Biography

Dr. Liana Richardson is an interdisciplinary health scholar whose research focuses on the social determinants and consequences of racial inequalities in maternal and child health. She also evaluates policies and programs designed to address these phenomena and improve health among the mothers and children most negatively impacted by them.  Dr. Richardson’s work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in peer-reviewed journals, such as the Journal of Health & Social Behavior, Annals of Epidemiology, and SSM-Population Health. She was also a contributing author for two edited books on maternal and child health problems, programs, and policies. 

At UVa, Dr. Richardson teaches several upper-level courses on the social determinants of health and health care inequalities, and an introductory course on race, class, and gender. She is also a Research Affiliate for the Equity Center, a member of the Advisory Board for the Distinguished Majors Program in Human Biology, and a Faculty Advisor for the College of Arts and Sciences. She simultaneously maintains Research Affiliate status at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Carolina Population Center.

Before embarking on an academic career, Dr. Richardson spent over a decade conducting applied public health research, program evaluations, and policy assessments for federal public health agencies and nonprofit organizations, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Cancer Society.  She earned a Ph.D. in public health and an M.A. in medical anthropology from UNC-Chapel Hill, where she subsequently completed postdoctoral fellowships in demography and sociology and held a faculty position. She also earned a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from Emory University and a B.A. in human biology from Stanford University.