Julia Puprriqi

Julia Puprriqi is currently a Junior Nursing student with a minor in American Sign Language at the University of Connecticut. She has been participating in research since her sophomore year of high school where she was selected to be a part of a small cohort working on research through the University at Albany. Her research was titled “The Effect of Limb Darkening on the Sun During Solar Flares and Solar Eclipses.” Through this program, she was able to work with an advisor at Southern Connecticut State University and participated for three years at UConn Health’s Connecticut Junior Science and Humanities Symposium. She was also able to gain crucial research experience that has helped her with her current research. Since starting her education at UConn, she has turned her focus to social determinants of health and the issues affecting the health of Black women in the United States. She has recently begun her research through UConn’s School of Nursing focusing on Black maternal health and the higher morbidity and mortality rates of Black women. Her major focus is the reality regarding Black women in the United States and how the various stressors/social determinants of health influence maternal outcomes for Black women. In addition to this, the history of the United States and systematic racism directly impact the health of Black women particularly. She has been completing clinical hours at Backus Hospital in Norwich working with patients on an Orthopedic Med-Surg floor and gaining experience in the clinical atmosphere. She also holds a certification in Paralegal studies which she has been utilizing with the intent of understanding the U.S. legal system and health care policies. Her areas of interest include Black maternal health, immigrant/migrant health, historical connections to health, social determinants of health, effect of stress on health, women’s health, and social justice.