Michelle Nakphong, PhD
Assistant Professor
Medicine
School of Medicine

I am a social epidemiologist and my research focuses on how social exclusion and inclusive policies impact the health of marginalized populations. Currently, my work focuses on guaranteed income as an inclusive policy as well as immigrant policies, housing, and sexual and reproductive health care.

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Building on over 2 decades of community-based policy advocacy work, I strive to amplify voices from low-income and minoritized communities.

My research addresses the core question: Can fostering social inclusion reduce health inequities? I build from a social exclusion framework conceived by Naila Kabeer (2000) and take a structural and policy approach to examining people's lived experiences. I use quantitative and qualitative methods to illuminate the complex mechanisms that underlie health disparities. Ultimately, I aim to influence inclusive policymaking and programs to promote health equity.

Awards

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• Emerging Scholar, UCSF Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, 2024-2025
• Inductee, Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health, 2023
• Health Equity Challenge Award, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and MolinaCares, 2022
• Best Research Project, UCLA Community Health Sciences, 2022
• Juneal Marie Smith Fellowship, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, 2021
• Best Paper, UCLA Community Health Sciences, 2020

Education & Training

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• Postdoctoral Scholar Division of Prevention Sciences UCSF 4/2024
• Inclusive Research Mentor Training 06/2023
• PhD Community Health Sciences UCLA 09/2022
• Policy Fellowship Policy Communication Population Reference Bureau 06/2022
• BA Public Health, Natural Sciences Johns Hopkins University 05/2003

Grants and Projects

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• Increasing financial and health equity among low income black youth and young adults, NIH, 2021-2026
• Evaluating Guaranteed Income as a policy solution for housing instability among low-income Black emerging adults, UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations, 2023-2024
• , NICHD, 2020-2021

Publications (22)

Top publication keywords:
MothersMaternal Health ServicesChild HealthPovertyUrban PopulationKenyaEmigration and ImmigrationAftercareExposure to ViolenceEmigrants and ImmigrantsSpouse AbuseMalnutritionMental HealthPostpartum PeriodPatient Satisfaction

• Housing instability patterns among low-income, urban Black young adults in California and associations with mental health outcomes: baseline data from a randomized waitlist-controlled trial.
  BMC public health 2024 Nakphong MK, Bright DJ, Koreitem A, Mocello AR, Lisha NE, Leslie HH, Estrada I, Libby MK, Lippman SA, Lightfoot MA
• The "disproportionate costs" of immigrant policy on the health of Latinx and Asian immigrants.
  Social science & medicine (1982) 2024 Young MT, Sudhinaraset M, Tafolla S, Nakphong M, Yan Y, Kietzman K
• Integrating support persons into maternity care and associations with quality of care: a postpartum survey of mothers and support persons in Kenya.
  BMC pregnancy and childbirth 2024 Nakphong MK, Afulani PA, Beltrán-Sánchez H, Opot J, Sudhinaraset M
• Person-centered abortion care scale: Validation for medication abortion in the United States.
  Contraception 2024 Sudhinaraset M, Gipson JD, Nakphong MK, Soun B, Afulani PA, Upadhyay UD, Patil R
• The legacy of immigration policies and employment exclusion: Assessing the relationship between employment exclusions and immigrant health.
  SSM - population health 2024 Lee KF, Nakphong MK, Young MT

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• Persistent effects of legal status on healthcare access and outcomes: findings from a state-wide representative cross-sectional survey in California
  BMJ Public Health 2024 May Sudhinaraset, Lei Chen, Nadereh Pourat, Michelle Kao Nakphong, Maria-Elena De Trinidad Young
• Persistent effects of legal status on healthcare access and outcomes: findings from a state-wide representative cross-sectional survey in California.
  BMJ public health 2024 Sudhinaraset M, Chen L, Pourat N, Nakphong MK, De Trinidad Young ME
• Can a quality improvement intervention improve person-centred maternity care in Kenya?
  Sexual and reproductive health matters 2023 Sudhinaraset M, Giessler KM, Nakphong MK, Munson MM, Golub GM, Diamond-Smith NG, Opot J, Green CE
• A guaranteed income intervention to improve the health and financial well-being of low-income black emerging adults: study protocol for the Black Economic Equity Movement randomized controlled crossover trial.
  Frontiers in public health 2023 Lippman SA, Libby MK, Nakphong MK, Arons A, Balanoff M, Mocello AR, Arnold EA, Shade SB, Qurashi F, Downing A, Moore A, Dow WH, Lightfoot MA
• Access to support during childbirth?: women's preferences and experiences of support person integration in a cross-sectional facility-based survey.
  BMC pregnancy and childbirth 2023 Nakphong MK, Afulani PA, Opot J, Sudhinaraset M
• Maternity Care at the Intersections of Language, Ethnicity, and Immigration Status: A Qualitative Study.
  Women's health issues : official publication of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health 2023 Sudhinaraset M, Kolodner RA, Nakphong MK
• Person-centred sexual and reproductive health: A call for standardized measurement.
  Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy 2023 Afulani PA, Nakphong MK, Sudhinaraset M
• Contemporary Marriage in Cambodia.
  Journal of family issues 2023 Heuveline P, Nakphong MK
• Contraceptive use and consistency and the role of deferred action for childhood arrivals: A cross-sectional survey of undocumented young adults.
  Sexual & reproductive healthcare : official journal of the Swedish Association of Midwives 2022 Sudhinaraset M, Choi HY, Nakphong MK, Woofter R, Brindis CD
• Social exclusion at the intersections of immigration, employment, and healthcare policy: A qualitative study of Mexican and Chinese immigrants in California.
  Social science & medicine (1982) 2022 Nakphong MK, De Trinidad Young ME, Morales B, Guzman-Ruiz IY, Chen L, Kietzman KG
• Can changes to improve person-centred maternity care be spread across public health facilities in Uttar Pradesh, India?
  Sexual and reproductive health matters 2021 Sudhinaraset M, Giessler K, Nakphong MK, Roy KP, Sahu AB, Sharma K, Montagu D, Green C
• Association between newborn separation, maternal consent and health outcomes: findings from a longitudinal survey in Kenya.
  BMJ open 2021 Nakphong MK, Sacks E, Opot J, Sudhinaraset M
• The association between social ties and depression among Asian and Pacific Islander undocumented young adults.
  BMC public health 2021 Ro A, Nakphong MK, Choi HY, Nguyen A, Sudhinaraset M
• Socio-economic status and the double burden of malnutrition in Cambodia between 2000 and 2014: overweight mothers and stunted children.
  Public health nutrition 2021 Nakphong MK, Beltrán-Sánchez H
• Results of a person-centered maternal health quality improvement intervention in Uttar Pradesh, India.
  PloS one 2020 Montagu D, Giessler K, Nakphong MK, Roy KP, Sahu AB, Sharma K, Green C, Sudhinaraset M
• A comparison of intensive vs. light-touch quality improvement interventions for maternal health in Uttar Pradesh, India.
  BMC health services research 2020 Montagu D, Giessler K, Nakphong MK, Green C, Roy KP, Sahu AB, Sharma K, Sudhinarset M
• Intimate partner violence and childhood illnesses in Cambodia: a cross-sectional study.
  Archives of disease in childhood 2020 Nakphong MK, von Ehrenstein OS