Chicago.