PRINCIPLE INVESTIGATOR

Dr. Allison Crawford, PhD, RN is an assistant professor at the University of Texas Health at San Antonio’s School of Nursing, where she conducts health disparity research involving childbearing communities influenced by incarceration. As a registered obstetrical nurse with post-doctoral training in digital health, Dr. Crawford has been engaging in research with women on community supervision since 2016 and is an expert on the barriers women experience who have criminal justice oversight. Her research directly informed two Texas state laws passed in 2019 (HB 1651) and 2021 (HB 1308) to improve healthcare for women in Texas county jails. Crawford co-leads a state network of stakeholders who meet to discuss research, programs, and policies related to the health of people who have criminal justice involvement. Her academic partnerships and strong connections to community-based organizations make her uniquely suited to lead this project. The long-term goal of her research is to develop health interventions that enable self-efficacy and access to care discreetly and affordably using technology. Dr. Crawford’s research is currently funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01HD103634-03S2 (Site PI, Crawford; Parent PI, Rebecca Shlafer, UMN).

ALLISON D. CRAWFORD, PHD, RN

Our team brings together experts in maternal/child health, criminology, sociology, policy, and machine learning. The team has considerable experience conducting research in underserved communities, particularly those influenced by incarceration.