Member of the Month: Dominique Sylvers

Meet Dominique Sylvers, MS, doctoral candidate, University of Michigan School of Public Health.

What brought you to IAPHS?

During the second year of my PhD, Dr. Michael Esposito invited me to present a project that we were working on, on education and cognition. He and Dr. Angela Bruns were post-docs affiliated with UMich’s RacismLab, at the time, and they put together an interdisciplinary panel with RacismLab scholars. I was so nervous to present, to meet people, and to walk the halls. But by the end of the conference, I had SO much fun and realized my nerves were pointless. It’s a great organization!

What disciplines does your research fall under?

My department has a name change taking effect this school year. We’re going from Health Behavior and Health Education to Health Behavior and Health Equity! While my health behavior roots helped guide me into academic research, I would much more consider myself a to be health equity and population health scholar. As a fellow with the University of Michigan’s Population Studies Center, I’ve received training in demography and aging. My research looks the role that structural racism and social inequities (namely educational segregation and inequities in employment) play on racial inequities in healthy aging.

What other disciplines pique your interest? Are there additional disciplines you are interested in incorporating in your own research?

In undergrad, I had an affinity for Philosophy and Ethics. I took an “Ethical Issues in Health care” class that first introduced me to Philosophy and really taught us to put action toward our quest for justice. I also did a Bioethics study abroad in London. Both experiences led me to Public Health, but aside from reading Charles Mills and renewing the responsible research ethics modules, I thought my Philosophy days were behind me. However, in working on my dissertation on educational segregation, I’ve been thinking a great deal about the philosophical exploration of Epistemic Injustice and how I might be able to incorporate it into my work in the future. I have many many thoughts and ideas swirling, but I need to complete my dissertation before I get too ahead of myself.

What is your favorite thing about IAPHS?

I think my favorite part about IAPHS is being able to meet people! I still remember how I fangirl’d (in my head, of course) when meeting Dr. Alicia Riley at the 2019 conference. That year, I also met Dr. Katrina Walsemann, who is now on my dissertation committee, and Dr. Darrell Hudson, who is now the chair of my department! In a way, you learn that at IAPHS everyone’s kind of connected in some way — and that’s great because you might meet new friends, or new mentors, or future colleagues!

Will you be at the conference this year?

I’ll be there with bells on! Chairing my very first panel session ever, with Dr. Marcus Andrews and Dr. Kiana Bess. I’ll have a poster as well!

What are you planning to do in the future? Goals for the next five years?

I’ll be finishing up grad school this year, so that’s one year! The next four years after school, I’m planning to secure and complete the dreamiest post-doctoral fellowship, followed by landing the most perfect tenure track faculty position for me. Aside from those larger goals, I’m really planning to establish some healthy habits related to work, life, family, and stress.

What do you do for fun?

I cuddle with my dogs, send a lot of funny TikToks/memes/reels to various people, FaceTime my mom, and go to church!

Do you have pets?

Yes! I have two dogs from Alabama! Nannie Mae and Bo! They’re my children, but they’re technically my husband’s aunt and uncle because we inherited them from his grandmother.

If the readers want to reach you, what’s the best way to contact you? (website, email, social media, etc.)

I can be reached via email at domed@umich.edu, on Twitter: @domsylvers, or LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominiqueledwards/.