Nalani Thomas is a maternal and child health services researcher and legal epidemiologist. Using mixed methods and guided by public health ethics, her research examines how built, legal, and organizational contexts within health systems shape maternal health care delivery, access, and outcomes. Her work is particularly interested in understanding how policies and health systems create environments that contribute to geographic and population-level differences in maternal and child health.
As a rural health research postdoctoral associate at the University of Minnesota, her research focuses on rural health policy and access to maternity care. She earned her PhD in Population Health from Arizona State University, where her doctoral research examined state-level perinatal mental health policy and its relationship to health care delivery. Across her research, she seeks to generate evidence that can inform more equitable health policy and strengthen systems of care for women, children, and families.