Education & Affiliations
Biography
My work focuses on issues related to health equity, maternal and child health, reproductive health, and violence, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean. My training in both medical anthropology and public health shapes my research interests and perspective, and my research questions are driven by the goal of addressing social inequalities and promoting health equity. I have worked on projects related to gender-based violence, obstetric violence in public maternity care in the Dominican Republic, the indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on women and children, and community-based health services in Indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon. I recently supported research projects related to family planning and gender equality for the High Impact Practices and Family Planning team within the Bureau of Global Health at USAID, as part of the Global Health STAR Program and the Public Health Institute. At Tulane, I work as a co-investigator and research assistant on projects for the Collaborative Group for Health Equity in Latin America (CHELA).
Honors & Awards
- 2023, Gaetano Bazzano MD, PhD Award for Professional Advancement, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
- 2019, AAA Conference Student Travel Award, Society for Medical Anthropology
- 2019, Stone Center Summer Field Research Grant, Tulane University Stone Center for Latin American Studies
- 2019, Penny Jessop Fund Award, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
- 2018, Dean’s Research Council Merit Scholarship, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
- 2018, Dean’s Scholarship, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
- 2016, Stone Center Summer Field Research Grant, Tulane University Stone Center for Latin American Studies
Publications
Preaux, A., Castro, A. (Forthcoming). Perspectives on intersectionality from public health and medical anthropology to promote health equity and reproductive justice. In P. Geller (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook to Feminist Anthropology.
Preaux, A., Castro, A. (2023). Obstetricians and the delivery of obstetric violence: an ethnographic account from the Dominican Republic. In A. Premkumar, R. Davis-Flloyd (Eds.), Obstetric Violence and Systemic Disparities: Can Obstetrics Be Humanized and Decolonized? (pp. 23-43). New York: Berghahn Books.
Carrasco, M., Ohkubo, S., Preaux, A., Micker, A., Galavotti, C., Raney, L., Abdulmumin, S., Velez May, A., Quinn, H. (2023). Assessing use, usefulness, and application of the High Impact Practices in Family Planning briefs and strategic planning guides. Global Health: Science and Practice. 11(4).
Yukich, J., Worges, M., Gage, A., Hotchkiss, D., Preaux, A., Murray, C., Cappa, C. (2021). Projecting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on child marriage. Journal of Adolescent Health. 69(6).
Dissertation Info
My dissertation research uses life course theory to study gender-based violence among women in the Dominican Republic. Using life history interviews and surveys with women whose children participate in a national program for early childhood development, I examine patterns of violence over different stages of life and intergenerationally. I also consider the influence of poverty, gender inequality, racism, and social exclusion in shaping women's experiences with violence and perpetuating both health and gender inequity. Using mediation analysis, I aim to describe the association between maternal adverse childhood experiences and the use of violent forms of discipline with young children, as well as the roles of depression, stress, discrimination, and intimate partner violence as potential mediators of this relationship.
