Thanks for visiting my website! I’m a professor, social epidemiologist, visual artist, and former Fulbright Scholar. I’m currently a visiting scholar at the University of Chicago, and I direct the Berkeley Center for Cultural Humility. I also run Research Lateral, or ReLateral, a “community lab” focused on health disparities. Prior to this, I have held enriching roles inside-and-outside of academia, working as an epidemiologist, program evaluator, and research manager at a variety of social services and healthcare institutions.

I earned a Doctorate in Sociology from the University of Chicago (2020), a Master’s of Public Health from Columbia University (2010) and a Bachelor’s of Arts in anthropology from the University of Michigan (2008). I’ve written for The New York Times, TIME Magazine, POLITICO, Fortune Magazine,  and The Los Angeles Times, among other outlets. To learn more about my background and see my work, please click here.

My current focus is on what I like to call the Health Disparities Research Industrial Complex – check out my  publication on it and then see the follow-up piece here. You can contact me at jezell@berkeley.edu.

-Jerel