Roberta Wyn is a health policy researcher and data analyst whose work focuses on social justice and human rights issues related to health. She examines population-based and community health issues for groups historically underserved or who experience a disproportionate share of health risks. She was Associate Director of Research at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research from 1994-2011, involved with strategic development, planning, and funding strategies for the Center and helped manage the Center’s research, public service, and teaching activities. Her research, scanning over 70 reports, briefs, and articles, examines differences in access to health care and treatment by income and race/ethnicity; health disparities across populations in the distribution of disease, including asthma, diabetes, and hypertension; mental health treatment barriers; and the effects of policies on health and income inequities. She was Co-Principal Investigator for the Center’s public service program Data and Democracy, working with community organizations to facilitate their use of health and scientific data for their advocacy and community engagement programs. She also was Investigator on the NIEHS-funded ALERT program, a community training and research partnership to support community efforts to combat disproportionate exposure to air pollution in low-income communities in Los Angeles County and to improve community health. She is now a Center Faculty Associate.
Currently, Roberta is a research consultant at the Public Health Institute in Oakland, CA, a position she has held since 2011. Her research focuses on the intersection of health and criminal justice issues. She works on the planning and development of a Foundation-funded statewide initiative to address the reentry challenges of formerly incarcerated women. Her research examines the extent and impact of physical health and mental health needs, including substance abuse, trauma, violence, and post-traumatic stress disorder, on incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women’s ability to successfully reenter and avoid recidivism. The goal of the research is to direct the development of evidence-based health recommendations for a state-wide reentry initiative. Complementing this effort, she is a member of the UC system-wide Criminal Justice & Health Consortium.
Roberta is also Co-Director of Development and a member of the Strategic Planning Committee for the San Francisco Collaborative Against Human Trafficking (SFCAHT), a collaborative committed to ending sex and labor trafficking through collaboration, education, outreach, advocacy, policy, and support of survivors in the Bay Area. She works on grant and funding approaches and is involved with strategic development and planning. SFCAHT is a multi-agency collaborative comprised of community organizations; survivor-lead groups; foster youth programs; city, state, and federal law enforcement; human rights attorneys; city and state agencies; and community members working toward ending commercial exploitation.
Roberta received her PhD at UCLA in Public Health and her MPH at UC Berkeley.
AND- Roberta has been put in many hours helping with CESP’s 30th Anniversary and the Transition planning!!