Renowned Reproductive Justice Informed Nurse Scientist to Join UW

Dr. Monica R. McLemore, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, one of the few nurse-scientists in the world with expertise in reproductive justice and family health equity grounded in the principles of antiracism and critical race praxis, will join the UW School of Nursing this summer.

“It is an honor and a privilege to welcome Dr. McLemore to the University of Washington,” said Executive Dean Azita Emami, PhD, MSN, BSN, RN, FAAN. “The breadth of her experience and research, coupled with her passion for social justice and health equity, will expand and amplify our school’s work in disrupting systemic racism, especially in health care settings and systems.”

Dr. McLemore is the Thelma Shobe Endowed Chair and tenured associate professor with the University of California San Francisco. She is an affiliated scientist with Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health and retired from active clinical practice after a 28-year clinical nursing career in 2019. Dr. McLemore’s research addresses reproductive health and justice and has been cited in five amicus briefs to the Supreme Court of the United States and three National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine reports. Dr. McLemore serves as the editor-in-chief of the Health Equity Journal. She recently presented “Re-imagining What’s Possible: A Future Where Reproductive Justice is Achieved” for the UW’s Barnard Center Lecture Series.

“Nursing, healthcare, and science are at a watershed moment where structural racism is killing Black people where we deserve to be well cared for,” said Dr. McLemore. “I am honored to join the UW faculty. I have three degrees from public schools – I was built and I’m looking forward to creating space for us to build others like me to push the boundaries of what is possible.”

Dr. Monica McLemore