The Leah Zallman Center’s primary research focus is immigrant health and well-being. Here we outline a few of our core beliefs, offer definitions for key terms, and explain briefly how and why our research is designed to further immigrant, economic, and health justice.

We believe that all people are equal and have a right to optimal health. However, we recognize that in the United States, a person’s race, ethnicity, gender, national origin, citizenship status, religion, ability status, socio-economic status, and more directly affect their health. This is largely due to the fact that our health and social systems were not designed with equity in mind. Additionally, we acknowledge that past and present federal, state, local, and institutional policies and artificial constructs of borders have separated people in our communities, making immigrants feel unwelcome. These destructive policies are rooted in settler colonialism and anti-Black racism and perpetuate many of today’s health inequities.

We believe that part of building new equitable systems involves acknowledging past and present harm, bringing people together in ways that challenge longstanding power dynamics, and elevating knowledge from within immigrant communities. At the Leah Zallman Center, we study and evaluate programs, interventions, policies, narratives, and actions designed to advance immigrant well-being. By design and if successful, our research and our partners’ work will advance equity in health and other systems where people live, learn, work, and play. See our research agenda and projects here.