Crystal Patil

Email Address: cpatil@uic.edu
College: Nursing Department: Women, Child, and Family Health Sciences
Secondary Department: Anthropology
Title: Associate Professor
Office: CON 806 Phone: 996-4327
Webpage: https://www.nursing.uic.edu/faculty-staff/crystal-l-patil-phd
Participating in the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Research Awards program: Yes

Research Interest:
I am a medical anthropologist in the College of Nursing. The motivation for my research stems from my concern for social justice and health inequities experienced by underprivileged and/or marginalized communities. My research covers three health disparities areas: 1) the status of maternal and child health and health systems in low-resource settings and countries (sub-Saharan Africa); 2) the refugee resettlement experience and factors underlying documented health disparities; and 3) health systems and discrimination experiences for Black/African Americans living with the most common genetically-inherently chronic disease, sickle cell disease.

Minimum time commitment in hours per week: 5-10

Qualifications of a Student:
Student must be a motivated and dedicated individual who is willing to learn a range of methods, is able to work independently with guidance and is resourceful.

Brief Summary of what is expected from the student:
Project 1 (2018-2020): Implementation study evaluating what happens when a community takes over ownership of an evidence-based HIV prevention program in rural Malawi. Assistance with literature searches to read and summarizing articles is needed as well as assistance to organize and analyze our qualitative data. This project can be used toward a capstone, independent study, etc.

Project 2 (2018-2022): Group prenatal care in Malawi. Assistance with literature searches and to read and summarize articles is needed. Help with team organization and initiation of data collection.

Project 3 (2017-2019): Epidemiology of maternal health outcomes in East Africa. Must be familiar with statistics (SPSS or SAS). This project can be used toward a capstone, independent study, etc.

Project 4 (2018-2020): GIS and health. Must be familiar with GIS programs. This project can be used toward a capstone, independent study, etc.

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