ABOUT

Our Story

In 2018, Dr. Kyrah Brown established Maternal and Reproductive Health Equity (MRHE) Research Lab [formerly the MCH Equity Lab]. Prior to establishing the Lab, Dr. Brown spent nearly five years providing research supervision and training to students and early career scholars in both practice and academic settings. The MRHE Lab is pronounced “Emery”, which is also the name of a natural mineral that is used as an abrasive agent to polish metals. This name  represents how our goal is to produce research that can be leveraged as a tool to wear down existing social and structural inequities that negatively impact the health of Black and other racially minoritized people.

Our Research Focus

1. Preconception and perinatal cardiometabolic health
2. Maternal, sexual and reproductive health
3. Perinatal mental health
4. Person/Patient-centered outcomes research (e.g., care quality, care experiences)

Our Guiding Frameworks

1. Research Justice Frameworks
2. Community-Based Participatory Research
3. Public Health Critical Race Praxis
4. Black Feminist Health Science Studies
5. Transnational Black Feminist Perspective
6. Intersectionality Framework
7. Chambers’ Structural Racism Framework
8. ROOT Social and Structural Determinants of Maternal and Infant Mortality Framework

Our Approach to the Work

1. Collaborative, equitable community-academic partnerships;
   2. Strategies that address multiple levels beyond the individual;
   3. Recognition and leveraging of existing community strengths; and
   4. Investment in strengthening the community’s capacity to understand, engage in, and lead research