{"id":4019,"date":"2021-07-20T14:53:03","date_gmt":"2021-07-20T21:53:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nau.edu\/center-health-equity-research\/?p=4019"},"modified":"2024-06-04T14:14:24","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T21:14:24","slug":"spotlight-amanda-pollitt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/blog\/spotlight-amanda-pollitt\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotlight: Amanda Pollitt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Amanda<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With an extensive background in LGBTQ health equity, Amanda Pollitt<\/strong> adds a new and important specialization focus to the Center for Community Health and Engaged Research\u2019s burgeoning offerings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though she only arrived at CHER a year ago, she quickly assimilated and is already working with the data team on collecting and analyzing data for the Community-Engagement Research Alliance Against COVID-19 in Disproportionately Affected Communities grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also coauthored a publication<\/a> with Sara Shuman<\/strong>, assistant clinical professor in NAU\u2019s Department of Health Sciences, on intimate partner violence among unauthorized immigrant women, now published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pollitt said that even though it was difficult to move during a pandemic, it wasn\u2019t difficult for her to accept the job at CHER.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis position was my top choice even before I interviewed,\u201d she said. \u201cSo although this past year was not how I was expecting to start an assistant professor position, I kept reminding myself of all the things I was excited about: my new colleagues, CHER and Flagstaff. I\u2019m excited to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to arriving at CHER, Pollitt earned her doctorate at the University of Arizona in Family Studies and Human Development, then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Texas at Austin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pollitt said that she wanted to become a clinical psychologist until she spent a year as a crisis worker at a rural hospital in her hometown. She said she realized then that her heart was in research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven though I thought I wanted to go into clinical psychology, I didn\u2019t have a clear sense of what I wanted to specialize in,\u201d she said. \u201cI was looking into potential faculty mentors when I found someone studying LGBTQ health; I suddenly had this immediate gut feeling of,\u2018That\u2019s what I want to do!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said it wasn\u2019t until sometime later that she realized that she was drawn to this topic because of her own sexuality as well as a strong sense of social justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI might not be a \u2018boots on the ground\u2019 activist, but I can support the work of others through my research,\u201d Pollitt said. \u201cUltimately, this led me to the work of Stephen Russell, who at that time was faculty at the University of Arizona in Family Studies and Human Development. I had no idea that interdisciplinary fields like that existed, and it ended up being a perfect fit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said that Russell was an \u201cincredibly supportive mentor\u201d who took her with him when he moved institutions to the University of Texas at Austin. She was still a doctoral student at UA, and was also involved in the Population Research Center. She was able to do postdoctoral fellowship with Debra Umberson, a professor of sociology and director of the Center on Aging and Population Sciences at UT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHer work on gender, social contexts, and health really shaped how I research sexual and gender minority health disparities,\u201d Pollitt said of Umberson. \u201cBoth Stephen and Deb pushed me to think carefully about how broader social systems impact health. I was very lucky to have brilliant, supportive mentors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said that her mother was also a strong mentor in her life. Though neither of her parents finished high school, her mother was adamant about her pursuing her education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe did everything she could to ensure I had every educational opportunity possible,\u201d Pollitt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said her mother worked three jobs, all while applying for scholarships for her daughter, so she could attend summer programs and other activities she was passionate about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe sacrificed a lot and I wouldn\u2019t be here if it weren\u2019t for her,\u201d Pollitt said. \u201cShe\u2019s an incredible woman.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking toward the future, she recently submitted an application to the National Institutes of Health to fund her \u201cdream project\u201d on relationship quality and health among bisexual young adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a busy year,\u201d Pollitt said. \u201cI\u2019m excited about the opportunity to expand CHER\u2019s research focus on sexual and gender minorities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With an extensive background in LGBTQ health equity, Amanda Pollitt adds a new and important specialization focus to the Center for Community Health and Engaged Research\u2019s burgeoning offerings. Though she only arrived at CHER a year ago, she quickly assimilated and is already working with the data team on collecting and analyzing data for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":286,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[153,104,84,444,155],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4019"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/286"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4019"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12797,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4019\/revisions\/12797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/center-community-health-engaged-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}