Linda Susan Sprague Martinez, PhD

Faculty Affiliate, Professor in the Department of Medicine, and Director of the Health Disparities Institute at UConn Health

Bio

Linda Sprague Martinez, Ph.D. (she, her, hers), is Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Connecticut’s School of Medicine, Director of the Health Disparities Institute at UConn Health, and Faculty Affiliate at UConn School of Social Work. Dr. Sprague Martinez has expertise in health equity and the social determinants of health; community based participatory research (CBPR) and youth led participatory action research (YPAR); photovoice; community assessment and mobilization; and qualitative research methods and analyses. Having formerly worked in municipal and state governance, and as an adolescent mental health provider, Dr. Sprague Martinez brings practical expertise in cross sector collaborations and resident engagement. She was a 2017 Boston Housing Authority, Center for Community Engagement and Civil Rights, Resident Empowerment Coalition, Resident Empowerment Honoree. In 2023, Dr. Sprague Martinez received the NIH HEAL Director’s Award for Community Partnerships, for her work with the HEALing Communities Study. Her research has been funded by NIH, OBSSR and PCORI, as well as by local foundations.

Impact

Sprague Martinez, L., Richards-Schuster, K., Teixeira, S., & Augsberger, A. (2018). The Power of Prevention and Youth Voice: A Strategy for Social Work to Ensure Youths’ Healthy Development. Social work, 63(2), 135-143.
Sprague Martinez, L. S., Reich, A. J., Flores, C. A., Ndulue, U. J., Brugge, D., Gute, D. M., & Perea, F. C. (2017). Critical discourse, applied inquiry and public health action with urban middle school students: Lessons learned engaging youth in critical service-learning. Journal of Community Practice, 25(1), 68-89.
Martinez, L. S., Freeman, E. R., & Winkfield, K. M. (2017). Perceptions of cancer care and clinical trials in the black community: Implications for care coordination between oncology and primary care teams. The oncologist, 22(9), 1094-1101.
What Do We Have to Learn from Young People When It Comes to Improving Community Health?