219: Sharing Aloha in Public Health Academia with Bryce Takenaka, MPH, CPH

Interview with Bryce Takenaka, MPH, CPH

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His journey to becoming a PhD student in Social and Behavioral Science and the challenges that come with that
His scholarship grounds critical and participatory approaches to mitigate structural place-based oppression among Black and Brown queer and transgender communities
How he centers community voices through his work using geospatial mixed-methods and epistemic justice-oriented approaches to inform responsible storytelling and decision-making to forward health and HIV justice.
Black feminism offers a lens to tackle systemic structures and advance health equity.
Research and mentorship are pivotal in shaping public health perspectives.
Public health should focus on promoting joy and liberation alongside addressing health disparities.
Why he created and shares knowledge on his platforms The Epic Demiologist to educate others and advocates for change.

Bryce Takenaka, MPH, CPH is PhD student in Public Health: Social and Behavioral Sciences at Yale School of Public Health while also being Founder and Director of REACH (Research & Education Advancing Community Health Equity)

He conferred a Bachelor’s in Public Health from Lindenwood University where he served as an Undergraduate Racial Equity Research Assistant.

He then got his Master of Public Health in Epidemiology at Saint Louis University working as a GIS Analyst at the Lincoln County Health Department, a Research Assistant at the Taylor Geospatial institute, and a Graduate Research Assistant, Teaching Assistant, and Implementation Science Research Assistant at SLU College of Public Health and Social Justice.

He is a current PhD in Public Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences at Yale University where he also works as a Graduate Research Assistant, T32 Pre-Doctoral Research Fellow, and Graduate Teaching Fellow. He additionally serves as a Research Mentor at Lumiere Education.