Project Title: Examining the Role of Structural Factors in Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease
Position: Instructor of Medicine
Institution: Stanford University
Funding NIH Institute/Center: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Project ID: K99HL169908
Shawna Follis, PhD, MS, is an instructor and previously a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. She is a social epidemiologist researching the role of structural and social determinants of health in cardiovascular disease risk factors. For example, her paper evaluating racial differences in social stress-associated adipose tissue patterning received the 2020 Aetna Award for Excellence in Research on Older Women and Public Health from the American Public Health Association. Societal equity resonates as a defining characteristic at the intersection of her scientific research and personal goals. Dr. Follis promotes inclusion of scientists from underrepresented groups through mentorship and teaching, having received a Stanford Medicine Teaching Award in 2023 and the Stanford Postdoc Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Award in 2022. In her community, she has served in activism leadership positions for undocumented immigrant rights. Outside of research, she is a passionate futbolista and former National Collegiate Athletics Association Division 1 soccer player.