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INSPIRE Lab Members

Liana Petruzzi
Principal Investigator

Dr. Liana Petruzzi is a dually appointed assistant professor in the Health Studies Department of the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Education. She is a health equity researcher and licensed clinical social worker. She has worked in healthcare and hospital settings for over a decade, with a focus on interdisciplinary intervention implementation, evaluation, and healthcare policies.
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Her research is focused on how interdisciplinary interventions with community health workers, social workers, doulas and other care professionals can improve health and mental health outcomes among marginalized populations. She is particularly interested in improving healthcare access and reducing health inequities among pregnant and postpartum individuals.

Asia AliResearch Assistant

Asia Ali is a second-year Public Health student at Â鶹ÊÓƵ on the Pre-Med track, with a keen interest in maternal and infant health. As a research assistant, she contributes to community-driven projects, including her current work with Healthy Start Central Texas (HSCT), a multi-organization initiative to identify and eliminate disparities in perinatal health among Black women in Central Texas.

Asia brings experience in synthesizing data and developing actionable plans to address the systemic inequities and inequalities in maternal health outcomes. Her academic and professional journey is deeply rooted in her commitment to improving maternal health equity, which aligns with her long-term goal of becoming an Ob-Gyn specializing in reproductive health.

Alex DillerResearch Assistant

Alex is an international relations student and Community-Based Research Scholar at Â鶹ÊÓƵ, focusing on East Asia and global health. His research interests lie in the application of the CBPaR model in communities, and how community engagement influences policy development. He has conducted research on language barriers preventing access to housing and social services and provider perceptions of healthcare transitions from pediatric to adult care in the cerebral palsy community.Ìý

As a research assistant, he is supporting the writing of several qualitative and mixed methods manuscripts from Dr. Petruzzi’s CHW and SW National Workgroup study. His role includes the introduction’s literature review and secondary qualitative analysis.

Rishit YokananthResearch Assistant

Rishit is an undergraduate neuroscience honors student at the University of Texas at Austin. He is invested in the intersectionality between biotech, public health, and policy to create a more equitable healthcare system. Rishit has done research on maternal health outcomes, healthcare delivery, AI in healthcare, mental health, and HIV.Ìý

As a research assistant, he led a secondary analysis of mental health outcomes among a sample of postpartum Latina individuals in Central Texas (PI: Marissa Burgermaster). He also co-presented the findings at the American Public Health Association 2024 with Dr. Petruzzi.

Nidhi Monga NakraGraduate Research Assistant

Nidhi Monga Nakra is a researcher and consultant working at the intersection of health and social systems to advance equity. Her expertise includes vaccine policy, coalition capacity-building, and community engagement. She has experience in public, private, and international sectors, and has held leadership roles with The Immunization Partnership, CDC, and Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Her past research focused on reducing disparities in vaccine uptake among racial and ethnic minority groups through community-engaged research and interdisciplinary collaboration. Nidhi is pursuing her DrPH in Health Equity and Social Justice at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.Ìý

Nidhi first started working with Dr. Petruzzi during her practicum on qualitative methods, which included training in community-engaged qualitative data analysis and was the primary coder of the CHW and SW National Workgroup study. She presented some of the findings at the American Public Health Association 2024 and is working on several publications from this study.

Sophia Ayala
Research Assistant

Sophia is an undergraduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, where she is completing a Psychology (B.S.) and Latin American Studies degree under the Liberal Arts Honors program. Her areas of interest surround mental health interventions, maternal mental health, and health equity for the Latino population and other underrepresented populations. Ìý

As a research assistant, she is supporting a systematic review of social work interventions in perinatal settings. Her role included reviewing abstracts and full-text articles, data extraction and manuscript writing.

Emma Abraham
Research Assistant

Emma Abraham is an undergraduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, where she is completing a Plan II Honors degree and a Public Health degree under the Dean’s Scholars Honors Program. She works at the Department of Population Health at Dell Medical School as a student researcher, and her areas of interest surround maternal health, nutrition, global food access, and sustainable food systems.

As a research assistant, she is supporting a systematic review of social work interventions in perinatal settings. Her role included the introduction’s literature review and manuscript writing.