Corelle Nakamura MPH

About Me

I am a Public Health Professional dedicated to racial justice, health equity and building a more just world. My work, guided by these interests, led me to be involved in research and evaluation related to sex trafficking, childhood trauma, addiction and mental health. Within these areas, I saw the ways structural racism was the fundamental cause of inequities and the importance of community based anti-racist research. 

Through my volunteer work with Headwaters Foundation for Justice, I gained an understanding of the breadth and depth of the effects of structural racism in Minnesota and a profound appreciation for the incredible work being done for and by community-led BIPOC organizations. Experiences with Headwaters impressed upon me the importance of centering those most affected, the value of dismantling structural racism within systems and moving towards collective liberation.

Now at CARHE, I coordinate research tasks and serve as point of contact for our community participants. My key projects are the NIH-funded Exploration of the Relationship among Police Violence and Reproductive Health Outcomes, which is a project to understand the potential impact that living in a community with highly publicized incidents of police brutality has on pregnancy and birth outcomes for Black birthing people. I also contribute to the Hennepin County Evaluation project, which evaluates a reproductive justice plan at two community clinics focusing on Black and Indigenous birthing people.

I earned my BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Mills College and my MPH in Community Health Promotion from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

Email: [email protected]