As a maternal and child health researcher, Mariam Badru, M.P.H., C.P.H., examines how social and structural factors shape health outcomes for women, children and families. Her doctoral research focuses on the multilevel determinants of prenatal care timing and utilization among women with disabilities in the United States, building on her longstanding interests in maternal and child health, perinatal and reproductive health, health disparities and social determinants of health.
Badru is a public health Ph.D. student in the social and behavioral sciences concentration at the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions. Since beginning her doctoral program, she has been actively involved in interdisciplinary research, leadership, professional service and teaching. During her first semester at UF, she was selected to participate in the Women Lead Program, a competitive leadership program designed by the UF Institute of Early Career Scholars to advance the next generation of women leaders through professional development, mentorship and interdisciplinary engagement. For two academic years, Badru also served as the Social and Behavioral Sciences program representative to the UF Graduate Student Council, where she served as a liaison between students, program leadership and the student government. In this role, she also ensured that the S.B.S. program maintained the eligibility requirements necessary for its graduate students to access Graduate Student Council resources and travel funding.
In 2024, Badru was selected as one of only two PHHP doctoral students to participate in the Florida Health Policy Leadership Academy at the Bob Graham Center for Public Service. As a graduate student researcher, she worked alongside an interdisciplinary team of faculty and students from UF and Florida State University, in collaboration with the Florida Department of Health, to examine the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and tobacco use in the state. The experience culminated in a presentation of the team’s findings and implications to public health stakeholders, allowing her to contribute to the translation of research evidence into public health policy and practice.
Badru has shared her work at the university, state and national levels. In 2024, she presented her research on sociodemographic disparities in cervical cancer screening among women with disabilities at the UF Health Cancer Center Research Showcase. Badru also collaborated with an interdisciplinary team of researchers from Arcadia University, Njala University in Sierra Leone, Coventry University in England, the University of Ottawa in Canada, and Imperial College London on a peer-reviewed scoping review protocol published in PLOS ONE, examining postpartum contraception access and utilization among sub-Saharan African immigrant and refugee women in the United States.
Her research and professional contributions have further received recognition at UF. In 2025, Badru was selected as a finalist for Best Research Abstract at PHHP Days for her research examining racial and ethnic disparities in up-to-date mammogram screening among women with disabilities. She has also received multiple competitive travel awards from PHHP, the UF Graduate Student Council and the UF Office of Research to support the dissemination of her research at national conferences. In 2026, she was selected as one of five PHHP students to receive the University of Florida International Center’s Certificate of Outstanding Merit. This recognition highlights exemplary academic achievement, leadership, service and meaningful contributions to UF’s teaching, research and global mission.
Beyond UF, Badru has remained actively engaged with the broader national public health research community. She is an active member of the American Public Health Association and has presented her work through poster, oral and roundtable presentations at its annual meeting every year since beginning her doctoral program. Her presentations have addressed topics including the psychosocial experiences of parents during the COVID-19 pandemic and disparities in mammogram screening among women with disabilities, as well as curriculum work conceptualized by PHHP clinical associate professors Lindsey King, Ph.D., and Brittney Dixon-Daniel, Ph.D., on the development of a trauma-informed and resilience-building M.P.H. course addressing adverse childhood experiences and gaps in maternal and child health curricula. She has also served as an abstract reviewer for several APHA programs, including the Maternal and Child Health Program, Women’s Caucus, Student Assembly and Public Health Film Festival Short Films. In addition, she serves as a peer reviewer for PLOS ONE, where she evaluates maternal and child health manuscripts for publication.
Badru’s commitment to public health began well before her doctoral studies. As a training and research consultant with the Florida Department of Health’s Maternal and Child Health Section, she contributed to statewide initiatives, including Florida’s Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant application, preconception health report, MCH executive briefs and data analysis and reporting related to maternal mortality, prenatal and infant screening, family planning and fatherhood engagement. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Badru also served on the front lines of Florida’s public health response as a biological scientist with the Florida Department of Health in both Palm Beach and Alachua counties. Across these roles, she conducted epidemiological investigations, disease surveillance and contact tracing and contributed to community response efforts to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and strengthen disease control. Internationally, Badru served as a program officer with the World Health Organization, in collaboration with MITOSATH and the Lagos State Ministry of Health, to coordinate a statewide mass drug administration initiative for schistosomiasis among school-aged children in Nigeria. She supported community mobilization and sensitization efforts and trained more than 600 local government representatives and program implementers to support the safe and effective delivery of treatment to children in endemic communities. Earlier in her career, Badru served as a preconception health educator with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health, working with the University of South Florida College of Public Health, ReachUP Inc. and community partners to educate communities about preconception health and infant mortality, train youth health ambassadors and contribute to community-based research and interventions. She also served as the co-president of the Preconception Peer Educators at USF.
At UF, Badru has continued to bring her research and practice experiences into the classroom. She has served as a graduate teaching assistant across several undergraduate and graduate-level public health courses and as instructor of record for PHC 6451, Building Resilience in Public Health.
Through her research, teaching, leadership and public health practice, Badru seeks to bridge evidence, policy and practice to address the social and structural factors that contribute to maternal and child health disparities. Her long-term goal is to produce research that not only advances public health knowledge, but also informs policies, programs and systems that promote equitable access to care and improve health outcomes for women, children and families.