Each month during the academic year, we choose an IRRPP scholar and feature the work they are doing on race/ethnicity and public policy in our monthly Scholar Spotlights.
Current Scholar Spotlight Heading link

Mansha Mirza, Associate Professor
Occupational Therapy & Disability and Human Development
Improving Language Access in Health and Social Services: Research to Action
Download Previous Scholar Spotlights Heading link
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2020
- February, 2020: Mansha Mirza
Improving Language Access in Health and Social Services: Research to Action - January, 2020: Aaron Gottlieb
The Effect of Public Defense Resources on Racial Disparities in Felony Sentencing Outcomes
- February, 2020: Mansha Mirza
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2019
- November, 2019: Rahim Kurwa
Grounds for Eviction: Race, Mobility, and Policing in the Antelope Valley in Los Angeles - October, 2019: Phoenix Matthews
Chicago Restroom Access Project (CRAP)
- November, 2019: Rahim Kurwa
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2018
- November, 2018: Sarah E. Ullman
African American Rape Survivors in Chicago: Translating Research into Policy - October, 2018: Lorenzo Perillo
Postcolonial Choreographies: Deciphering Filipino Hip-Hop and Performance - September, 2018: Kate Lowe
Off Track? The Racial Dimensions of the Modern Streetcar Trend - March, 2018: Kevin Lamarr James
From Grassroots Campaigns to World Scholars: Educating Leaders for Social Change - February, 2018: Akemi Nishida
Without Care: Critical Disability and Race Analyses of Medicaid Pushout - January, 2018: Stacey Sutton
Spatial Interdependence and the Logic of Shop Succession
- November, 2018: Sarah E. Ullman
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2017
- October, 2017: Laurie Schaffner
Racial Hypersexualization: Chicago Youth Involved in the Street Sex Trade - September, 2017: Yamile Molina
Developing a Health Civic Engagement Workshop for Latinas - April, 2017: Shannon Zenk
LINK Up Illinois: Access to Fresh Produce in Black & Latino Communities - March, 2017: Gregory Larnell
Remedial Math Courses as Gatekeepers: “Cooling-Out” Academic Aspirations - February, 2017: Cedric Johnson
Making the Good Times Roll: New Orleans Tourism-Entertainment Complex - January, 2017: Mansha Mirza
Black and Latino Parents Manage Their Children’s Special Healthcare Needs
- October, 2017: Laurie Schaffner
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2016
- November, 2016: Ronak Kapadia
Art and Activism: Race, Security, and Warfare in the Afterlife of the PATRIOT Act - October, 2016: Otima Doyle
Informing Policy Decisions Regarding African American Fathers - September, 2016: Rohan D. Jeremiah
Chicago’s Refugee Men’s Health Initiative - April, 2016: Elizabeth Todd-Breland
Black Politics and Education Reform in Post-Civil Rights Chicago - March, 2016: Anna Guevarra
Community Building: Filipinos and the Illinois Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights - February, 2016: Dima Mazen Qato
Improving Medication Use among Arab American Women and Children - January, 2016: Nadine Naber
Bread, Dignity, and Gender Justice: Women and the Egyptian Revolution of 2011
- November, 2016: Ronak Kapadia
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2015
- November, 2015: Maria Krysan
Welcome Home: Addressing the Housing Crisis in the Austin Community - October, 2015: Aerika Brittian
Fostering Positive Identity Development in Urban Youth Organizations - September, 2015: Claire Decoteau
The “Western Disease”: Autism in the Somali Refugee Population - April, 2015: Federico R. Waitoller
Chicago Charter Schools: Access & Inclusion of Latin@ & Black Students
with Disabilities - March, 2015: Miriam O. Ezenwa
Mayday for Pain: The Fight for Relief for African Americans with
Sickle Cell Disease - February, 2015: Angela Odoms-Young
Improving Healthy Food Options in Muslim-Run Stores in Black Communities - January, 2015: Kelly LeRoux
Racial Diversity and Enhancing Performance in Charitable Organizations
- November, 2015: Maria Krysan
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2014
- November, 2014: Faith Fletcher
Improving Health Services for Disadvantaged Women Living with HIV/AIDS - October, 2014: Henrika McCoy
Improving Sentencing of Juvenile Offenders - September, 2014: Andy Clarno
Policing in Post-Apartheid Johannesburg - April, 2014: Ralph Cintron
Puerto Ricans in Chicagoland - March, 2014: Marisha Humphries and Cassandra McKay-Jackson
Training School Staff in Social-Emotional Learning - February, 2014: Paul Schewe and Phoenix Matthews
Hate Crimes Against LGBT Peoples in Chicago - January, 2014: Pauline Lipman:
Chicago School Reform: Destabilization, Disinvestment & Disenfranchisement
- November, 2014: Faith Fletcher
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2013
- November, 2013: Xóchitl Bada:
The Evolution of Mexican Organizations - October, 2013: Alan Dettlaff:
Parental Criminal Convictions Impact Involvement with Child Public Services
- November, 2013: Xóchitl Bada: