Member of the Month: Erika Sabbath

Meet Dr. Erika Sabbath, ScD, Associate Professor at Boston College School of Social Work.

What brought you to IAPHS?

I’ve been to many conferences in many disciplines over the past 15 years, but the interdisciplinarity of my work has made most conferences feel like only a partial fit. When I finally made my way to IAPHS last year (2023) on the advice of a mentee who had attended several times, I knew that I’d finally found “my” conference.

What disciplines does your research fall under?

I’m trained as a social and occupational epidemiologist. My work examines the ways that working conditions, and the public policies and organizational practices that shape those working conditions, impact the health of working populations.

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

I’m an epidemiologist by training and I sit in a school of social work, so I live and breathe interdisciplinarity every day. In my ten years at BCSSW, I’ve gained deep understanding and respect for the values and approaches of social work as a discipline. I currently collaborate with folks in medical anthropology, bioethics, implementation science, reproductive health, substance use, and clinical medicine, among others.

What is your favorite thing about IAPHS?

It’s the perfect balance of methodological rigor and real-world applicability of research findings. I love that in most sessions, I can find something that relates to what I do, but also that the session stretches me to think about a problem from a different perspective or in a new-to-me population.

Will you be at the conference this year?

Emily Ahonen and I are co-chairing a session on Work as a Social Determinant of Health on Thursday at 3:15 pm. At that session, I’ll be presenting findings from my most recent research project, which is a study of the impact of post-Dobbs state abortion bans on mental health and the work-related wellbeing of OB-GYNs in those states. I’ll be discussing five distinct drivers of moral distress that we identified in these physicians.

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

I hope to continue to do research that has direct policy relevance. It’s been incredibly gratifying to have research findings from my study of OB-GYNs post-Dobbs become part of the public discourse on the impacts of state abortion bans.

What do you do for fun?

On a whim, last year I enrolled in a wheel throwing class at a local pottery studio, and pottery is now my favorite hobby. I love how the long time lag and many steps that occur between throwing a piece at the wheel and taking home the finished product forces me to slow down and just enjoy the process.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever heard?

As an academic parent, it’s easy to feel like you’re always falling behind or falling short on something–grants, papers, grading, kids, relationships, hobbies, sleep, or the laundry. Early in parenthood, someone gave me the advice to think about balance as something that occurs over time, versus in any given moment. I think about this often, especially when the laundry is overflowing.

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

Please get in touch at erika.sabbath@bc.edu and come say hi to me at the conference!