Holly Horan
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Holly Horan
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getting an equitable start 


Hello ! I am a clinical, biocultural medical anthropologist who is interested in optimizing maternal health and improving birth outcomes in the US and Hispanix/Latinx communities! 

About Me 

Holly Horan
​I joined the Anthropology faculty at the University of Alabama in the fall of 2019. As an academic and birth and postpartum doula (https://www.dona.org/what-is-a-doula/), I study maternal health and birth outcomes using a multi-level, biocultural anthropological approach. In particular, my research focuses on identifying the intersections between individual, maternal and infant health outcomes and structural inequities. In Puerto Rico, I conducted a mixed-methods research project on maternal perceptions of stress and timing of delivery by triangulating ethnographic research methods with structured surveys and hair cortisol sampling.  I have also worked in public health as a program coordinator for a culturally and socially-matched doula program for Medicaid priority populations in Oregon (https://www.valleybirthandbeyond.org/about/). As an anthropologist, I use the critical medical anthropological framework of syndemics  (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014067361730003X) to understand the complex relationship(s) between the lived experience of pregnant individuals, structural inequities, and poor birth outcomes. I prioritize conducting community-led research (https://namati.org/resources/community-action-guide-on-community-led-research/), where researchers and community partners work collaboratively to identify and construct research projects that  not only benefit the academic community but also provide useful information and tools for the community partners themselves. 

    My additional areas of research include: 
                              
  • Decolonizing anthropology
  • Developmental origins of health and disease
  • Alternative models of maternity/reproductive health care
  • Social justice 
  • Health systems reform

 Other websites: 
  https://www.sylff.org/fellows/holly-lynn-horan/


MAM Mujeres Ayudando Madres Logo
Dr. Horan holding child conducting an interview with a nursing mother in Puerto Rico in 2016.
Dr. Horan with Puerto Rican partners and her doctoral advisor, Dr. Melissa Cheyney in Puerto Rico in the summer of 2015.
A photo from La Milla de Oro Protest in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico on May 1st, 2017. The photo was taken by Dr. Horan.
The Community Doula Program: Serving Families in Linn, Benton, and Lincoln counties.
Two doulas in training with balloons under their shirt to imitate pregnancy. They are being shown how to conduct simple relaxation techniques for laboring women.
Two doulas in training with balloons over their stomachs to imitate pregnancy. One doula is performing a relaxation technique on the other by massaging her temples.
Two doulas in training. One doula is performing a relaxation technique on the other by massaging the other doulas jaw line.

CUrrent students 

I would like to work with students who have an interest in clinical medical and/or biocultural anthropology,  maternal and infant health, and/or health systems reform. 

Courses 

Fall 2019 Semester 
ANTH 440: Culture 
ANTH 440 Syllabus.pdf
File Size: 242 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Curriculum Vitae

CV.pdf
File Size: 145 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Publications 

Contributions: 
Horan, H. with B. Ruder and C.L. Everson. 2018. “A Daya’s Omen: Chronicling Melissa Cheyney as a Scholar, Postmodern Midwife and Activist.” In Ways of Knowing About Birth, edits by Robbie Davis-Floyd, 249-254. Long Grove, Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc.
​
Articles:
Cheyney, M.J., Henning, M., Horan, H., Ferguson, M., & Bovbjerg, M. 2019. “From Policy to Practice: Women’s Experiences of Breastfeeding-Friendly Worksites, Part 1.”  Clinical Lactation. doi: 10.1891/2158-0782.10.3.104

Cheyney, M.J., Henning, M., Horan, H., Ferguson, M., & Bovbjerg, M. 2019. “From Policy to Practice: Women’s Experiences of Breastfeeding-Friendly Worksites, Part 2.” Clinical Lactation.  doi: ​10.1891/2158-0782.10.3.113
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