Monica Rose McLemore (born 1969) is an

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nurse who is an

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Family Health Family medicine is a medical specialty within primary care that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body. The specialist, who is usually a primary ...

Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco. Her work considers reproductive justice and medical care for marginalised communities, with an overarching aim to eliminate healthcare inequalities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, McLemore studied the impact of coronavirus disease during pregnancy.

Early life and education

McLemore was born as a

preemie Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the birth of a baby at fewer than 37 weeks gestational age, as opposed to full-term delivery at approximately 40 weeks. Extreme preterm is less than 28 weeks, very early preterm birth is between 2 ...

(pre-term birth). She had no medical members of her family, but decided to become a nurse when she was eight years old. She studied nursing at The College of New Jersey. She earned a

Master of Public Health The Master of Public Health or Master of Philosophy in Public Health (M.P.H.), Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH), Master of Medical Science in Public Health (MMSPH) and the Doctor of Public Health (Dr.P.H.), International Masters for Healt ...

at San Francisco State University. McLemore moved to the University of California, San Francisco for her graduate studies, where she studied

CA-125 Mucin-16 (MUC-16) also known as Ovarian cancer-related tumor marker CA125 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MUC16'' gene. MUC-16 is a member of the mucin family glycoproteins. MUC-16 has found application as a tumor marker or bioma ...

; an antigen that is associated with tumours.

Research and career

McLemore studies the relationship between physical and mental health in low-income communities of colour. Her research makes use of

reproductive justice Reproductive justice is a critical feminist framework that was invented as a response to United States reproductive politics. The three core values of reproductive justice are the right to have a child, the right to not have a child, and the righ ...

theory; which argues that people who become pregnant have the right to decide how they want the birth to be. Rooted in reproductive justice theory, McLemore launched the Saving Our Ladies from early births And Reducing Stress (''SOLARS'') study, which looks to understand the impact of stress, anxiety and racism on gestational duration in Black and Latina communities. McLemore was part of the preterm birth initiative (PTBi- California), which looks to understand why preterm births mainly occur in low-income women of colour. PTBi-California looks to mitigate for the disproportionate impact that preterm births have on already marginalised communities; and to work with physicians and educators to deserve programmes that better support these communities. In 2020 McLemore retired from her clinical nursing career to focus entirely on research with a focus on Black maternal health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, McLemore studied the impact of coronavirus disease during pregnancy, and why Black Americans were hardest hit by the disease. In an article for '' Scientific American'', she argued that the coronavirus disease was not an excuse to abandon pregnant women.

Awards and honours

* 2015

American College of Nurse Midwives The American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) is a professional association in the United States, formed in 1955, that represents certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) and certified midwives (CMs). Dating back to 1929, ACNM is the leading example for ...

Teaching Award * 2015 Speaking Race to Power Fellow * 2018

Abortion Care Network Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregnan ...

Person of the Year * 2019 Fellow of the

American Academy of Nursing The American Academy of Nursing (AAN) is a professional organization that generates, synthesizes, and disseminates nursing knowledge to contribute to health policy and practice for the benefit of the public and the nursing profession. Founded in 1 ...

* 2019 Excellence in Leadership Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses * 2020 UCSF Campaign Alumni Award

Selected publications

* * * McLemore has written for '' Vice'', '' San Francisco Chronicle'' and '' Scientific American''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLemore, Monica 1969 births Living people African-American women academics American women academics 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics African-American women physicians African-American physicians African-American nurses UCSF School of Medicine faculty The College of New Jersey alumni San Francisco State University alumni 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American women