Member of the Month: Gabe Miller

Gabe Miller, PhD
Department of Sociology
University of Alabama at Birmingham

What brought you to IAPHS?

I joined in 2018 after my grad school bestie Guadalupe Marquez-Velarde introduced me to IAPHS. She had gone to the conference the year prior and said it was the perfect space for us.

What discipline(s) does your research fall under?

I’m a sociologist by training and though not classically trained as a demographer, I also consider myself to be a social demographer. My research centers on the understanding that racism, homophobia, and transphobia diminish the health of people of color and sexual and gender minorities through structural mechanisms of inequality, discrimination, stigmatization, and minority stress. My current work centers on political and policy determinants of sexual and gender minority health where I investigate the effect political and policy factors have on aggregate and individual health.

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

I aim to be transdisciplinary in my work and draw from and combine multiple discipline-specific theories, concepts, and methods from sociology, political science, public health, Black studies, and the like!

What is your favorite thing about IAPHS?

I really love the translatable, applied, policy-relevant focus on IAPHS. I’m a member of the Research to Action working group (now part of the professional development committee). We try to bring programming and content that answers how academic service can better serve the public, how population health research can lead to better and more equitable health, and how our work can motivate and inform population health action.

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

In the most immediate future, I’m most looking forward to the two stops I’ll be making on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour!

Do you have pets?

My partner and I have 2 cats – Prada and Arya. We have not posted on their Instagram since 2022, but maybe we’ll pick it back up – check it out @itspradbish.

Will you be at the conference this year?

Yes! IAPHS is one of my regular conferences and one I look forward to each year. I’m on the program committee for this year’s conference and know there are some great sessions planned. I’m the Session Chair for the Policy Determinants of Health abstract concurrent session, and I also co-organized a panel entitled “Structural Determinants of Health: A Panel of RWJF Health Equity Scholars for Action” with Lillian Polanco-Roman and Sasha Zhou.

What do you do for fun?

I am a reality/trash TV addict. Real Housewives (any franchise except for OC), Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, and The Valley are my current favorites. I also enjoy gardening, hiking, running, and the like.

If the readers want to reach you, what’s the best way to contact you?

Email: ghmiller@uab.edu