Yasi Zamani-Hank, PhD, MPH is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine, Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health, and Director of the MSU Primary Care Research Collaborative. Dr. Zamani-Hank is a social and perinatal epidemiologist whose research focuses on studying the role of socioecological influences on racial and socioeconomic disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes using a lifecourse and health equity lens. Her research is highly interdisciplinary, drawing upon frameworks across epidemiology, public health, developmental psychology, primary care, and quality improvement.
Dr. Zamani-Hank investigates the impacts of adverse childhood experiences on maternal and infant health, and the role of psychosocial protective factors, like social support, in mitigating the risk of adverse birth outcomes and buffering the effects of early life adversity on pregnancy health. Another direction of her research involves understanding the impacts of macro-level policies on maternal and infant health outcomes and racial health equity, including the ACA Medicaid Expansion and the Expanded Federal Child Tax Credit. She is a Co-Investigator on the RxKids project in Flint, Michigan (PI: Hanna-Attisha), the first-ever city wide prenatal and infant cash prescription program in the United States. In this role, she works with a team of interdisciplinary collaborators to assess the impacts of this innovative unconditional and universal program on maternal, infant, and family health and well-being.
Dr. Zamani-Hank holds a PhD in Epidemiology from Michigan State University and an MPH in Health Behavior and Health Education from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She received her Bachelor of Science in Brain, Behavior, and Cognitive Science (BBCS) from the University of Michigan.
Selected Publications:
Zamani-Hank Y, Brincks A, Talge N, Slaughter-Acey J, Margerison C. The association between adverse childhood experiences and preterm delivery: a latent class approach. Journal of Women's Health. (Published online ahead of print, March 8, 2024).
Margerison C, Zamani-Hank Y, Catalano R. Hettinger K, Michling TR, Bruckner T. Impacts of the 2021 Child Tax Credit advance payments on low birth weight in the United States. JAMA Network Open. 2023; 6(8): e2327493. Doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.27493.
Zamani-Hank Y, Margerison C, Talge N, Holzman C. Differences in psychosocial protective factors by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status and their relationship to preterm delivery. Women’s Health Reports. 2022; 3(1): 243-255.
MacCallum-Bridges C, Gartner D, Hettinger K, Zamani-Hank Y, Margerison C. Did the Affordable Care Act promote racial equity in pregnancy-related health?: a scoping review. (Forthcoming).
