Rosseirys De La Rosa, a third-year graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University, participated as a Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Training program (MHRT) grantee at the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies during the summer of 2024. Her academic focus is on combining epidemiological approaches and anthropological insights to address complex questions related to identity and genetics within the context of health disparities. During her time in the MHRT program, she worked under the mentorship of Dr. Anderson Reis de Sousa at the Universidade Federal da Bahia in Brazil. The project she contributed to, titled “Black Identities, Masculinities, and Health Behaviors,” aimed to explore how Black masculinity and identity intersect with health behaviors across Ibero-American countries.
For this project, De La Rosa played an integral role in conducting a qualitative web survey that engaged 80 men from 13 different Ibero-American countries, gathering valuable data from May to September 2024. The survey used the snowball sampling method and social media to recruit participants and focused on understanding health behaviors in the context of Black masculinity and identity. De La Rosa also performed a reflective content analysis to identify sociocultural patterns affecting the health of men in these regions. Her work, which centered around the intersection of identity, culture, and health, has contributed to the growing field of biocultural anthropology and highlighted the importance of cultural context in health outcomes.
One of the standout benefits of the MHRT Summer Program is its focus on empowering students to apply for publishing and conference opportunities based on the research they conduct with their mentors. For De La Rosa, this was a pivotal opportunity to present her findings on a global stage. As part of her program, she presented her research at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Human Biology Association (HBA) in Baltimore, Maryland, from March 12-15. Her abstract, titled "Intersecting Identities and Health: Exploring Social Determinants of Health and Black Masculinities in Ibero-America," was featured on the opening day of the conference, allowing her to share her impactful research with a wide audience of scholars and professionals in the field.
De La Rosa’s journey is a testament to the transformative power of educational programs like MHRT, which not only provide hands-on research opportunities but also encourage students to take their work beyond the classroom and into influential academic spaces. In addition to building a strong network in Brazil, I have been lucky to be invited to collaborate on several projects with UFBA students,” she said. “Participating in MHRT changed the way I think about health-related problems, equipping me with transferable skills that I have since applied in my own Ph.D. program.” Through her continued dedication and the support of the MHRT program, Rosseirys De La Rosa is paving the way for more inclusive and interdisciplinary approaches to understanding health disparities.
